scholarly journals Species richness and disparity of parareptiles across the end-Permian mass extinction

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1899) ◽  
pp. 20182572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark J. MacDougall ◽  
Neil Brocklehurst ◽  
Jörg Fröbisch
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Morphological Diversity ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Sharp Drop ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
Declining Species ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction ◽  
Extinction Events

The amniote clade Parareptilia is notable in that members of the clade exhibited a wide array of morphologies, were successful in a variety of ecological niches and survived the end-Permian mass extinction. In order to better understand how mass extinction events can affect clades that survive them, we investigate both the species richness and morphological diversity (disparity) of parareptiles over the course of their history. Furthermore, we examine our observations in the context of other metazoan clades, in order to identify post-extinction survivorship patterns that are present in the clade. The results of our study indicate that there was an early increase in parareptilian disparity, which then fluctuated over the course of the Permian, before it eventually declined sharply towards the end of the Permian and into the Triassic, corresponding with the end-Permian mass extinction event. Interestingly, this is a different trend to what is observed regarding parareptile richness, that shows an almost continuous increase until its overall peak at the end of the Late Permian. Moreover, richness did not experience the same sharp drop at the end of the Permian, reaching a plateau until the Anisian, before dropping sharply and remaining low, with the clade going extinct at the end of the Triassic. This observed pattern is likely to be due to the fact that, despite the extinction of several morphologically distinct parareptile clades, the procolophonoids, one of the largest parareptilian clades, were diversifying across the Permian–Triassic boundary. With the clade's low levels of disparity and eventually declining species richness, this pattern most resembles a ‘dead clade walking’ pattern.

Triassic Foraminifera from the Great Bank of Guizhou, Nanpanjiang Basin, south China: taxonomic account, biostratigraphy, and implications for recovery from end-Permian mass extinction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-53
Author(s):  
Demir Altıner ◽  
Jonathan L. Payne ◽  
Daniel J. Lehrmann ◽  
Sevinç Özkan-Altıner ◽  
Brian M. Kelley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction ◽  
Benthic Ecosystems ◽  
Permian Triassic Boundary

Abstract Foraminifera are important components of tropical marine benthic ecosystems and their recovery pattern from the end-Permian mass extinction can yield insights into the Mesozoic history of this group. Here we report the calcareous and agglutinated foraminifera recovered from five measured stratigraphic sections on the Great Bank of Guizhou, an uppermost Permian to Upper Triassic isolated carbonate platform in the Nanpanjiang Basin, south China. The material contains >100 Triassic species, including three that are newly described (Arenovidalina weii n. sp., Meandrospira? enosi n. sp., and Spinoendotebanella lehrmanni n. gen., n. sp.), ranging from Griesbachian (Induan) to Cordevolian (Carnian) age. The species belong to the classes Miliolata, Textulariata, Fusulinata, Nodosariata, and to an unknown class housing all aragonitic forms of the orders Involutinida and Robertinida. Based on previously established conodont zones and carbon isotope chemostratigraphy, the Griesbachian (early Induan) through Illyrian (late Anisian) interval has been subdivided into 12 foraminiferal zones and two unnamed intervals devoid of foraminifera. Following the extinction at the Permian-Triassic boundary, habitable ecological niches of Griesbachian age were invaded by disaster taxa that subsequently became extinct during the Dienerian (late Induan) and left no younger descendants. The disaster taxa were replaced by Lazarus taxa with Permian origins, which were then decimated by the Smithian-Spathian (mid-Olenekian) boundary crisis. The tempo of recovery appears to have been modulated by environmental changes during the Griesbachian through Smithian that involved both climate change and expansion of anoxic ocean bottom waters. Uninterrupted and lasting recovery of benthic foraminifera did not begin until the Spathian. UUID: http://zoobank.org/2a6e9061-b163-402a-9098-8765a80576b3

scholarly journals Archosauriform footprints in the Lower Triassic of Western Alps and their role in understanding the effects of the Permian-Triassic hyperthermal

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e10522
Author(s):  
Fabio Massimo Petti ◽  
Heinz Furrer ◽  
Enrico Collo ◽  
Edoardo Martinetto ◽  
Massimo Bernardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Lower Triassic ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Early Triassic ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Habitable Zones ◽  
Single Well ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction ◽  
Permian Triassic Boundary

