The latitudinal diversity gradient of tetrapods across the Permo-Triassic mass extinction and recovery interval.

ABSTRACT: The decline in species richness from the equator to the poles is referred to as the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG). Higher equatorial diversity has been recognized for over 200 years, but the consistency of this pattern in deep time remains uncertain. Examination of spatial biodiversity patterns in the past across different global climate regimes and continental configurations can reveal how LDGs have varied over Earth history and potentially differentiate between suggested causal mechanisms. The Late Permian-Middle Triassic represents an ideal time interval for study, because it is characterized by large-scale volcanic episodes, extreme greenhouse temperatures and the most severe mass extinction event in Earth history. We examined terrestrial and marine tetrapod spatial biodiversity

SUBMITTER: Allen BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7329043 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature