Post-Extinction Radiation
TL;DR
After industry disruptions, surviving companies and new entrants rapidly fill the niches left by failed incumbents.
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Following mass extinctions, surviving lineages radiate into empty niches left by extinct lineages. This proliferation phase (centuries-thousands of years) is when evolutionary innovation accelerates - ecological opportunity drives diversification. Mammals radiated explosively in the 10 million years following the K-Pg extinction, evolving from mouse-sized to elephant-sized and occupying niches dinosaurs once filled.
Business Application of Post-Extinction Radiation
After industry disruptions, surviving companies and new entrants rapidly fill the niches left by failed incumbents. When Blockbuster died, Netflix flourished. Extinction clears space for the new.