scholarly journals The origin and early radiation of terrestrial vertebrates

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 1202-1213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Early Carboniferous ◽  
Late Devonian ◽  
Lower Carboniferous ◽  
Major Transitions ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
History Of ◽  
Paleozoic Tetrapods ◽  
Early Radiation ◽  
Ways Of Life

The origin of tetrapods from sarcopterygian fish in the Late Devonian is one of the best known major transitions in the history of vertebrates. Unfortunately, extensive gaps in the fossil record of the Lower Carboniferous and Triassic make it very difficult to establish the nature of relationships among Paleozoic tetrapods, or their specific affinities with modern amphibians. The major lineages of Paleozoic labyrinthodonts and lepospondyls are not adequately known until after a 20–30 m.y. gap in the Early Carboniferous fossil record, by which time they were highly divergent in anatomy, ways of life, and patterns of development. An even wider temporal and morphological gap separates modern amphibians from any plausible Permo-Carboniferous ancestors. The oldest known caecilian shows numerous synapomorphies with the lepospondyl microsaur Rhynchonkos. Adult anatomy and patterns of development in frogs and salamanders support their origin from different families of dissorophoid labyrinthodonts. The ancestry of amniotes apparently lies among very early anthracosaurs.

scholarly journals Stratigraphy and depositional history of the Upper Palaeozoic and Triassic sediments in the Wandel Sea Basin, central and eastern North Greenland

1989 ◽  
Vol 143 ◽  
pp. 21-45
Author(s):  
L Stemmerik ◽  
E Håkansson
Keyword(s):  
Early Carboniferous ◽  
Upper Permian ◽  
Lower Permian ◽  
Late Permian ◽  
The West ◽  
Depositional History ◽  
Lower Carboniferous ◽  
Upper Carboniferous ◽  
Lithostratigraphic Units ◽  
History Of

A lithostratigraphic scheme is erected for the Lower Carboniferous to Triassic sediments of the Wandel Sea Basin, from Lockwood Ø in the west to Holm Land in the east. The scheme is based on the subdivision into the Upper Carboniferous - Lower Permian Mallemuk Mountain Group and the Upper Permian - Triassic Trolle Land Group. In addition the Upper Carboniferous Sortebakker Formation and the Upper Permian Kap Kraka Formation are defined. Three formations and four members are included in the Mallemuk Mountain Group. Lithostratigraphic units include: Kap Jungersen Formation (new) composed of interbedded limestones, sandstones and shales with minor gypsum - early Moscovian; Foldedal Formation composed of interbedded limestones and sandstones -late Moseovian to late Gzhelian; Kim Fjelde Formation composed of well bedded Iimestones - late Gzhelian to Kungurian. The Trolle Land Group includes three formations: Midnatfjeld Formation composed of dark shales, sandstones and limestones - Late Permian; Parish Bjerg Formation composed of a basal conglomeratic sandstone overlain by shales and sandstones - ?Early Triassic (Scythian); Dunken Formation composed of dark shales and sandstones - Triassic (Scythian-Anisian). The Sortebakker Formation (new) is composed of interbedded sandstones, shales and minor coal of floodplain origin. The age is Early Carboniferous. The Kap Kraka Formation (new) includes poorly known hematitic sandstones, conglomerates and shales of Late Permian age.

Early radiation of echinoderms

1997 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 205-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Sprinkle ◽  
Thomas E. Guensburg
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Early Paleozoic ◽  
Soft Substrate ◽  
Middle Cambrian ◽  
Middle Ordovician ◽  
Late Cambrian ◽  
Low Diversity ◽  
Early Radiation ◽  
Ways Of Life

Echinoderms underwent a major two-part radiation that produced all of the major groups found in the fossil record between the Early Cambrian and the Middle Ordovician. A small initial radiation in the Early and Middle Cambrian produced about nine classes containing low-diversity members of the Cambrian Evolutionary Fauna. These were characterized by primitive morphology, simple ambulacral feeding structures, and the early development of a multiplated stalk or stem for attachment to skeletal fragments on a soft substrate. Several groups became extinct at the end of the Middle Cambrian, leaving the Late Cambrian as a gap of very low diversity in the fossil record of echinoderms with only four classes preserved and very few occurrences of complete specimens, mostly associated with early hardgrounds. The survivors from this interval re-expanded in the Early Ordovician and were joined by many newly evolved groups to produce a much larger radiation of more advanced, diverse, and successful echinoderms representing the Paleozoic Evolutionary Fauna on both hard and soft substrates. At least 17 classes were present by the Middle Ordovician, the all-time high point for echinoderm class diversity, and nearly all of the major ways-of-life (except for deep infaunal burrowing) had been developed. With the rise to dominance of crinoids, many less successful or archaic groups did not survive the Middle Ordovician, and echinoderm class diversity dropped further because of the mass extinction at the end of the Ordovician. This weeding-out process of other less-successful echinoderm groups continued throughout the rest of the Paleozoic, and only five classes of echinoderms have survived to the Recent from this early Paleozoic radiation.

scholarly journals Locomotory behaviour of early tetrapods from Blue Beach, Nova Scotia, revealed by novel microanatomical analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 210281
Author(s):  
Kendra I. Lennie ◽  
Sarah L. Manske ◽  
Chris F. Mansky ◽  
Jason S. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Early Carboniferous ◽  
Late Devonian ◽  
Ground Reaction Forces ◽  
Limb Bones ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Reaction Forces ◽  
Early Tetrapods ◽  
Locomotory Behaviour

Evidence for terrestriality in early tetrapods is fundamentally contradictory. Fossil trackways attributed to early terrestrial tetrapods long predate the first body fossils from the Late Devonian. However, the Devonian body fossils demonstrate an obligatorily aquatic lifestyle. Complicating our understanding of the transition from water to land is a pronounced gap in the fossil record between the aquatic Devonian taxa and presumably terrestrial tetrapods from the later Early Carboniferous. Recent work suggests that an obligatorily aquatic habit persists much higher in the tetrapod tree than previously recognized. Here, we present independent microanatomical data of locomotor capability from the earliest Carboniferous of Blue Beach, Nova Scotia. The site preserves limb bones from taxa representative of Late Devonian to mid-Carboniferous faunas as well as a rich trackway record. Given that bone remodels in response to functional stresses including gravity and ground reaction forces, we analysed both the midshaft compactness profiles and trabecular anisotropy, the latter using a new whole bone approach. Our findings suggest that early tetrapods retained an aquatic lifestyle despite varied limb morphologies, prior to their emergence onto land. These results suggest that trackways attributed to early tetrapods be closely scrutinized for additional information regarding their creation conditions, and demand an expansion of sampling to better identify the first terrestrial tetrapods.

Evolution and Radiation of Mammals in the Eocene, and the Diversification of Modern Orders

1984 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 110-127
Author(s):  
Kenneth D. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Considerable Proportion ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Alive Today ◽  
History Of ◽  
Important Time ◽  
Sea Cow ◽  
First Time

The Eocene was an especially interesting and important time in the history of mammals. Whereas the Paleocene witnessed the rise of mammals from their previously subordinate position among terrestrial vertebrates, it was during the Eocene that the second major radiation of eutherian mammals took place. Many of the modern orders diversified and achieved dominance on land, and mammals even began to invade the seas and take to the air. By the late Eocene, this explosive radiation had produced the greatest ordinal diversity of mammals known at any time in their history (Lillegraven, 1972). If we could travel back to the Paleocene, we would see few familiar mammals; most belonged to archaic groups that long ago became extinct. But a visitor to the Eocene (given wide latitude in space and time, of course) might recognize many of the denizens of Eocene forests and floodplains—bats, prosimian primates, squirrel-like rodents, rabbits, moles, armadillos, and miniature hoofed animals resembling mouse deer. Along the shore, our hypothetical Eocene naturalist might spot a whale or a primitive sea cow. A closer look would reveal that these animals differed in many ways from living forms, of course, but the resemblances are real and, in some cases, striking. In fact, at least 10 orders of mammals alive today appeared in the fossil record for the first time, or experienced major radiations of modern groups, in the Eocene. Not all Eocene mammals belonged to modern orders, however. There was still a considerable proportion of archaic mammals, many representing lines that had begun in the Paleocene or, in some instances, before. And some of them were highly successful too.

Pre-Carboniferous history of the Midland Valley of Scotland

1984 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Bluck
Keyword(s):  
Early Carboniferous ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Late Devonian ◽  
Reverse Fault ◽  
Red Sandstone ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
Boundary Fault ◽  
Thrust Faulting ◽  
Marginal Basin ◽  
History Of

ABSTRACTThe pre-Carboniferous Midland Valley of Scotland comprises three tectonic elements: an arc, a proximal fore-arc basin and a marginal basin. These tectonic elements have been juxtaposed by strike-slip and thrust faulting, both of which have effected a 300% reduction in the width of the orogenic belt.Rocks which span Arenig to Late Devonian or Early Carboniferous times and which are found S of the Highland Boundary fault have no clasts of certain Dalradian provenance despite substantial uplift of the Dalradian block at this time. This, combined with other evidence, suggests the Midland Valley to have been remote from this rapidly uplifting terrane. The Dalradian block, eroded down by c. 410 Ma was thrust southeastwards in Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous times. However, this thrust movement was minor, yielding little sediment, but it caused Dalradian rocks to cover the northern margin of the Midland Valley where (1) the source for part of the Old Red Sandstone rocks existed and (2) the faults along which the Midland Valley block was transported to dock against the Dalradian block are thought to be present. The existing Highland Boundary fault is therefore seen as a late Old Red Sandstone reverse fault which covered more significant older structures.

