On the importance of global diversity trends and the viability of existing paleontological data

Paleobiology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnold I. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Mass Extinctions ◽  
Paleontological Data ◽  
Global Diversity ◽  
The World ◽  
Added Benefit ◽  
Biotic Effects ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
Is Value

Regardless of the macroevolutionary issues at stake, most students of biodiversity would agree that there is value in calibrating global biodiversity trends through critical intervals. To cite one obvious example, given the overwhelming interest in mass extinctions, we would certainly like to know the extent to which diversity declined during these events. Just as significantly, if we are to argue that any mass extinction was truly a global phenomenon, we must demonstrate definitively that its biotic effects reached around the world. Clearly, “standard” global compendia (e.g., Sepkoski 1992, 2002) are insufficient for the latter objective, because they contain no geographic or environmental information. At the least, a database that compares biodiversity transitions among different regions or paleoenvironments is required. Such analyses have the added benefit of providing opportunities to evaluate geographic and environmental selectivity in extinctions, an important facet of any attempt to understand what caused them (e.g., Raup and Jablonski 1993; Jablonski and Raup 1995).

Modeling bivalve diversification: the effect of interaction on a macroevolutionary system

Paleobiology ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 364-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnold I. Miller ◽  
J. John Sepkoski
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Logistic Model ◽  
Slow Growth ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mass Extinctions ◽  
Late Permian ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Global Diversity ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction

The global diversification of the class Bivalvia has historically received two conflicting interpretations. One is that a major upturn in diversification was associated with, and a consequence of, the Late Permian mass extinction. The other is that mass extinctions have had little influence and that bivalves have experienced slow but nearly steady exponential diversification through most of their history, unaffected by interactions with other clades. We find that the most likely explanation lies between these two interpretations. Through most of the Phanerozoic, the diversity of bivalves did indeed exhibit slow growth, which was not substantially altered by mass extinctions. However, the presence of “hyperexponential bursts” in diversification during the initial Ordovician radiation and following the Late Permian and Late Cretaceous mass extinctions suggests a more complex history in which a higher characteristic diversification rate was dampened through most of the Phanerozoic. The observed pattern can be accounted for with a two-phase coupled (i.e., interactive) logistic model, where one phase is treated as the “bivalves” and the other phase is treated as a hypothetical group of clades with which the “bivalves” might have interacted. Results of this analysis suggest that interactions with other taxa have substantially affected bivalve global diversity through the Phanerozoic.

4. The great catastrophes

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.

scholarly journals Evolution and dispersal of snakes across the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine G. Klein ◽  
Davide Pisani ◽  
Daniel J. Field ◽  
Rebecca Lakin ◽  
Matthew A. Wills ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Teleost Fishes ◽  
Mass Extinctions ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Extinction Event ◽  
Living Species ◽  
Rapid Diversification ◽  
Molecular Dataset ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
Mass Extinction Event

AbstractMass extinctions have repeatedly shaped global biodiversity. The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction caused the demise of numerous vertebrate groups, and its aftermath saw the rapid diversification of surviving mammals, birds, frogs, and teleost fishes. However, the effects of the K-Pg extinction on the evolution of snakes—a major clade of predators comprising over 3,700 living species—remains poorly understood. Here, we combine an extensive molecular dataset with phylogenetically and stratigraphically constrained fossil calibrations to infer an evolutionary timescale for Serpentes. We reveal a potential diversification among crown snakes associated with the K-Pg mass extinction, led by the successful colonisation of Asia by the major extant clade Afrophidia. Vertebral morphometrics suggest increasing morphological specialisation among marine snakes through the Paleogene. The dispersal patterns of snakes following the K-Pg underscore the importance of this mass extinction event in shaping Earth’s extant vertebrate faunas.

