Stratigraphic signatures of mass extinctions: ecological and sedimentary determinants

Stratigraphic patterns of last occurrences (LOs) of fossil taxa potentially fingerprint mass extinctions and delineate rates and geometries of those events. Although empirical studies of mass extinctions recognize that random sampling causes LOs to occur earlier than the time of extinction (Signor–Lipps effect), sequence stratigraphic controls on the position of LOs are rarely considered. By tracing stratigraphic ranges of extant mollusc species preserved in the Holocene succession of the Po coastal plain (Italy), we demonstrated that, if mass extinction took place today, complex but entirely false extinction patterns would be recorded regionally due to shifts in local community composition and non-random variation in the abundance of skeletal remains, both controlled by relative sea-level changes. Consequently, rather than following an apparent gradual pattern expected from the Signor–Lipps effect, LOs concentrated within intervals of stratigraphic condensation and strong facies shifts mimicking sudden extinction pulses. Methods assuming uniform recovery potential of fossils falsely supported stepwise extinction patterns among studied species and systematically underestimated their stratigraphic ranges. Such effects of stratigraphic architecture, co-produced by ecological, sedimentary and taphonomic processes, can easily confound interpretations of the timing, duration and selectivity of mass extinction events. Our results highlight the necessity of accounting for palaeoenvironmental and sequence stratigraphic context when inferring extinction dynamics from the fossil record.

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Mass extinctions alter extinction and origination dynamics with respect to body size

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2021.1681 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 288 (1960) ◽

Author(s):

Pedro M. Monarrez ◽

Noel A. Heim ◽

Jonathan L. Payne

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Mass Extinction ◽

Evolutionary Biology ◽

Marine Animal ◽

Mass Extinctions ◽

Extinction Selectivity ◽

Extinction Events ◽

Mass Extinction Events ◽

Marine Biosphere

Whether mass extinctions and their associated recoveries represent an intensification of background extinction and origination dynamics versus a separate macroevolutionary regime remains a central debate in evolutionary biology. The previous focus has been on extinction, but origination dynamics may be equally or more important for long-term evolutionary outcomes. The evolution of animal body size is an ideal process to test for differences in macroevolutionary regimes, as body size is easily determined, comparable across distantly related taxa and scales with organismal traits. Here, we test for shifts in selectivity between background intervals and the ‘Big Five’ mass extinction events using capture–mark–recapture models. Our body-size data cover 10 203 fossil marine animal genera spanning 10 Linnaean classes with occurrences ranging from Early Ordovician to Late Pleistocene (485–1 Ma). Most classes exhibit differences in both origination and extinction selectivity between background intervals and mass extinctions, with the direction of selectivity varying among classes and overall exhibiting stronger selectivity during origination after mass extinction than extinction during the mass extinction. Thus, not only do mass extinction events shift the marine biosphere into a new macroevolutionary regime, the dynamics of recovery from mass extinction also appear to play an underappreciated role in shaping the biosphere in their aftermath.

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Estimating the number of pulses in a mass extinction

Paleobiology ◽

10.1017/pab.2016.30 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 44 (2) ◽

pp. 199-218 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Steve C. Wang ◽

Ling Zhong

Keyword(s):

Mass Extinction ◽

Fossil Record ◽

Nearest Neighbor ◽

Hypothesis Test ◽

Information Criterion ◽

Data Set ◽

Recovery Potential ◽

Step Algorithm ◽

Extinction Events ◽

Fossil Preservation

AbstractThe Signor-Lipps effect states that even a sudden mass extinction will invariably appear gradual in the fossil record, due to incomplete fossil preservation. Most previous work on the Signor–Lipps effect has focused on testing whether taxa in a mass extinction went extinct simultaneously or gradually. However, many authors have proposed scenarios in which taxa went extinct in distinct pulses. Little methodology has been developed for quantifying characteristics of such pulsed extinction events. Here we introduce a method for estimating the number of pulses in a mass extinction, based on the positions of fossil occurrences in a stratigraphic section. Rather than using a hypothesis test and assuming simultaneous extinction as the default, we reframe the question by asking what number of pulses best explains the observed fossil record.Using a two-step algorithm, we are able to estimate not just the number of extinction pulses but also a confidence level or posterior probability for each possible number of pulses. In the first step, we find the maximum likelihood estimate for each possible number of pulses. In the second step, we calculate the Akaike information criterion and Bayesian information criterion weights for each possible number of pulses, and then apply ak-nearest neighbor classifier to these weights. This method gives us a vector of confidence levels for the number of extinction pulses—for instance, we might be 80% confident that there was a single extinction pulse, 15% confident that there were two pulses, and 5% confident that there were three pulses. Equivalently, we can state that we are 95% confident that the number of extinction pulses is one or two. Using simulation studies, we show that the method performs well in a variety of situations, although it has difficulty in the case of decreasing fossil recovery potential, and it is most effective for small numbers of pulses unless the sample size is large. We demonstrate the method using a data set of Late Cretaceous ammonites.

