|
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
| JOURNAL HOME | HELP | CONTACT PUBLISHER | SUBSCRIBE | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
1 Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA
2 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-0740, USA
3 Department of Geology, Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 West Wells Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233, USA
4 Department of Geological Sciences, Wright-Rieman Geological Laboratories, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903, USA
There have been five major mass extinctions among the marine biota during the 
0.6 b.y. history of metazoan life on Earth. These mass extinctions have been ranked from the largest to the smallest by the severity of taxonomic diversity losses, but they have not been ranked by the severity of the ecologic changes that they produced. Here we utilize a system of paleoecological levels that allows for the ranking of ecological degradation or shifts associated with significant taxonomic events, along with an analysis of large-scale paleoenvironmental patterns of two of the great evolutionary faunas, to compare the relative ecologic degradation caused by two major mass extinctions. The Late Ordovician and Late Devonian mass extinctions produced similar taxonomic losses (marine families declined 22% and 21%, respectively). However, our analyses show that whereas the Late Ordovician extinction resulted in only minimal permanent ecological change, the Late Devonian extinction resulted in the complete restructuring of many components of the marine ecosystem. Thus, the large-scale taxonomic and ecological significance of these extinction events are decoupled, implying that some taxa are ecologically more critical than others.
Key Words: paleoecological levels • Devonian mass extinction • Ordovician mass extinction
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  K. M. LAYOU ECOLOGICAL RESTRUCTURING AFTER EXTINCTION: THE LATE ORDOVICIAN (MOHAWKIAN) OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES Palaios, February 1, 2009; 24(2): 118 - 130. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. C. Wang and A. M. Bush Adjusting global extinction rates to account for taxonomic susceptibility Paleobiology, December 1, 2008; 34(4): 434 - 455. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. H. Erwin Colloquium Paper: Extinction as the loss of evolutionary history PNAS, August 12, 2008; 105(Supplement_1): 11520 - 11527. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. Mander, R. J. Twitchett, and M. J. Benton Palaeoecology of the Late Triassic extinction event in the SW UK Journal of the Geological Society, January 1, 2008; 165(1): 319 - 332. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. C. McElwain, M. E. Popa, S. P. Hesselbo, M. Haworth, and F. Surlyk Macroecological responses of terrestrial vegetation to climatic and atmospheric change across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary in East Greenland Paleobiology, December 1, 2007; 33(4): 547 - 573. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. L. Fraiser and D. J. Bottjer When bivalves took over the world Paleobiology, June 1, 2007; 33(3): 397 - 413. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Z. Krug and M. E. Patzkowsky Geographic variation in turnover and recovery from the Late Ordovician mass extinction Paleobiology, June 1, 2007; 33(3): 435 - 454. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. N. OLCOTT THE UTILITY OF LIPID BIOMARKERS AS PALEOENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS Palaios, March 1, 2007; 22(2): 111 - 113. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. E. CLAPHAM, D. J. BOTTJER, C. M. POWERS, N. BONUSO, M. L. FRAISER, P. J. MARENCO, S. Q. DORNBOS, and S. B. PRUSS ASSESSING THE ECOLOGICAL DOMINANCE OF PHANEROZOIC MARINE INVERTEBRATES Palaios, October 1, 2006; 21(5): 431 - 441. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. D. Roopnarine Extinction cascades and catastrophe in ancient food webs Paleobiology, January 1, 2006; 32(1): 1 - 19. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. Jablonski Mass extinctions and macroevolution Paleobiology, June 1, 2005; 31(2_Suppl): 192 - 210. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Z. Krug and M. E. Patzkowsky Rapid recovery from the Late Ordovician mass extinction PNAS, December 21, 2004; 101(51): 17605 - 17610. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Origination, extinction, and mass depletions of marine diversity Paleobiology, December 1, 2004; 30(4): 522 - 542.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R.J. Twitchett, L. Krystyn, A. Baud, J.R. Wheeley, and S. Richoz Rapid marine recovery after the end-Permian mass-extinction event in the absence of marine anoxia Geology, September 1, 2004; 32(9): 805 - 808. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. I. Miller and M. Foote Increased Longevities of Post-Paleozoic Marine Genera After Mass Extinctions Science, November 7, 2003; 302(5647): 1030 - 1032. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. W. Owen and J. A. Crame Palaeobiogeography and the Ordovician and Mesozoic-Cenozoic biotic radiations Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2002; 194(1): 1 - 11. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. P. Smith, P. C. J. Donoghue, and I. J. Sansom The spatial and temporal diversification of Early Palaeozoic vertebrates Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2002; 194(1): 69 - 83. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
H. A. Armstrong and A. W. Owen Euconodont diversity changes in a cooling and closing Iapetus Ocean Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2002; 194(1): 85 - 98. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
| JOURNAL HOME | HELP | CONTACT PUBLISHER | SUBSCRIBE | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