Getting the measure of diversity

Paleobiology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew B. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Mass Extinctions ◽  
Term Trend ◽  
Paleontological Data ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Rapid Diversification ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
Long Term Trend

Paleontological data have for long been paramount in providing a long-term perspective on global biodiversity. But all is not as simple and secure as it once seemed. Apparently rapid diversification events recorded in the fossil record have been challenged by new molecular data (Bromham et al. 1999; Wray 2001; reviewed in Smith and Peterson 2002), certain mass extinctions are not as well founded as was previously supposed (Smith et al. 2001; Peters and Foote 2002b), and even such a deeply cherished belief as the long-term trend of increasing diversity through the Phanerozoic is once again under question (Alroy et al. 2001; Peters and Foote 2002a). Why is the fossil record not currently providing us with reliable, clear-cut data, and what can be done to correct the situation?

Towards the New Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Biodiversity

While 2020 –dubbed the “Super Year for Nature –has seen the world battling an unforeseen global pandemic, this article comes back on the Convention of Biological Diversity and its regime, studies the aim of the negotiations of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and the relevance of this framework for the planet, considering that the protection of biological diversity impacts all aspects of human life, including the full enjoying of human rights and protection against future pandemics.

scholarly journals Meta-analysis reveals severe pollen limitation for the flowering plants growing in East Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains region

BMC Ecology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianfeng Jiang ◽  
Yanping Xie
Keyword(s):  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Pollen Limitation ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspot ◽  
Clear Relationship ◽  
Hengduan Mountains ◽  
Independent Data ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Biodiversity

Abstract Background Pollen limitation occurs widely and has an important effect on flowering plants. The East Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains region is a global biodiversity hotspot. However, to our knowledge, no study has synthetically assessed the degree of pollen limitation in this area. The present study aims to reveal the degree of pollen limitation for the flowering plants growing on East Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains and to test whether the reproductive features or the elevation is closely correlated with the degree of pollen limitation in this area. Results We complied data from 76 studies, which included 96 species and 108 independent data records. We found that the flowering plants in this area undergo severe pollen limitation [overall Hedges’ d = 2.004, with a 95% confidence interval (1.3264, 2.6743)] that is much higher than that of the flowering plants growing in many other regions around the world. The degree of pollen limitation was tested to determine the correlation with the capacity for autonomous self-reproduction and with the pollination pattern (generalized vs. specialized pollination) of plants. In addition, we found a clear relationship between elevation and the degree of pollen limitation, which indicates that plants might undergo more severe pollen limitation in relatively high places. Conclusions This paper is the first to address the severe pollen limitation of the flowering plants growing in East Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains region. Moreover, we reveal the positive correlation between elevation and the degree of pollen limitation.

Biogeochemical disruptions across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary : insights from sulfur isotopes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arbia Jouini
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Sulfur Isotopes ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Sulfur Cycle ◽  
Mass Extinctions ◽  
Deccan Volcanism ◽  
Organic Carbon Burial ◽  
Early Paleocene