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Geographic variation in turnover and recovery from the Late Ordovician mass extinction

Paleobiology ◽

10.1666/06039.1 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 435-454 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Andrew Z. Krug ◽

Mark E. Patzkowsky

Keyword(s):

Mass Extinction ◽

Late Ordovician ◽

Mass Extinctions ◽

Climatic Fluctuations ◽

Extinction Rates ◽

Large Size ◽

Extinction Event ◽

Global Extinction ◽

Rate Of Recovery ◽

Extinction Events

AbstractUnderstanding what drives global diversity requires knowledge of the processes that control diversity and turnover at a variety of geographic and temporal scales. This is of particular importance in the study of mass extinctions, which have disproportionate effects on the global ecosystem and have been shown to vary geographically in extinction magnitude and rate of recovery.Here, we analyze regional diversity and turnover patterns for the paleocontinents of Laurentia, Baltica, and Avalonia spanning the Late Ordovician mass extinction and Early Silurian recovery. Using a database of genus occurrences for inarticulate and articulate brachiopods, bivalves, anthozoans, and trilobites, we show that sampling-standardized diversity trends differ for the three regions. Diversity rebounded to pre-extinction levels within 5 Myr in the paleocontinent of Laurentia, compared with 15 Myr or longer for Baltica and Avalonia. This increased rate of recovery in Laurentia was due to both lower Late Ordovician extinction rates and higher Early Silurian origination rates relative to the other continents. Using brachiopod data, we dissected the Rhuddanian recovery into genus origination and invasion. This analysis revealed that standing diversity in the Rhuddanian consisted of a higher proportion of invading taxa in Laurentia than in either Baltica or Avalonia. Removing invading genera from diversity counts caused Rhuddanian diversity to fall in Laurentia. However, Laurentian diversity still rebounded to pre-extinction levels within 10 Myr of the extinction event, indicating that genus origination rates were also higher in Laurentia than in either Baltica or Avalonia. Though brachiopod diversity in Laurentia was lower than in the higher-latitude continents prior to the extinction, increased immigration and genus origination rates made it the most diverse continent following the extinction. Higher rates of origination in Laurentia may be explained by its large size, paleogeographic location, and vast epicontinental seas. It is possible that the tropical position of Laurentia buffered it somewhat from the intense climatic fluctuations associated with the extinction event, reducing extinction intensities and allowing for a more rapid rebound in this region. Hypotheses explaining the increased levels of invasion into Laurentia remain largely untested and require further scrutiny. Nevertheless, the Late Ordovician mass extinction joins the Late Permian and end-Cretaceous as global extinction events displaying an underlying spatial complexity.

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The biology of mass extinction: a palaeontological view

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.1989.0093 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 325 (1228) ◽

pp. 357-368 ◽

Cited By ~ 68

Keyword(s):

Mass Extinction ◽

Large Scale ◽

Individual Species ◽

Ecological Groups ◽

Mass Extinctions ◽

Geological Time ◽

Evolutionary Patterns ◽

Data Set ◽

High Species Richness ◽

Extinction Events

Extinctions are not biologically random: certain taxa or functional/ecological groups are more extinction-prone than others. Analysis of molluscan survivorship patterns for the end-Cretaceous mass extinctions suggests that some traits that tend to confer extinction resistance during times of normal (‘background’) levels of extinction are ineffectual during mass extinction. For genera, high species-richness and possession of widespread individual species imparted extinction-resistance during background times but not during the mass extinction, when overall distribution of the genus was an important factor. Reanalysis of Hoffman’s (1986) data ( Neues Jb. Geol. Palaont. Abh. 172, 219) on European bivalves, and preliminary analysis of a new northern European data set, reveals a similar change in survivorship rules, as do data scattered among other taxa and extinction events. Thus taxa and adaptations can be lost not because they were poorly adapted by the standards of the background processes that constitute the bulk of geological time, but because they lacked - or were not linked to - the organismic, species-level or clade-level traits favoured under mass-extinction conditions. Mass extinctions can break the hegemony of species-rich, well-adapted clades and thereby permit radiation of taxa that had previously been minor faunal elements; no net increase in the adaptation of the biota need ensue. Although some large-scale evolutionary trends transcend mass extinctions, post-extinction evolutionary pathways are often channelled in directions not predictable from evolutionary patterns during background times.

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The biogeographical imprint of mass extinctions

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2018.0232 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 285 (1878) ◽

pp. 20180232 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Ádám T. Kocsis ◽

Carl J. Reddin ◽

Wolfgang Kiessling

Keyword(s):

Mass Extinction ◽

Marine Species ◽

Mass Extinctions ◽

Marine Life ◽

Extinction Rates ◽

Evolution Of Life ◽

Severe Reduction ◽

Permian Extinction ◽

Extinction Events ◽

Mass Extinction Events

Mass extinctions are defined by extinction rates significantly above background levels and have had substantial consequences for the evolution of life. Geographically selective extinctions, subsequent originations and species redistributions may have changed global biogeographical structure, but quantification of this change is lacking. In order to assess quantitatively the biogeographical impact of mass extinctions, we outline time-traceable bioregions for benthic marine species across the Phanerozoic using a compositional network. Mass extinction events are visually recognizable in the geographical depiction of bioregions. The end-Permian extinction stands out with a severe reduction of provinciality. Time series of biogeographical turnover represent a novel aspect of the analysis of mass extinctions, confirming concentration of changes in the geographical distribution of benthic marine life.

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Ocean sulfate scarcity as a pre-condition for Large Igneous Province driven mass extinction

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-16391 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Robert J. Newton ◽

Tianchen He ◽

Jacopo Dal Corso ◽

Paul Wignall ◽

Ben Mills ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Extinction ◽

Isotope Composition ◽

Feedback Mechanism ◽

Large Igneous Province ◽

Mass Extinctions ◽

Anoxic Waters ◽

Igneous Province ◽

Marine Realm ◽

Extinction Events ◽

Increasing Temperature

Records of sulfur cycling during mass extinction events increasingly show that they are associated with rapid shifts in the sulfur isotope composition of seawater indicative of low concentrations of ocean sulfate [1-4]. These events are also often associated with the spread of anoxic conditions in the marine realm. We propose a feedback mechanism whereby the production of methane in marine sediments increases in proportion to decreasing sulfate and consumes bottom water oxygen, thus acting as a positive feedback on spread of anoxic waters. This can be further amplified via increased weathering or recycled fluxes of phosphate enhancing productivity [e.g. 5], the effects of increasing temperature on the rate of methanogenesis and the additional suppression of marine sulfate via increased pyrite burial.We propose that sulfate drawdown occurs prior to climate forcing and other extinction drivers imposed by large igneous province (LIP) eruption. The likely mechanism for the drawdown of sulfate prior to these extinction is the removal of sulfate from the oceans as gypsum in evaporite deposits. Several large mid-Phanerozoic mass extinctions have clear evidence of increased evaporite deposition prior to, or approximately coincidental with LIP eruption and extinction.If this idea is correct, the biological impact of a LIP will partly depend on the sulfate status of the ocean at the time of its eruption, and may at least partly explain the observation that whilst many mass extinctions are associated temporally with a LIP, not all LIPs seem to cause mass extinctions.1. Newton, R.J., et al., Geology, 2011. 39(1): p. 7-10.2. Song, H., et al., Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2014. 128(0): p. 95-113.3. Witts, J.D., et al., Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2018. 230: p. 17-45.4. He, T., et al., Science Advances, 2020. 6(37): p. eabb6704.5. Schobben, M., et al., Nature Geoscience, 2020.&#160;

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Calcite interval in aragonite seas: Geochemical characterization of post-extinction oolites at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary and their implications

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12423 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ingrid Urban ◽

Sylvain Richoz

Keyword(s):

