The Late Ordovician mass extinction event is the oldest of the five great extinction events in the fossil record. It has long been regarded as an outlier among mass extinctions, primarily due to its association with a cooling climate. However, recent temporally better resolved fossil biodiversity estimates complicate this view, providing growing evidence for a prolonged but punctuated biodiversity decline modulated by changes in atmospheric composition, ocean chemistry, and viable habitat area. This evolving view invokes extinction drivers similar to those that occurred during other major extinctions; some are even factors in the current human-induced biodiversity crisis. Even this very ancient and, at first glance, exceptional event conveys important lessons about the intensifying 'sixth mass extinction'.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.04.009 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Organic matter accumulation under the Middle-Upper Ordovician tectonic transition on the western margin of the North China platform.
Sci Rep
November 2024
State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi'an, 710069, Shaanxi, China.
The tectonic of the Middle and Late Ordovician in the western margin of the north China Platform is complex, and the accumulation models of organic matter of the Wulalike Formation formed during this period are still unclear. Total organic carbon (TOC) content, mineral composition, organic carbon isotope composition, as well as the major and trace elements in the shale samples were all measured in this study. The Wulalike Formation was formed during a tectonic transition from a passive continental margin to an active continental margin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDistinct causes underlie double-peaked trilobite morphological disparity in cephalic shape.
Commun Biol
November 2024
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Trilobite cephalic shape disparity varied through geological time and was integral to their ecological niche diversity, and so is widely used for taxonomic assignments. To fully appreciate trilobite cephalic evolution, we must understand how this disparity varies and the factors responsible. We explore trilobite cephalic disparity using a dataset of 983 cephalon outlines of c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFU-Pb geochronology of carbonate-hosted Pb-Zn ores reveals plate-tectonic evolution of eastern Asia during the early Paleozoic.
Sci Rep
October 2024
Sichuan Chuangyuan Microspectrum Technology Co., Ltd, Chengdu, 610300, China.
Article Synopsis
- * In the Yangtze Craton, significant zinc-lead deposits (over 60 million tons) present challenges for dating mineralization, which this study addresses using LA-ICP-MS U-Pb geochronology on calcites from Lower Cambrian limestone.
- * Findings revealed three calcite formation periods linked to mineralization events, connecting lead-zinc formation to the assembly of Gondwana and the Jiangnan Uplift, while showcasing the effectiveness of U-Pb dating for carbonate
The tectonic background and sedimentary environment during the transition period from the Ordovician to Silurian have been widely studied by many scholars. This study focuses on the Upper Ordovician Wufeng Formation and Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation in the Bajiaokou profile at the southern margin of the Qinling Orogenic Belt in southern China. In order to study the aggregation mechanism of organic matter, geochemical proxies were proposed, including redox proxies (V, V/Al, U, U/Al, Mo, and Mo/Al), paleoproductivity proxies (P, P/Ti, Ba, Ba/Al, and Si), paleoclimate proxies (CIA), and terrigenous flux proxies (Al, Zr, and Zr/Al).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLate Ordovician eurypterid preserves oldest euchelicerate musculature in pyrite.
Biol Lett
July 2024
Division of Paleontology (Invertebrates), American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA.
Pyritization of soft tissues of invertebrates is rare in the fossil record. In New York State, it occurs in black shales of the Lorraine Group (Late Ordovician), the best-known example of which is Beecher's Trilobite Bed. Exceptional preservation at the quarry where this bed is exposed allowed detailed examination of trilobite and ostracod soft-tissue anatomy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!