Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 285, Issue 1880, Pages -Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0361
Keywords
adaptive radiation; biotic crisis; morphological disparity; evolutionary rates; Diapsida; Archosauromorpha
Categories
Funding
- DFG Emmy Noether Programme [BU 2587/3-1]
- Marie Curie Career Integration Grant [630123 ARCHOSAUR RISE]
- National Geographic Society Young Explorers Grant [9467-14]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
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 ecosystem stabilization some 5 million years after the extinction. This multiphase event transformed global ecosystems, with far-reaching consequences for Mesozoic and modern faunas.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available