Calculations performed on the stratigraphic separational tendencies of fossil families show that one-third of them span 3 or more geologic periods. Also, geologic periods with 4 intervening periods between them still show double-digit percentages of familial faunal similarity. A total of over 9500 global occurrences of major index fossils have been plotted on 34 world maps for the purpose of determining superpositional tendencies. 479 juxtapositional determinations have shown that only small percentages of index fossils are juxtaposed one with another. Very rarely are more than one-third (and never more than half) of all 34 index fossils simultaneously present in any 200 mile (320 kilometer) diameter region on earth. Flood mechanisms (pure chance, selective preservation, differential escape and hydrodynamic selectivity, and ecological zonation) are evaluated. Independent evidence is presented to demonstrate that Phanerozoic fossils were deposited under tectonically-differentiated conditions, thus justifying the concept of TABs (Tectonically-Associated Biological Provinces) as the main cause of biostratigraphic differentiation. The TAB concept is placed in an integrated study of fossil separation, and it is shown that it explains extinction trends relative to the extant biosphere. The (near) absence of pre-latest-Phanerozoic human remains is explained through low antediluvian population (primarily); preservation factors are also scrutinized.