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Environmental drivers of crocodyliform extinction across the Jurassic/Cretaceous transition.
Proc Biol Sci. 2016 03 16; 283(1826):20152840.PB

Abstract

Crocodyliforms have a much richer evolutionary history than represented by their extant descendants, including several independent marine and terrestrial radiations during the Mesozoic. However, heterogeneous sampling of their fossil record has obscured their macroevolutionary dynamics, and obfuscated attempts to reconcile external drivers of these patterns. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of crocodyliform biodiversity through the Jurassic/Cretaceous (J/K) transition using subsampling and phylogenetic approaches and apply maximum-likelihood methods to fit models of extrinsic variables to assess what mediated these patterns. A combination of fluctuations in sea-level and episodic perturbations to the carbon and sulfur cycles was primarily responsible for both a marine and non-marine crocodyliform biodiversity decline through the J/K boundary, primarily documented in Europe. This was tracked by high extinction rates at the boundary and suppressed origination rates throughout the Early Cretaceous. The diversification of Eusuchia and Notosuchia likely emanated from the easing of ecological pressure resulting from the biodiversity decline, which also culminated in the extinction of the marine thalattosuchians in the late Early Cretaceous. Through application of rigorous techniques for estimating biodiversity, our results demonstrate that it is possible to tease apart the complex array of controls on diversification patterns in major archosaur clades.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Tennant JP
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW6 2AZ, UK jonathan.tennant10@imperial.ac.uk.
Mannion PD
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW6 2AZ, UK.
Upchurch P
Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.

MeSH

Alligators and CrocodilesAnimalsBiodiversityBiological EvolutionEnvironmentExtinction, BiologicalPaleontology

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

26962137

Citation

Tennant, Jonathan P., et al. "Environmental Drivers of Crocodyliform Extinction Across the Jurassic/Cretaceous Transition." Proceedings. Biological Sciences, vol. 283, no. 1826, 2016, p. 20152840.
Tennant JP, Mannion PD, Upchurch P. Environmental drivers of crocodyliform extinction across the Jurassic/Cretaceous transition. Proc Biol Sci. 2016;283(1826):20152840.
Tennant, J. P., Mannion, P. D., & Upchurch, P. (2016). Environmental drivers of crocodyliform extinction across the Jurassic/Cretaceous transition. Proceedings. Biological Sciences, 283(1826), 20152840. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2840
Tennant JP, Mannion PD, Upchurch P. Environmental Drivers of Crocodyliform Extinction Across the Jurassic/Cretaceous Transition. Proc Biol Sci. 2016 03 16;283(1826):20152840. PubMed PMID: 26962137.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Environmental drivers of crocodyliform extinction across the Jurassic/Cretaceous transition. AU - Tennant,Jonathan P, AU - Mannion,Philip D, AU - Upchurch,Paul, PY - 2016/3/11/entrez PY - 2016/3/11/pubmed PY - 2016/12/15/medline KW - Crocodylomorpha KW - Neosuchia KW - Notosuchia KW - Thalattosuchia KW - phylogenetic diversity estimate KW - shareholder quorum subsampling SP - 20152840 EP - 20152840 JF - Proceedings. Biological sciences JO - Proc Biol Sci VL - 283 IS - 1826 N2 - Crocodyliforms have a much richer evolutionary history than represented by their extant descendants, including several independent marine and terrestrial radiations during the Mesozoic. However, heterogeneous sampling of their fossil record has obscured their macroevolutionary dynamics, and obfuscated attempts to reconcile external drivers of these patterns. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of crocodyliform biodiversity through the Jurassic/Cretaceous (J/K) transition using subsampling and phylogenetic approaches and apply maximum-likelihood methods to fit models of extrinsic variables to assess what mediated these patterns. A combination of fluctuations in sea-level and episodic perturbations to the carbon and sulfur cycles was primarily responsible for both a marine and non-marine crocodyliform biodiversity decline through the J/K boundary, primarily documented in Europe. This was tracked by high extinction rates at the boundary and suppressed origination rates throughout the Early Cretaceous. The diversification of Eusuchia and Notosuchia likely emanated from the easing of ecological pressure resulting from the biodiversity decline, which also culminated in the extinction of the marine thalattosuchians in the late Early Cretaceous. Through application of rigorous techniques for estimating biodiversity, our results demonstrate that it is possible to tease apart the complex array of controls on diversification patterns in major archosaur clades. SN - 1471-2954 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/26962137/Environmental_drivers_of_crocodyliform_extinction_across_the_Jurassic/Cretaceous_transition_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -