scholarly journals Long duration of ecological recovery from the early Toarcian extinction event in the Cleveland Basin, North Yorkshire, UK

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jed W Atkinson ◽  
Crispin TS Little ◽  
Alexander M Dunhill
Keyword(s):  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Range Data ◽  
Ecological Groups ◽  
Ecological Diversity ◽  
Recovery Interval ◽  
Alum Shale ◽  
Biotic Recovery ◽  
Extinction Event

The Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event and associated early Toarcian mass extinction event (ETME) have attracted a great deal of research effort, focusing primarily on the causal mechanisms. In contrast, there is less known of the patterns of biotic recovery following this mass extinction (and others). Yet such recoveries are of interest as they record how surviving organisms radiate into newly vacated ecospace. The Cleveland Basin, North Yorkshire, has one of the most expanded Toarcian rock sections globally. Previous studies have presented a limited view of the recovery interval as the upper Toarcian sequence across much of the basin was truncated by a period of erosion during the Middle Jurassic. However, the Ravenscar coastal section preserves all of the upper Toarcian stratigraphy. In the summers of 2013 and 2017 JWA and CTSL collected 24,002 macrofossil specimens from 37 sample points covering 45 metres of the Ravenscar section, from the top of the Alum Shale Member of the Whitby Mudstone Formation to the top of the Blea Wyke Sandstone Formation. The samples included benthic taxa (principally bivalves and gastropods, with smaller number of brachiopods, echinoderms, serpulids, scaphopods, crustaceans and bryozoans) and nektic taxa (belemnites and ammonites). These allowed us to construct new range data, and allowed us a full evaluation of the biotic recovery from the ETME. Ecological tiering was the first to respond to the amelioration of conditions in the Bifrons Zone, approximately 1.75-2.71 million years following the extinction event. Many of the ecological groups that disappeared across the extinction interval began to reappear, although often represented by only a single species. Benthic species richness and ecological diversity subsequently dropped in the Variabilis and Thoarsense Zones, and then both increased substantially in the Levesquei Zone, coincident with the onset of sandy facies deposition in the basin, 5.1-6.89 million years after the extinction event. It was only then that species and ecological diversity regained their pre-extinction late Pliensbachian to Tenuicostatum Zone values. This surprisingly protracted recovery interval may have been caused by persistent environmental stress and/or sea-level change. Some of the benthic taxa appearing in the late Toarcian Levesquei Zone into the Cleveland Basin are typical of Middle Jurassic faunas. Future work will be to ascertain from where these immigrants came. This will present taxonomic challenges that require whole-community collaboration.

scholarly journals Long duration of ecological recovery from the early Toarcian extinction event in the Cleveland Basin, North Yorkshire, UK

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jed W Atkinson ◽  
Crispin TS Little ◽  
Alexander M Dunhill
Keyword(s):  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Range Data ◽  
Ecological Groups ◽  
Ecological Diversity ◽  
Recovery Interval ◽  
Alum Shale ◽  
Biotic Recovery ◽  
Extinction Event

The Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event and associated early Toarcian mass extinction event (ETME) have attracted a great deal of research effort, focusing primarily on the causal mechanisms. In contrast, there is less known of the patterns of biotic recovery following this mass extinction (and others). Yet such recoveries are of interest as they record how surviving organisms radiate into newly vacated ecospace. The Cleveland Basin, North Yorkshire, has one of the most expanded Toarcian rock sections globally. Previous studies have presented a limited view of the recovery interval as the upper Toarcian sequence across much of the basin was truncated by a period of erosion during the Middle Jurassic. However, the Ravenscar coastal section preserves all of the upper Toarcian stratigraphy. In the summers of 2013 and 2017 JWA and CTSL collected 24,002 macrofossil specimens from 37 sample points covering 45 metres of the Ravenscar section, from the top of the Alum Shale Member of the Whitby Mudstone Formation to the top of the Blea Wyke Sandstone Formation. The samples included benthic taxa (principally bivalves and gastropods, with smaller number of brachiopods, echinoderms, serpulids, scaphopods, crustaceans and bryozoans) and nektic taxa (belemnites and ammonites). These allowed us to construct new range data, and allowed us a full evaluation of the biotic recovery from the ETME. Ecological tiering was the first to respond to the amelioration of conditions in the Bifrons Zone, approximately 1.75-2.71 million years following the extinction event. Many of the ecological groups that disappeared across the extinction interval began to reappear, although often represented by only a single species. Benthic species richness and ecological diversity subsequently dropped in the Variabilis and Thoarsense Zones, and then both increased substantially in the Levesquei Zone, coincident with the onset of sandy facies deposition in the basin, 5.1-6.89 million years after the extinction event. It was only then that species and ecological diversity regained their pre-extinction late Pliensbachian to Tenuicostatum Zone values. This surprisingly protracted recovery interval may have been caused by persistent environmental stress and/or sea-level change. Some of the benthic taxa appearing in the late Toarcian Levesquei Zone into the Cleveland Basin are typical of Middle Jurassic faunas. Future work will be to ascertain from where these immigrants came. This will present taxonomic challenges that require whole-community collaboration.

scholarly journals Late Toarcian marine gastropods from the Cleveland Basin, UK: systematics, palaeobiogeography and contribution to biotic recovery from the early Toarcian extinction event

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariel Ferrari ◽  
Crispin TS Little ◽  
Jed W Atkinson
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
The Other ◽  
Gastropod Species ◽  
Marine Gastropods ◽  
Potential Explanation ◽  
Biotic Recovery ◽  
Extinction Event ◽  
Sandstone Formation ◽  
Mass Extinction Event

As part of a study to evaluate the recovery from the early Toarcian extinction event in the Cleveland Basin, 477 new gastropod specimens were collected from mid-late Toarcian rocks of the Ravenscar section, North Yorkshire, UK. The gastropods were preserved in two modes: 1) specimens preserved with recrystallized shells, mainly in the Whitby Mudstone Formation, but also some in the Blea Wyke Sandstone Formation; 2) specimens preserved as external moulds in mineralized patches of shells in the Yellow Sandstone Member. The fossil assemblage comprised fifteen species, of which three are new: Katosira? bicarinata sp. nov., Turritelloidea stepheni sp. nov. and Striactaenonina elegans sp. nov. Four species are described in open nomenclature, as Tricarilda? sp. Jurilda sp., Cylindrobullina sp. and Cossmannina sp. The other species have previously been described: Coelodiscus minutus (Schübler in Zieten), Procerithium quadrilineatum (Römer), Pseudokatosira undulata (Benz in von Zieten), Palaeorissoina aff. acuminata (Gründel), Pietteia unicarinata (Hudleston), Globularia cf. canina (Hudleston), Striactaeonina cf. richterorum Schulbert & Nützel, Striactaenonina aff. tenuistriata (Hudleston) and Sulcoactaeon sedgvici (Phillips). Most of these species are the earliest records of their respective genera and show palaeobiogeographical connections with contemporary gastropod associations from other regions of Europe and South America. The taxonomic composition of the late Toarcian Cleveland Basin gastropod assemblage differs substantially from the faunas of the late Pliensbachian and early Toarcian Tenuicostatum Zone, showing the strong effect of the early Toarcian mass extinction event on the marine gastropod communities in the basin. Only a few gastropod species are shared between the late Toarcian faunas and the much more diverse Aalenian gastropod faunas in the Cleveland Basin, suggesting there was a facies control on gastropod occurrences at that time. This is also a potential explanation for the taxonomic differences between the late Toarcian gastropod faunas in the Cleveland Basin and those in France, and Northern and Southern Germany.

Demise of the middle Paleozoic crinoid fauna: a single extinction event or rapid faunal turnover?

