The rise of the ruling reptiles and ecosystem recovery from the Permo-Triassic mass extinction.

ABSTRACT: One of the key faunal transitions in Earth history occurred after the Permo-Triassic mass extinction (ca 252.2 Ma), when the previously obscure archosauromorphs (which include crocodylians, dinosaurs and birds) become the dominant terrestrial vertebrates. Here, we place all known middle Permian-early Late Triassic archosauromorph species into an explicit phylogenetic context, and quantify biodiversity change through this interval. Our results indicate the following sequence of diversification: a morphologically conservative and globally distributed post-extinction 'disaster fauna'; a major but cryptic and poorly sampled phylogenetic diversification with significantly elevated evolutionary rates; and a marked increase in species counts, abundance, and disparity contemporaneous with global e

SUBMITTER: Ezcurra MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6015845 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature