Sea level regulated tetrapod diversity dynamics through the Jurassic/Cretaceous interval.

ABSTRACT: Reconstructing deep time trends in biodiversity remains a central goal for palaeobiologists, but our understanding of the magnitude and tempo of extinctions and radiations is confounded by uneven sampling of the fossil record. In particular, the Jurassic/Cretaceous (J/K) boundary, 145 million years ago, remains poorly understood, despite an apparent minor extinction and the radiation of numerous important clades. Here we apply a rigorous subsampling approach to a comprehensive tetrapod fossil occurrence data set to assess the group's macroevolutionary dynamics through the J/K transition. Although much of the signal is exclusively European, almost every higher tetrapod group was affected by a substantial decline across the boundary, culminating in the extinction of several important clades

SUBMITTER: Tennant JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5025807 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature