Progress to extinction: increased specialisation causes the demise of animal clades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raia, P.; Carotenuto, F.; Mondanaro, A.; Castiglione, S.; Passaro, F.; Saggese, F.; Melchionna, M.; Serio, C.; Alessio, L.; Silvestro, D.; Fortelius, M.

2016-08-01

Animal clades tend to follow a predictable path of waxing and waning during their existence, regardless of their total species richness or geographic coverage. Clades begin small and undifferentiated, then expand to a peak in diversity and range, only to shift into a rarely broken decline towards extinction. While this trajectory is now well documented and broadly recognised, the reasons underlying it remain obscure. In particular, it is unknown why clade extinction is universal and occurs with such surprising regularity. Current explanations for paleontological extinctions call on the growing costs of biological interactions, geological accidents, evolutionary traps, and mass extinctions. While these are effective causes of extinction, they mainly apply to species, not clades. Although mass extinctions is the undeniable cause for the demise of a sizeable number of major taxa, we show here that clades escaping them go extinct because of the widespread tendency of evolution to produce increasingly specialised, sympatric, and geographically restricted species over time.

Climate modelling of mass-extinction events: a review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feulner, Georg

2009-07-01

Despite tremendous interest in the topic and decades of research, the origins of the major losses of biodiversity in the history of life on Earth remain elusive. A variety of possible causes for these mass-extinction events have been investigated, including impacts of asteroids or comets, large-scale volcanic eruptions, effects from changes in the distribution of continents caused by plate tectonics, and biological factors, to name but a few. Many of these suggested drivers involve or indeed require changes of Earth's climate, which then affect the biosphere of our planet, causing a global reduction in the diversity of biological species. It can be argued, therefore, that a detailed understanding of these climatic variations and their effects on ecosystems are prerequisites for a solution to the enigma of biological extinctions. Apart from investigations of the paleoclimate data of the time periods of mass extinctions, climate-modelling experiments should be able to shed some light on these dramatic events. Somewhat surprisingly, however, only a few comprehensive modelling studies of the climate changes associated with extinction events have been undertaken. These studies will be reviewed in this paper. Furthermore, the role of modelling in extinction research in general and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Mass Extinctions Past and Present.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allmon, Warren Douglas

1987-01-01

Discusses some parallels that seem to exist between mass extinction recognizable in the geologic record and the impending extinction of a significant proportion of the earth's species due largely to tropical deforestation. Describes some recent theories of causal factors and periodicities in mass extinction. (Author/TW)

Environmental conditions as the cause of the great mass extinction of marine organisms in the Late Devonian

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barash, M. S.

2017-08-01

During the Late Devonian extinction, 70-82% of all marine species disappeared. The main causes of this mass extinction include tectonic activity, climate and sea-level fluctuations, volcanism, and the collision of the Earth with cosmic bodies (impact events). The major causes are considered to be volcanism accompanying formation of the Viluy traps and, probably, basaltic magmatism in the Southern Urals, alkaline magmatism within the East European platform, and volcanism in northern Iran and northern and southern China. Several large impact craters of Late Devonian age have been documented in different parts of the world. The available data indicate that this time period on the Earth was marked by two major sequences of events: terrestrial events that resulted in extensive volcanism and cosmic (or impact) events. They produced similar effects such as emissions of harmful chemical compounds and aerosols to cause greenhouse warming and the darkening of the atmosphere, which prevented photosynthesis and cause ocean stagnation and anoxia. This disrupted the food chain and reduced ecosystem productivity. As a result, all vital processes were disturbed and a large part of the marine biota became extinct.

What caused the mass extinction An extraterrestrial impact

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alvarez, W.; Asaro, F.

1990-10-01

The authors and other investigators discovered iridium in the clays that mark the sudden disappearance of dinosaurs from the fossil record. Because iridium is rare in the earth's crust but abundant in some meteorites, they concluded that a giant meteorite collided with the earth, hurling megatons of debris into the atmosphere. This paper describes and discusses the accumulating evidence that suggests an asteroid or comet caused the Cretaceous extinction.