The most accepted killing model for the Permian-Triassic mass extinction (PTME) postulates that massive volcanic eruption (i.e., the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province) led to geologically rapid global warming, acid rain and ocean anoxia. On land, habitable zones were drastically reduced, due to the combined effects of heating, drought and acid rains. This hyperthermal had severe effects also on the paleobiogeography of several groups of organisms. Among those, the tetrapods, whose geographical distribution across the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME) was the subject of controversy in a number of recent papers. We here describe and interpret a new Early Triassic (?Olenekian) archosauriform track assemblage from the Gardetta Plateau (Briançonnais, Western Alps, Italy) which, at the Permian-Triassic boundary, was placed at about 11° North. The tracks, both arranged in trackways and documented by single, well-preserved imprints, are assigned to Isochirotherium gardettensis ichnosp. nov., and are here interpreted as produced by a non-archosaurian archosauriform (erytrosuchid?) trackmaker. This new discovery provides further evidence for the presence of archosauriformes at low latitudes during the Early Triassic epoch, supporting a model in which the PTME did not completely vacate low-latitude lands from tetrapods that therefore would have been able to cope with the extreme hot temperatures of Pangaea mainland.

scholarly journals Rapid enhancement of chemical weathering recorded by extremely light seawater lithium isotopes at the Permian–Triassic boundary

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (15) ◽  
pp. 3782-3787 ◽  
Author(s):  
He Sun ◽  
Yilin Xiao ◽  
Yongjun Gao ◽  
Guijie Zhang ◽  
John F. Casey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Chemical Weathering ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Isotopic Signatures ◽  
Siberian Traps ◽  
Li Isotope ◽  
Continental Weathering ◽  
Excessive Nutrients ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction ◽  
Permian Triassic Boundary

Lithium (Li) isotope analyses of sedimentary rocks from the Meishan section in South China reveal extremely light seawater Li isotopic signatures at the Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB), which coincide with the most severe mass extinction in the history of animal life. Using a dynamic seawater lithium box model, we show that the light seawater Li isotopic signatures can be best explained by a significant influx of riverine [Li] with light δ7Li to the ocean realm. The seawater Li isotope excursion started ≥300 Ky before and persisted up to the main extinction event, which is consistent with the eruption time of the Siberian Traps. The eruption of the Siberian Traps exposed an enormous amount of fresh basalt and triggered CO2 release, rapid global warming, and acid rains, which in turn led to a rapid enhancement of continental weathering. The enhanced continental weathering delivered excessive nutrients to the oceans that could lead to marine eutrophication, anoxia, acidification, and ecological perturbation, ultimately resulting in the end-Permian mass extinction.

Magnetostratigraphy across the end-Permian mass extinction event from the Meishan sections, southeastern China

Geology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Zhang ◽  
Hua-Feng Qin ◽  
Kuang He ◽  
Yi-Fei Hou ◽  
Quan-Feng Zheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Southeastern China ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis ◽  
Normal Polarity ◽  
Mass Extinction Event ◽  
Geomagnetic Polarity ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction ◽  
Permian Triassic Boundary ◽  
Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale

The end-Permian mass extinction (EPME) has been recorded as the most severe biodiversity crisis in Earth’s history, although the timing of the marine and terrestrial extinctions remains debatable. We present a new high-resolution magnetostratigraphic succession across the EPME and the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) from the Meishan sections in southeastern China, which contain the global boundary stratotype section and point (GSSP) for the base of the Triassic (also the Induan Stage) and the base of the Changhsingian Stage. We identified five normal and five reverse magnetozones, including MS1n to MS5n and MS1r to MS5r, from oldest to youngest, in the Changhsingian and Induan Stages. The Induan Stage was determined to consist of two polarity intervals, where the upper one is reverse (MS5r), and the lower one is normal (MS5n). The Changhsingian Stage is dominated by normal polarity, intercalated with four short-term reverse magnetozones (MS1r to MS4r). Consequently, the PTB and the Wuchiapingian-Changhsingian boundary are clearly located in MS5n and MS1n, respectively. These new magnetostratigraphic results provide a potential reference geomagnetic polarity pattern with which to refine the geomagnetic polarity time scale for the EPME and the Permian-Triassic transition.

scholarly journals Decoupling of morphological disparity and taxic diversity during the adaptive radiation of anomodont therapsids

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1768) ◽  
pp. 20131071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcello Ruta ◽  
Kenneth D. Angielczyk ◽  
Jörg Fröbisch ◽  
Michael J. Benton
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Mass Extinctions ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Morphological Disparity ◽  
Morphological Novelty ◽  
Adaptive Radiations ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction ◽  
Original Potential ◽  
Taxic Diversity

Adaptive radiations are central to macroevolutionary theory. Whether triggered by acquisition of new traits or ecological opportunities arising from mass extinctions, it is debated whether adaptive radiations are marked by initial expansion of taxic diversity or of morphological disparity (the range of anatomical form). If a group rediversifies following a mass extinction, it is said to have passed through a macroevolutionary bottleneck, and the loss of taxic or phylogenetic diversity may limit the amount of morphological novelty that it can subsequently generate. Anomodont therapsids, a diverse clade of Permian and Triassic herbivorous tetrapods, passed through a bottleneck during the end-Permian mass extinction. Their taxic diversity increased during the Permian, declined significantly at the Permo–Triassic boundary and rebounded during the Middle Triassic before the clade's final extinction at the end of the Triassic. By sharp contrast, disparity declined steadily during most of anomodont history. Our results highlight three main aspects of adaptive radiations: (i) diversity and disparity are generally decoupled; (ii) models of radiations following mass extinctions may differ from those triggered by other causes (e.g. trait acquisition); and (iii) the bottleneck caused by a mass extinction means that a clade can emerge lacking its original potential for generating morphological variety.

scholarly journals The Late Capitanian Mass Extinction of Terrestrial Vertebrates in the Karoo Basin of South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael O. Day ◽  
Bruce S. Rubidge
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Continuous Sampling ◽  
Faunal Turnover ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
Karoo Basin ◽  
Extinction Rates ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction ◽  
Extinction Events

The Beaufort Group of the main Karoo Basin of South Africa records two major extinction events of terrestrial vertebrates in the late Palaeozoic. The oldest of these has been dated to the late Capitanian and is characterized by the extinction of dinocephalian therapsids and bradysaurian pareiasaurs near the top of Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone. Faunal turnover associated with the extinction of dinocephalians is evident in vertebrate faunas from elsewhere in Pangaea but it can be best studied in the Karoo Basin, where exposures of the upper Abrahamskraal and lower Teekloof formations allow continuous sampling across the whole extinction interval. Here we present field data for several sections spanning the Capitanian extinction interval in the southwestern Karoo and discuss recent work to establish its timing, severity, and causes. A large collections database informed by fieldwork demonstrates an increase in extinction rates associated with ecological instability that approach that of the end-Permian mass extinction, and shows significant turnover followed by a period of low diversity. Extinctions and recovery appear phased and show similarities to diversity patterns reported for the end-Permian mass extinction higher in the Beaufort sequence. In the Karoo, the late Capitanian mass extinction coincides with volcanism in the Emeishan Large Igneous Province and may have been partly driven by short-term aridification, but clear causal mechanisms and robust links to global environmental phenomena remain elusive.

scholarly journals The Capitanian (Guadalupian, Middle Permian) mass extinction in NW Pangea (Borup Fiord, Arctic Canada): A global crisis driven by volcanism and anoxia

2019 ◽  
Vol 132 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 931-942 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P.G. Bond ◽  
Paul B. Wignall ◽  
Stephen E. Grasby
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Middle Permian ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Arctic Canada ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Emeishan Large Igneous Province ◽  
Geochemical Study ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
Sverdrup Basin ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction

Abstract Until recently, the biotic crisis that occurred within the Capitanian Stage (Middle Permian, ca. 262 Ma) was known only from equatorial (Tethyan) latitudes, and its global extent was poorly resolved. The discovery of a Boreal Capitanian crisis in Spitsbergen, with losses of similar magnitude to those in low latitudes, indicated that the event was geographically widespread, but further non-Tethyan records are needed to confirm this as a true mass extinction. The cause of this crisis is similarly controversial: While the temporal coincidence of the extinction and the onset of volcanism in the Emeishan large igneous province in China provides a clear link between those phenomena, the proximal kill mechanism is unclear. Here, we present an integrated fossil, pyrite framboid, and geochemical study of the Middle to Late Permian section of the Sverdrup Basin at Borup Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada. As in Spitsbergen, the Capitanian extinction is recorded by brachiopods in a chert/limestone succession 30–40 m below the Permian-Triassic boundary. The extinction level shows elevated concentrations of redox-sensitive trace metals (Mo, V, U, Mn), and contemporary pyrite framboid populations are dominated by small individuals, suggestive of a causal role for anoxia in the wider Boreal crisis. Mercury concentrations—a proxy for volcanism—are generally low throughout the succession but are elevated at the extinction level, and this spike withstands normalization to total organic carbon, total sulfur, and aluminum. We suggest this is the smoking gun of eruptions in the distant Emeishan large igneous province, which drove high-latitude anoxia via global warming. Although the global Capitanian extinction might have had different regional mechanisms, like the more famous extinction at the end of the Permian, each had its roots in large igneous province volcanism.

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