Paleobiology ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
William I. Ausich ◽  
Thomas W. Kammer ◽  
Tomasz K. Baumiller
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Species Turnover ◽  
Sampling Bias ◽  
Range Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Faunal Turnover ◽  
Extinction Event ◽  
Middle Paleozoic ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Mass Extinction Event

Macroevolutionary change from the Middle to the Late Paleozoic crinoid fauna was not the result of mass extinction. The presumption that the decline of the middle Paleozoic crinoid fauna was from a single mass extinction event was tested using seriation, multidimensional scaling (MDS), binomial analysis, and bootstrapping simulations on a data set which is a comprehensive revision of old faunal lists. The data for these analyses were based on temporal distributions of 214 species from 69 late Osagean and early Meramecian localities from the midcontinental United States. The time under consideration is subdivided into seven informal intervals using MDS in conjunction with biostratigraphy. Seriation of species ranges into these intervals results in a gradual pattern of faunal turnover, and sampling bias can be eliminated as a cause for this more gradual pattern. MDS analysis of the crinoid range data is similar to MDS simulations using data with continuous, monotonic species turnover and dissimilar to a simulated mass extinction. Binomial analysis and bootstrapping demonstrate that the observed number of extinctions at the putative extinction boundary were not unusually high. All methods agree that extinctions throughout this time were high but spanned several time intervals and that rapid, monotonic faunal turnover describes the data better than mass extinction. Macroevolutionary processes other than mass extinction and microevolutionary processes must have dictated the character and composition of this remarkable faunal transition among the Crinoidea.

scholarly journals Late Toarcian marine gastropods from the Cleveland Basin, UK: systematics, palaeobiogeography and contribution to biotic recovery from the early Toarcian extinction event

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariel Ferrari ◽  
Crispin TS Little ◽  
Jed W Atkinson
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
The Other ◽  
Gastropod Species ◽  
Marine Gastropods ◽  
Potential Explanation ◽  
Biotic Recovery ◽  
Extinction Event ◽  
Sandstone Formation ◽  
Mass Extinction Event

As part of a study to evaluate the recovery from the early Toarcian extinction event in the Cleveland Basin, 477 new gastropod specimens were collected from mid-late Toarcian rocks of the Ravenscar section, North Yorkshire, UK. The gastropods were preserved in two modes: 1) specimens preserved with recrystallized shells, mainly in the Whitby Mudstone Formation, but also some in the Blea Wyke Sandstone Formation; 2) specimens preserved as external moulds in mineralized patches of shells in the Yellow Sandstone Member. The fossil assemblage comprised fifteen species, of which three are new: Katosira? bicarinata sp. nov., Turritelloidea stepheni sp. nov. and Striactaenonina elegans sp. nov. Four species are described in open nomenclature, as Tricarilda? sp. Jurilda sp., Cylindrobullina sp. and Cossmannina sp. The other species have previously been described: Coelodiscus minutus (Schübler in Zieten), Procerithium quadrilineatum (Römer), Pseudokatosira undulata (Benz in von Zieten), Palaeorissoina aff. acuminata (Gründel), Pietteia unicarinata (Hudleston), Globularia cf. canina (Hudleston), Striactaeonina cf. richterorum Schulbert & Nützel, Striactaenonina aff. tenuistriata (Hudleston) and Sulcoactaeon sedgvici (Phillips). Most of these species are the earliest records of their respective genera and show palaeobiogeographical connections with contemporary gastropod associations from other regions of Europe and South America. The taxonomic composition of the late Toarcian Cleveland Basin gastropod assemblage differs substantially from the faunas of the late Pliensbachian and early Toarcian Tenuicostatum Zone, showing the strong effect of the early Toarcian mass extinction event on the marine gastropod communities in the basin. Only a few gastropod species are shared between the late Toarcian faunas and the much more diverse Aalenian gastropod faunas in the Cleveland Basin, suggesting there was a facies control on gastropod occurrences at that time. This is also a potential explanation for the taxonomic differences between the late Toarcian gastropod faunas in the Cleveland Basin and those in France, and Northern and Southern Germany.

scholarly journals Mercury evidence for pulsed volcanism during the end-Triassic mass extinction

