Environmental controls on calcareous nannoplankton response to the Cretaceous/Paleogene mass extinction in the Tethys realm

2019 ◽  
Vol 515 ◽  
pp. 134-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shijun Jiang ◽  
Xiukang Chen ◽  
Gilen Bernaola
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Calcareous Nannoplankton ◽  
Environmental Controls ◽  
Tethys Realm

Evolution of Calcareous Nannoplankton and the Recovery of Marine Food Webs After the Cretaceous-Paleocene Mass Extinction

Palaios ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 185-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Fuqua ◽  
T. J. Bralower ◽  
M. A. Arthur ◽  
M. E. Patzkowsky
Keyword(s):  
Food Webs ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Calcareous Nannoplankton ◽  
Marine Food Webs ◽  
Marine Food

Evolution and extinction in the marine realm: some constraints imposed by phytoplankton

1989 ◽  
Vol 325 (1228) ◽  
pp. 279-290 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Earth Surface ◽  
Calcareous Nannoplankton ◽  
Late Mesozoic ◽  
Planktonic Algae ◽  
Extinction Rates ◽  
Sufficient Detail ◽  
Marine Realm

The organic and mineralized remains of planktonic algae provide a rich record of microplankton evolution extending over nearly half of the preserved geological record. In general, Phanerozoic patterns of phytoplankton radiation and extinction parallel those documented for skeletonized marine invertebrates, both augmenting and constraining thought about evolution in the oceans. Rapidly increasing knowledge of Proterozoic plankton is making possible the recognition of additional episodes of diversification and extinction that antedate the Ediacaran radiation of macroscopic animals. In contrast to earlier phytoplankton history, the late Mesozoic and Cainozoic record is documented in sufficient detail to constrain theories of mass extinction in more than a general way. Broad patterns of diversity change in planktonic algae show similarities across the Cretaceous-Tertiary and Eocene- Oligocene boundaries, but detailed comparisons of origination and extinction rates in calcareous nannoplankton, as well as other algae and skeletonized protozoans, suggest that the two episodes were quite distinct. Common causation appears unlikely, casting doubt on monolithic theories of mass extinction, whether periodic or not. Studies of mass extinction highlight a broader class of insights that palaeontologists can contribute to evolutionary biology: the evaluation of evolutionary change in the context of evolving Earth-surface environments.

scholarly journals Size and shape variation in the calcareous nannoplankton genus Braarudosphaera following the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) mass extinction: clues as to its evolutionary success

Paleobiology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Heather L. Jones ◽  
Zachary Scrobola ◽  
Timothy J. Bralower
Keyword(s):  
Cryptic Species ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Shape Variation ◽  
Calcareous Nannoplankton ◽  
Size And Shape ◽  
Water Column Stratification ◽  
Early Paleocene ◽  
Tethys Ocean

Abstract Calcareous nannoplankton have been one of the dominant primary producers in the surface oceans since the late Triassic. The bolide impact at the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary ~66.0 Ma, led to the elimination of >90% of nannoplankton species: the largest extinction event in their evolutionary history. One of the few nannoplankton genera to survive the K/Pg mass extinction and even thrive in its aftermath was Braarudosphaera, which precipitates pentagonal calcite plates (pentaliths). The only Braarudosphaera species to span the K/Pg boundary (B. bigelowii) is extant and has formed geographically and temporally restricted “blooms” throughout geologic time. Four morphologically and genetically distinct cryptic species of B. bigelowii have been identified in the modern ocean. However, it is uncertain whether these cryptic species have disparate ecophysiological tolerances that have allowed them to adapt to varying environmental conditions. For the first time, we assess changes in the size and shape of Braarudosphaera pentaliths following the K/Pg mass extinction at three geographically and environmentally disparate sites that have early Paleocene Braarudosphaera blooms. Our results show that different Braarudosphaera morphotypes were dominant in the Gulf of Mexico compared with the Tethys Ocean, likely due to regional environmental differences. In addition, we provide evidence that the dominant Braarudosphaera morphotypes shifted in response to changes in upper water column stratification. This ability to rapidly adapt to unstable environments likely helped Braarudosphaera thrive in the aftermath of the K/Pg extinction and explains why this lineage has enjoyed such a long evolutionary history.

The role of regional survivor incumbency in the evolutionary recovery of calcareous nannoplankton from the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) mass extinction

Paleobiology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 661-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan D. Schueth ◽  
Timothy J. Bralower ◽  
Shijun Jiang ◽  
Mark E. Patzkowsky
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Calcareous Nannoplankton ◽  
Surface Ocean ◽  
The North ◽  
Subsequent Decrease ◽  
Initial Recovery

AbstractThe earliest Paleocene record of calcareous nannoplankton presents a unique opportunity to understand the evolutionary recovery of life from mass extinction. Nannoplankton were devastated at the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary and their subsequent recovery can be studied in great detail because of their abundance in sediments, continuous stratigraphic occurrence, and near global distribution. Here we determine when and where new species of nannoplankton originated and how they dispersed following the Cretaceous/Paleogene mass extinction. Initially, we focus our efforts on North Pacific and South Atlantic deep sea sites with orbital age control to compare the precise timing and dynamics of the recovery between the locations. We then broaden our investigation to six sites from different basins and a variety of environments to study global patterns of the initial recovery. Our results show that many taxa in key Paleogene lineages originated in the North Pacific Ocean and that assemblages comprised primarily of new Paleogene taxa were not observed at other sites for several hundred thousand years. Survivors that were adapted to eutrophic post extinction conditions rapidly expanded in Southern Hemisphere sites where they dominated assemblages for most of the initial recovery. We therefore hypothesize that groups of survivors formed regionally incumbent assemblages in the Southern Hemisphere that limited diversification and dispersal of new Paleogene taxa. The end of survivor dominance correlates to the recovery of the biologic pump and subsequent decrease in surface ocean nutrient concentration 300–400 Kyr after the boundary. Only after survivors were removed did new Paleogene nannoplankton assemblages become abundant globally. Our results indicate that competition from regionally incumbent survivors was as an important control on the K/Pg recovery of nannoplankton.

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