<p><strong>Biogeochemical disruptions across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary : insights from sulfur isotopes</strong></p><p> </p><p>Arbia JOUINI<sup>1*</sup>, Guillaume PARIS<sup>1</sup>, Guillaume CARO<sup>1</sup>, Annachiara BARTOLINI<sup>2</sup></p><p><sup>1 </sup>Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, CRPG-CNRS, UMR7358, ,15 rue Notre Dame des Pauvres, BP20, 54501Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France, email:[email protected]</p><p><sup>2</sup> Muséum National D’Histoire Naturelle, Département Origines & Evolution, CR2P MNHN, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, 8 rue Buffon CP38, 75005 Paris, France</p><p> </p><p>The Cretaceous–Paleogene (KPg) mass extinction event 66 million years ago witnessed one of the ‘Big Five’ mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic. Two major catastrophic events, the Chicxulub asteroid impact and the Deccan trap eruptions, were involved in complex climatic and environmental changes that culminated in the mass extinction including oceanic biogenic carbonate crisis, sea water chemistry and ocean oxygen level changes. Deep understanding of the coeval sulfur biogeochemical cycle may help to better constrain and quantify these parameters.</p><p>Here we present the first stratigraphic high resolution isotopic compositions of carbonate associated sulfate (CAS) based on monospecific planktic and benthic foraminifers' samples during the Maastrichtian-Danian transition from IODP pacific site 1209C. Primary δ34SCAS data suggests that there was a major perturbation of sulfur cycle around the KPg transition with rapid fluctuations (100-200kyr) of about 2-4‰ (±0.54‰, 2SD) during the late Maastrichtian followed by a negative excursion in δ34SCAS of 2-3‰ during the early Paleocene.</p><p>An increase in oxygen levels associated with a decline in organic carbon burial, related to a collapse in primary productivity, may have led to the early Paleocene δ34SCAS negative shift via a significant drop in microbial sulfate reduction. Alternatively, Deccan volcanism could also have played a role and impacted the sulfur cycle via direct input of isotopically light sulfur to the ocean. A revised correlation between δ34SCAS data reported in this study and a precise dating of the Deccan volcanism phases would allow us to explore this hypothesis.</p><p>Keywords : KPg boundary, Sulphur cycle, cycle du calcium, Planktic and benthic foraminifera</p><p> </p>

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

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.

When bivalves took over the world

Paleobiology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret L. Fraiser ◽  
David J. Bottjer
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Arms Race ◽  
Steady Increase ◽  
Early Triassic ◽  
Environmental Distribution ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis ◽  
Marine Communities ◽  
The World ◽  
Mesozoic Marine Revolution ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction

AbstractThe end-Permian mass extinction is commonly portrayed not only as a massive biodiversity crisis but also as the time when marine benthic faunas changed from the Paleozoic Fauna, dominated by rhynchonelliform brachiopod taxa, to the Modern Fauna, dominated by gastropod and bivalve taxa. After the end-Permian mass extinction, scenarios involving the Mesozoic Marine Revolution portray a steady increase in numerical dominance by these benthic molluscs as largely due to the evolutionary effects of an “arms race.” We report here a new global paleoecological database from study of shell beds that shows a dramatic geologically sudden earliest Triassic takeover by bivalves as numerical dominants in level-bottom benthic marine communities, which continued through the Early Triassic. Three bivalve genera were responsible for this switch, none of which has any particular morphological features to distinguish it from many typical Paleozoic bivalve genera. The numerical success of these Early Triassic bivalves cannot be attributed to any of the well-known morphological evolutionary innovations of post-Paleozoic bivalves that characterize the Mesozoic Marine Revolution. Rather, their ability to mount this takeover most likely was due to the large extinction of rhynchonelliform brachiopods during the end-Permian mass extinction and aided by their environmental distribution and physiological characteristics that enabled them to thrive during periods of oceanic and atmospheric stress during the Permian/Triassic transition.

scholarly journals Rethinking entrepreneurship and family business research in Honduras: a closer look in times of crisis

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-38
Author(s):  
Allan Discua
Keyword(s):  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Business Research ◽  
Family Enterprise ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Family Enterprises ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
The World ◽  
Relevant Context ◽  
Is Value

Introduction: Around the world, entrepreneurial activity is influenced by family. The influence of family in the creation, management, development and continuity of small, medium and large size enterprises is unequivocal. In this revision article, I argue for the relevance of further research in Honduras around entrepreneurship and the family enterprise. Methods and Discussion: As families in business are vital to the social and economic fabric of communities around the world there is value in understanding the special nature of enterprises that operate as family businesses. Honduras is a relevant context of study as research on family enterprises has been underrepresented and several challenges and fortuitous events affect the emergence and continuity of family enterprises. Conclusion: To advance understanding, this revision article brings together a collection of themes that provide a nuanced overview of key discussions and opportunities for further research.

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