Origins and Early Evolution of Predation

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 289-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Bengtson
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Cambrian Explosion ◽  
Major Transitions ◽  
Microbial Ecosystems ◽  
Life Itself ◽  
Evolutionary Event ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ultimate Result ◽  
Major Transitions In Evolution ◽  
Theoretical Considerations

Predation, in the broad sense of an organism killing another organism for nutritional purposes, is probably as old as life itself and has originated many times during the history of life. Although little of the beginnings is caught in the fossil record, observations in the rock record and theoretical considerations suggest that predation played a crucial role in some of the major transitions in evolution. The origin of eukaryotic cells, poorly constrained to about 2.7 Ga by geochemical evidence, was most likely the ultimate result of predation among prokaryotes. Multicellularity (or syncytiality), as a means of acquiring larger size, is visible in the fossil record soon after 2 Ga and is likely to have been mainly a response to selective pressure from predation among protists. The appearance of mobile predators on bacteria and protists may date back as far as 2 Ga or it may be not much older than the Cambrian explosion, or about 600 Ma. The combined indications from the decline of stromatolites and the diversification of acritarchs, however, suggest that such predation may have begun around 1 Ga. The Cambrian explosion, culminating around 550 Ma, represents the transition from simple, mostly microbial, ecosystems to ones with complex food webs and second- and higher-order consumers. Macrophagous predators were involved from the beginning, but it is not clear whether they originated in the plankton or in the benthos. Although predation was a decisive selective force in the Cambrian explosion, it was a shaper rather than a trigger of this evolutionary event.

Sinistral transport along the Trans-European Suture Zone: detrital zircon–rutile geochronology and sandstone petrography from the Carboniferous flysch of the Pontides

2010 ◽  
Vol 148 (3) ◽  
pp. 380-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
NİLGÜN OKAY ◽  
THOMAS ZACK ◽  
ARAL I. OKAY ◽  
MATTHIAS BARTH
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Early Carboniferous ◽  
Suture Zone ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Metamorphic Rocks ◽  
Late Devonian ◽  
Lower Carboniferous ◽  
Clastic Rocks ◽  
Sandstone Petrography

AbstractThe Lower Carboniferous flysch of the Istanbul Zone in Turkey is an over 1500 m thick turbiditic sandstone–shale sequence marking the onset of the Variscan deformation in the Pontides. It overlies Lower Carboniferous black cherts and is unconformably overlain by Lower Triassic continental sandstones and conglomerates. The petrography of the Carboniferous sandstones and the geochronology and geochemistry of the detrital zircons and rutiles were studied to establish the provenance of the clastic rocks. The sandstones are feldspathic to lithic greywackes and subgreywackes with approximately equal amounts of quartz, feldspar and lithic clasts. The amount of quartz and lithic fragments decreases upwards in the sequence at the expense of feldspar. The lithic fragments are dominated by intermediate volcanic rocks, followed by metamorphic and sedimentary rock fragments. Coarse lithic fragments are generally granitoidic. In the discrimination diagrams, sandstone samples lie mainly in the field of dissected arc. A total of 218 detrital zircons and 35 detrital rutiles from four sandstone samples were analysed with laser ablation ICP-MS. The detrital zircons show a predominantly bimodal age distribution with Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous (390 to 335 Ma) and Cambrian–Neoproterozoic (640 to 520 Ma) ages. The remaining 9 % of the analysed zircons are in the 1700–2750 Ma range; zircons of the 700–1700 Ma age range are absent. The REE patterns and Th/U ratios of the zircons are consistent with a magmatic origin. With one exception (Neoproterozoic), the rutile ages are Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous and their geochemistry indicates that they were derived from amphibolite-facies metamorphic rocks. Sandstone petrography and detrital zircon–rutile ages suggest one dominant source for the Lower Carboniferous sandstones: a Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous magmatic and metamorphic province with overprinted Neoproterozoic basement. Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous magmatic and metamorphic rocks are unknown from the Eastern Mediterranean region. They are, however, widespread in central Europe. The Istanbul Zone is commonly correlated with the Avalonian terrranes in central Europe, which collided with the Armorican terranes during Carboniferous times, resulting in the Variscan orogeny. The Carboniferous flysch of the Istanbul Zone must have been derived from a colliding Armorican terrane, as indicated by the absence of 700–1700 Ma zircons and by Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous magmatism, typical features of the Armorican terranes. This suggests that during Carboniferous times the Istanbul terrane was located close to the Bohemian Massif and has been translated by strike-slip along the Trans-European Suture Zone to its Cretaceous position north of the Black Sea.

The Mesozoic Biogeographic History of Gondwanan Terrestrial Vertebrates: Insights from Madagascar's Fossil Record

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 519-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Krause ◽  
Joseph J.W. Sertich ◽  
Patrick M. O'Connor ◽  
Kristina Curry Rogers ◽  
Raymond R. Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Theropod Dinosaurs ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean

The Mesozoic plate tectonic and paleogeographic history of Gondwana had a profound effect on the distribution of terrestrial vertebrates. As the supercontinent fragmented into a series of large landmasses (South America, Africa-Arabia, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, the Indian subcontinent, and Madagascar), particularly during the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous, its terrestrial vertebrates became progressively isolated, evolving into unique faunal assemblages. We focus on four clades that, during the Mesozoic, had relatively low ability for dispersal across oceanic barriers—crocodyliforms, sauropod dinosaurs, nonavian theropod dinosaurs, and mammals. Their distributions reveal patterns that are critically important in evaluating various biogeographic hypotheses, several of which have been informed by recent discoveries from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. We also examine the effects of lingering, intermittent connections, or reconnections, of Gondwanan landmasses with Laurasia (through the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Himalayan regions) on the distributions of different clades. ▪ This article reviews the biogeographic history of terrestrial vertebrates from the Mesozoic of the southern supercontinent Gondwana. ▪ Relatively large, terrestrial animals—including crocodyliforms, sauropod and nonavian theropod dinosaurs, and mammals—are the focus of this review. ▪ Most patterns related to vicariance occurred during the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous, the intervals of most active Gondwanan fragmentation. ▪ Recent discoveries of vertebrates from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar have played a key role in formulating and testing various biogeographic hypotheses.

scholarly journals Xiphosurid from the Tournaisian (Carboniferous) of Scotland confirms deep origin of Limuloidea

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell D. C. Bicknell ◽  
Stephen Pates
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Horseshoe Crab ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Geometric Morphometric ◽  
Lower Carboniferous ◽  
Morphometric Analyses ◽  
Lower Ordovician ◽  
Horseshoe Crabs ◽  
History Of

AbstractHorseshoe crabs are archetypal marine chelicerates with a fossil record extending from the Lower Ordovician to today. The major horseshoe crab groups are thought to have arisen in the middle to late Palaeozoic. Here we present the oldest known limuloid from the lower Carboniferous (Tournaisian stage, c. 350 million years ago) of Scotland: Albalimulus bottoni gen. et sp. nov. A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis supports the placement of A. bottoni as a representative of the extant family Limulidae and 100 million years older than any other limulid taxon. The use of geometric morphometric analyses corroborate the erection of the new taxon and illustrates the exploitation of morphospace by xiphosurids. This new taxon highlights the complex evolutionary history of xiphosurids and the importance of documenting these unique Palaeozoic individuals.

scholarly journals High lineage survivorship across the end-Devonian Mass Extinction suggested by a remarkable new Late Devonian actinopterygian

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Giles ◽  
Kara Feilich ◽  
Stephanie Pierce ◽  
Matt Friedman
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Diversity ◽  
Early Carboniferous ◽  
Late Devonian ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
History Of ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses ◽  
Key Events ◽  
Devonian Extinction ◽  
Cryptic Divergence

AbstractActinopterygian (ray-finned) fishes represent the principal vertebrate group in aquatic settings. This dominance is often attributed to their apparent success in the aftermath of the end-Devonian extinction. Increases in taxonomic and morphological diversity in the early Carboniferous, coupled with phylogenetic hypotheses implying the survival of few Devonian lineages, contribute to a model of explosive post-extinction radiation. However, most actinopterygian fossils from within a ca. 20 Myr window surrounding the end-Devonian extinction remain poorly known, contributing to uncertainty about these patterns. Here we present detailed anatomical data for an exceptionally preserved but diminutive ray-finned fish from within this gap, ~7 Myr prior to the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary. Representing a new genus and species, it bears a series of derived anatomical features otherwise known only from Carboniferous and younger taxa. It nests phylogenetically within a clade of post-Devonian species and, in an expanded phylogenetic analysis incorporating other previously neglected taxa, draws at least ten lineages of Carboniferous actinopterygians into the Late Devonian. This suggests phenotypically cryptic divergence among ray-finned fishes in the latest Devonian, followed by more conspicuous diversification in feeding and locomotor structures in the Carboniferous. This revised model finds parallels in patterns emerging for other clades, and provides a refined perspective on key events early in the history of a group that today contains half of all living vertebrate species.

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