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (30) ◽  
pp. 7929-7934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence M. E. Percival ◽  
Micha Ruhl ◽  
Stephen P. Hesselbo ◽  
Hugh C. Jenkyns ◽  
Tamsin A. Mather ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Flood Basalt ◽  
Atmosphere System ◽  
Central Atlantic Magmatic Province ◽  
Biotic Recovery ◽  
Ocean Atmosphere ◽  
Volatile Release ◽  
Extinction Event ◽  
Central Atlantic

The Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) has long been proposed as having a causal relationship with the end-Triassic extinction event (∼201.5 Ma). In North America and northern Africa, CAMP is preserved as multiple basaltic units interbedded with uppermost Triassic to lowermost Jurassic sediments. However, it has been unclear whether this apparent pulsing was a local feature, or if pulses in the intensity of CAMP volcanism characterized the emplacement of the province as a whole. Here, six geographically widespread Triassic–Jurassic records, representing varied paleoenvironments, are analyzed for mercury (Hg) concentrations and Hg/total organic carbon (Hg/TOC) ratios. Volcanism is a major source of mercury to the modern environment. Clear increases in Hg and Hg/TOC are observed at the end-Triassic extinction horizon, confirming that a volcanically induced global Hg cycle perturbation occurred at that time. The established correlation between the extinction horizon and lowest CAMP basalts allows this sedimentary Hg excursion to be stratigraphically tied to a specific flood basalt unit, strengthening the case for volcanic Hg as the driver of sedimentary Hg/TOC spikes. Additional Hg/TOC peaks are also documented between the extinction horizon and the Triassic–Jurassic boundary (separated by ∼200 ky), supporting pulsatory intensity of CAMP volcanism across the entire province and providing direct evidence for episodic volatile release during the initial stages of CAMP emplacement. Pulsatory volcanism, and associated perturbations in the ocean–atmosphere system, likely had profound implications for the rate and magnitude of the end-Triassic mass extinction and subsequent biotic recovery.

THE RECORD OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN NORTHEASTERN PANTHALASSA DIRECTLY PRECEDING THE END-TRIASSIC MASS EXTINCTION EVENT

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Larina ◽  
◽  
David J. Bottjer ◽  
Frank A. Corsetti ◽  
William M. Berelson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Extinction Event ◽  
Mass Extinction Event

SEDIMENTARY MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS AND ISOTOPES ACROSS THE END-CRETACEOUS MASS EXTINCTION EVENT FROM NEW JERSEY

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa D. Knight ◽  
◽  
Runsheng Yin ◽  
Clara L. Meier ◽  
James V. Browning ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Extinction Event ◽  
Mass Extinction Event

scholarly journals Dinosaurs in decline tens of millions of years before their final extinction

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (18) ◽  
pp. 5036-5040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manabu Sakamoto ◽  
Michael J. Benton ◽  
Chris Venditti
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Marked Reduction ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Extinction Rate ◽  
Catastrophic Event ◽  
Extinction Event ◽  
Mass Extinction Event ◽  
First Time

Whether dinosaurs were in a long-term decline or whether they were reigning strong right up to their final disappearance at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event 66 Mya has been debated for decades with no clear resolution. The dispute has continued unresolved because of a lack of statistical rigor and appropriate evolutionary framework. Here, for the first time to our knowledge, we apply a Bayesian phylogenetic approach to model the evolutionary dynamics of speciation and extinction through time in Mesozoic dinosaurs, properly taking account of previously ignored statistical violations. We find overwhelming support for a long-term decline across all dinosaurs and within all three dinosaurian subclades (Ornithischia, Sauropodomorpha, and Theropoda), where speciation rate slowed down through time and was ultimately exceeded by extinction rate tens of millions of years before the K-Pg boundary. The only exceptions to this general pattern are the morphologically specialized herbivores, the Hadrosauriformes and Ceratopsidae, which show rapid species proliferations throughout the Late Cretaceous instead. Our results highlight that, despite some heterogeneity in speciation dynamics, dinosaurs showed a marked reduction in their ability to replace extinct species with new ones, making them vulnerable to extinction and unable to respond quickly to and recover from the final catastrophic event.

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