Mass Extinction ◽

Major And Trace Elements ◽

Late Triassic ◽

Geochemical Data ◽

Mass Extinctions ◽

Icp Ms ◽

Petrographic Analyses ◽

Isotope System ◽

Extinction Events

The End-Triassic Mass Extinction (ETME) is one of the five major mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic. The deposition of ooids is atypically high in the direct aftermath of major extinction events, including the ETME. Ooids were intensively investigated both petrographically and sedimentologically in the past decades; but only recently their potentialities as archives for the original chemical composition of the oceans where they formed, have gained awareness. Here we present stratigraphical, sedimentological and geochemical aspects for a mid-Norian-Hettangian section from the Emirates.Petrographic analyses provided a detailed morphological classification of post-ETME coated grains, supported by point counting of two isochronous geological sections. FE-SE-EDX imaging unraveled peculiar &#181;m-scale features linked to morphology, diagenesis and biotic interaction in the cortex. LA-ICP-MS analyses were performed for specific major and trace elements. Post-extinction oolites show high variability in size and development of the cortex. They range from small (~ 300 &#181;m) and superficial coating, to bigger (up to 800 &#181;m) and well developed. The degree of micritization highlights different oxic conditions in the diagenetic environment. LA-ICP-MS analyses give insights into seawater redox conditions during ooids formation, siliciclastic contamination, diagenetic processes and the role of bacterial strain in shaping the ooids. Petrographical and geochemical data point out to a calcitic deposition of these ooids as odd with the general consideration that the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic was part of the Aragonite sea. This has major implication on the understanding of the carbonate saturation in the oceans just after the mass-extinction and on the interpretation of several proxies as the C and Ca isotope-system.&#160;&#160;

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4. The great catastrophes

Extinction: A Very Short Introduction ◽

10.1093/actrade/9780198807285.003.0004 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 51-75

Author(s):

Paul B. Wignall

Keyword(s):

Big Five ◽

Mass Extinction ◽

Early Jurassic ◽

Late Devonian ◽

Mass Extinctions ◽

Short Intervals ◽

Extinction Rates ◽

The World ◽

Extinction Events ◽

Mass Extinction Events

What is a mass extinction? Mass extinction events are geologically short intervals of time (always under a million years), marked by dramatic increases of extinction rates in a broad range of environments around the world. In essence they are global catastrophes that left no environment unaffected and that have fundamentally changed the trajectory of life. ‘The great catastrophes’ describes the big five mass extinctions—the end-Ordovician 445 million years ago, the Late Devonian 374 million years ago, the Permo-Triassic 252 million years ago, the end-Triassic 201 million years ago, and Cretaceous-Paleogene sixty-six million years ago—and thoughts on their likely causes, along with other important extinction events identified at the start of the Cambrian and in the Early Jurassic.

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Paleozoic–Mesozoic Eustatic Changes and Mass Extinctions: New Insights from Event Interpretation

Life ◽

10.3390/life10110281 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 281

Author(s):

Dmitry A. Ruban

Keyword(s):

Sea Level ◽

Late Cretaceous ◽

Mass Extinction ◽

Early Jurassic ◽

Late Devonian ◽

Mass Extinctions ◽

Sea Level Changes ◽

Event Interpretation ◽

Marine Realm ◽

Global Sea Level

Recent eustatic reconstructions allow for reconsidering the relationships between the fifteen Paleozoic–Mesozoic mass extinctions (mid-Cambrian, end-Ordovician, Llandovery/Wenlock, Late Devonian, Devonian/Carboniferous, mid-Carboniferous, end-Guadalupian, end-Permian, two mid-Triassic, end-Triassic, Early Jurassic, Jurassic/Cretaceous, Late Cretaceous, and end-Cretaceous extinctions) and global sea-level changes. The relationships between eustatic rises/falls and period-long eustatic trends are examined. Many eustatic events at the mass extinction intervals were not anomalous. Nonetheless, the majority of the considered mass extinctions coincided with either interruptions or changes in the ongoing eustatic trends. It cannot be excluded that such interruptions and changes could have facilitated or even triggered biodiversity losses in the marine realm.

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Climate modelling of mass-extinction events: a review

International Journal of Astrobiology ◽

10.1017/s1473550409990061 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 207-212 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Georg Feulner

Keyword(s):

Mass Extinction ◽

Plate Tectonics ◽

Large Scale ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

Biological Species ◽

Future Research ◽

Climate Modelling ◽

Mass Extinctions ◽

Extinction Events ◽

Mass Extinction Events

AbstractDespite tremendous interest in the topic and decades of research, the origins of the major losses of biodiversity in the history of life on Earth remain elusive. A variety of possible causes for these mass-extinction events have been investigated, including impacts of asteroids or comets, large-scale volcanic eruptions, effects from changes in the distribution of continents caused by plate tectonics, and biological factors, to name but a few. Many of these suggested drivers involve or indeed require changes of Earth's climate, which then affect the biosphere of our planet, causing a global reduction in the diversity of biological species. It can be argued, therefore, that a detailed understanding of these climatic variations and their effects on ecosystems are prerequisites for a solution to the enigma of biological extinctions. Apart from investigations of the paleoclimate data of the time periods of mass extinctions, climate-modelling experiments should be able to shed some light on these dramatic events. Somewhat surprisingly, however, only a few comprehensive modelling studies of the climate changes associated with extinction events have been undertaken. These studies will be reviewed in this paper. Furthermore, the role of modelling in extinction research in general and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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