Is the relative thickness of ammonoid septa influenced by ocean acidification, phylogenetic relationships and palaeogeographic position?

ABSTRACT: The impact of increasing atmospheric CO₂ and the resulting decreasing pH of seawater are in the focus of current environmental research. These factors cause problems for marine calcifiers such as reduced calcification rates and the dissolution of calcareous skeletons. While the impact on recent organisms is well established, little is known about long-term evolutionary consequences. Here, we assessed whether ammonoids reacted to environmental change by changing septal thickness. We measured the septal thickness of ammonoid phragmocones through ontogeny in order to test the hypothesis that atmospheric pCO₂, seawater pH and other factors affected aragonite biomineralisation in ammonoids. Particularly, we studied septal thickness of ammonoids before and after the

SUBMITTER: Weber C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9016059 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature