Journal
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
Volume 400, Issue -, Pages 9-16Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.07.026
Keywords
Triassic; Marine reptile; Durophagy; Sea level; Extinction; Strontium isotopes
Funding
- University of California, Davis
- Cordell and Helen Durrell Memorial Fund of UCD Department of Geology, Geological Society of America Student Research Grant
- National Science Foundation [EAR 0551024]
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The relationship between cycles of sea-level change and marine diversity has long been the subject of debate. Large predators may be particularly sensitive to changes in habitat availability and marine productivity driven by changes in sea-level, especially those dependent on nearshore benthic food resources. To test this relationship, we compared the proportional diversity of differing marine reptile ecotypes through the Triassic with the isotopic composition of seawater strontium (Sr-87/Sr-86), a geochemical index linked to tectonically controlled sea-level change. The proportional abundance of marine reptiles adapted toward a diet of shelled prey rose during times of rapid sea-level rise and fell during times of rapid sea-level fall, while open water forms were more resistant to these changes. Our results indicate that the rate of sea-level change, rather than the absolute magnitude of sea-level or flooded shelf area, played a role in shaping patterns of ecological diversification and ecologically selective extinction during the Triassic. The link between the isotopic composition of seawater strontium and the evolution of marine reptiles demonstrates that sea-level change played an important role in the structuring of marine ecosystems over geologic time. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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