Mass extinctions in the deep sea

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, E.

1988-01-01

The character of mass extinctions can be assessed by studying extinction patterns of organisms, the fabric of the extinction, and assessing the environmental niche and mode of life of survivors. Deep-sea benthic foraminifera have been listed as little affected by the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) mass extinction, but very few quantitative data are available. New data on deep-sea Late Maestrichtian-Eocene benthic foraminifera from Maud Rise (Antractica) indicate that about 10 percent of the species living at depths of 2000 to 2500 m had last appearances within 1 my of the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary, versus about 25 percent of species at 1000 to 1500 m. Many survivors from the Cretaceous became extinct in a period of global deep-sea benthic foraminiferal extinction at the end of the Paleocene, a time otherwise marked by very few extinctions. Preliminary conclusions suggest that the deep oceanic environment is essentially decoupled from the shallow marine and terrestrial environment, and that even major disturbances of one of these will not greatly affect the other. This gives deep-sea benthic faunas a good opportunity to recolonize shallow environments from greater depths and vice versa after massive extinctions. The decoupling means that data on deep-sea benthic boundary was caused by the environmental effects of asteriod impact or excessive volcanism. The benthic foraminiferal data strongly suggest, however, that the environmental results were strongest at the Earth's surface, and that there was no major disturbance of the deep ocean; this pattern might result both from excessive volcanism and from an impact on land.

Changes in environmental conditions as the cause of the marine biota Great Mass Extinction at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barash, M. S.

2016-02-01

In the interval of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, 80% of the marine species became extinct. Four main hypotheses about the causes of this mass extinction are considered: volcanism, climatic oscillations, sea level variations accompanied by anoxia, and asteroid impact events. The extinction was triggered by an extensive flooding of basalts in the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. Furthermore, a number of meteoritic craters have been found. Under the effect of cosmic causes, two main sequences of events developed on the Earth: terrestrial ones, leading to intensive volcanism, and cosmic ones (asteroid impacts). Their aftermaths, however, were similar in terms of the chemical compounds and aerosols released. As a consequence, the greenhouse effect, dimming of the atmosphere (impeding photosynthesis), ocean stagnation, and anoxia emerged. Then, biological productivity decreased and food chains were destroyed. Thus, the entire ecosystem was disturbed and a considerable part of the biota became extinct.

Limits to biodiversity cycles from a unified model of mass-extinction events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feulner, Georg

2011-04-01

Episodes of species mass extinction dramatically affected the evolution of life on Earth, but their causes remain a source of debate. Even more controversy surrounds the hypothesis of periodicity in the fossil record, with conflicting views still being published in the scientific literature, often even based on the same state-of-the-art datasets. From an empirical point of view, limitations of the currently available data on extinctions and possible causes remain an important issue. From a theoretical point of view, it is likely that a focus on single extinction causes and strong periodic forcings has strongly contributed to this controversy. Here I show that if there is a periodic extinction signal at all, it is much more likely to result from a combination of a comparatively weak periodic cause and various random factors. Tests of this unified model of mass extinctions on the available data show that the model is formally better than a model with random extinction causes only. However, the contribution of the periodic component is small compared to factors such as impacts or volcanic eruptions.

Mass extinctions: Ecological selectivity and primary production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rhodes, Melissa Clark; Thayer, Charles W.

1991-09-01

If mass extinctions were caused by reduced primary productivity, then extinctions should be concentrated among animals with starvation-susceptible feeding modes, active lifestyles, and high-energy budgets. The stratigraphic ranges (by stage) of 424 genera of bivalves and 309 genera of articulate brachiopods suggest that there was an unusual reduction of primary productivity at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary extinction. For bivalves at the K/T, there were (1) selective extinction of suspension feeders and other susceptible trophic categories relative to deposit feeders and other resistant categories, and (2) among suspension feed-ers, selective extinction of bivalves with active locomotion. During the Permian-Triassic (P/Tr) extinction and Jurassic background time, extinction rates among suspension feeders were greater for articulate brachiopods than for bivalves. But during the K/T event, extinction rates of articulates and suspension-feeding bivalves equalized, possibly because the low-energy budgets of articulates gave them an advantage when food was scarce.

The end-triassic mass extinction event

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hallam, A.

1988-01-01

The end-Triassic is the least studied of the five major episodes of mass extinction recognized in the Phanerozoic, and the Triassic-Jurassic boundary is not precisely defined in most parts of the world, with a paucity of good marine sections and an insufficiency of biostratigraphically valuable fossils. Despite these limitations it is clear that there was a significant episode of mass extinction, affecting many groups, in the Late Norian and the existing facts are consistent with it having taken place at the very end of the period. The best record globally comes from marine strata. There was an almost complete turnover of ammonites across the T-J boundary, with perhaps no more than one genus surviving. About half the bivalve genera and most of the species went extinct, as did many archaeogastropods. Many Paleozoic-dominant brachiopods also disappeared, as did the last of the conodonts. There was a major collapse and disappearance of the Alpine calcareous sponge. Among terrestrial biota, a significant extinction event involving tetrapods was recognized. With regard to possible environmental events that may be postulated to account for the extinctions, there is no evidence of any significant global change of climate at this time. The existence of the large Manicouagan crater in Quebec, dated as about late or end-Triassic, has led to the suggestion that an impact event might be implicated, but so far despite intensive search no unequivocal iridium anomaly or shocked quartz was discovered. On the other hand there is strong evidence for significant marine regression in many parts of the world. It is proposed therefore that the likeliest cause of the marine extinctions is severe reduction in habitat area caused either by regression of epicontinental seas, subsequent widespread anoxia during the succeeding transgression, or a combination of the two.

Ecological selectivity of the emerging mass extinction in the oceans.

PubMed

Payne, Jonathan L; Bush, Andrew M; Heim, Noel A; Knope, Matthew L; McCauley, Douglas J

2016-09-16

To better predict the ecological and evolutionary effects of the emerging biodiversity crisis in the modern oceans, we compared the association between extinction threat and ecological traits in modern marine animals to associations observed during past extinction events using a database of 2497 marine vertebrate and mollusc genera. We find that extinction threat in the modern oceans is strongly associated with large body size, whereas past extinction events were either nonselective or preferentially removed smaller-bodied taxa. Pelagic animals were victimized more than benthic animals during previous mass extinctions but are not preferentially threatened in the modern ocean. The differential importance of large-bodied animals to ecosystem function portends greater future ecological disruption than that caused by similar levels of taxonomic loss in past mass extinction events. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Effect of climate-related mass extinctions on escalation in molluscs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansen, Thor A.; Kelley, Patricia H.; Melland, Vicky D.; Graham, Scott E.

1999-12-01

We test the hypothesis that escalated species (e.g., those with antipredatory adaptations such as heavy armor) are more vulnerable to extinctions caused by changes in climate. If this hypothesis is valid, recovery faunas after climate-related extinctions should include significantly fewer species with escalated shell characteristics, and escalated species should undergo greater rates of extinction than nonescalated species. This hypothesis is tested for the Cretaceous-Paleocene, Eocene-Oligocene, middle Miocene, and Pliocene-Pleistocene mass extinctions. Gastropod and bivalve molluscs from the U.S. coastal plain were evaluated for 10 shell characters that confer resistance to predators. Of 40 tests, one supported the hypothesis; highly ornamented gastropods underwent greater levels of Pliocene-Pleistocene extinction than did nonescalated species. All remaining tests were nonsignificant. The hypothesis that escalated species are more vulnerable to climate-related mass extinctions is not supported.

Periodicity of mass extinctions without an extraterrestrial cause.

PubMed

Lipowski, Adam

2005-05-01

We study a lattice model of a multispecies prey-predator system. Numerical results show that for a small mutation rate the model develops irregular long-period oscillatory behavior with sizeable changes in a number of species. The periodicity of extinctions on Earth was suggested by Raup and Sepkoski [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 81, 801 (1984)], but thus far is lacking a satisfactory explanation. Our model indicates that this might be a natural consequence of the ecosystem dynamics and not the result of any extraterrestrial cause.

Periodic Comet Showers, Mass Extinctions, and the Galaxy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rampino, M. R.; Stothers, R. B.

2000-01-01

Geologic data on mass extinctions of life and evidence of large impacts on the Earth are thus far consistent with a quasi-periodic modulation of the flux of Oort cloud comets. Impacts of large comets and asteroids are capable of causing mass extinction of species, and the records of large impact craters and mass show a correlation. Impacts and extinctions display periods in the range of approximately 31 +/- 5 m.y., depending on dating methods, published time scales, length of record, and number of events analyzed. Statistical studies show that observed differences in the formal periodicity of extinctions and craters are to be expected, taking into consideration problems in dating and the likelihood that both records would be mixtures of periodic and random events. These results could be explained by quasi-periodic showers of Oort Cloud comets with a similar cycle. The best candidate for a pacemaker for comet showers is the Sun's vertical oscillation through the plane of the Galaxy, with a half-period over the last 250 million years in the same range. We originally suggested that the probability of encounters with molecular clouds that could perturb the Oort comet cloud and cause comet showers is modulated by the Sun's vertical motion through the galactic disk. Tidal forces produced by the overall gravitational field of the Galaxy can also cause perturbations of cometary orbits. Since these forces vary with the changing position of the solar system in the Galaxy, they provide a mechanism for the periodic variation in the flux of Oort cloud comets into the inner solar system. The cycle time and degree of modulation depend critically on the mass distribution in the galactic disk. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Accelerated modern human-induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction.

PubMed

Ceballos, Gerardo; Ehrlich, Paul R; Barnosky, Anthony D; García, Andrés; Pringle, Robert M; Palmer, Todd M

2015-06-01

The oft-repeated claim that Earth's biota is entering a sixth "mass extinction" depends on clearly demonstrating that current extinction rates are far above the "background" rates prevailing between the five previous mass extinctions. Earlier estimates of extinction rates have been criticized for using assumptions that might overestimate the severity of the extinction crisis. We assess, using extremely conservative assumptions, whether human activities are causing a mass extinction. First, we use a recent estimate of a background rate of 2 mammal extinctions per 10,000 species per 100 years (that is, 2 E/MSY), which is twice as high as widely used previous estimates. We then compare this rate with the current rate of mammal and vertebrate extinctions. The latter is conservatively low because listing a species as extinct requires meeting stringent criteria. Even under our assumptions, which would tend to minimize evidence of an incipient mass extinction, the average rate of vertebrate species loss over the last century is up to 100 times higher than the background rate. Under the 2 E/MSY background rate, the number of species that have gone extinct in the last century would have taken, depending on the vertebrate taxon, between 800 and 10,000 years to disappear. These estimates reveal an exceptionally rapid loss of biodiversity over the last few centuries, indicating that a sixth mass extinction is already under way. Averting a dramatic decay of biodiversity and the subsequent loss of ecosystem services is still possible through intensified conservation efforts, but that window of opportunity is rapidly closing.

Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction

PubMed Central

Ceballos, Gerardo; Ehrlich, Paul R.; Barnosky, Anthony D.; García, Andrés; Pringle, Robert M.; Palmer, Todd M.

2015-01-01

The oft-repeated claim that Earth’s biota is entering a sixth “mass extinction” depends on clearly demonstrating that current extinction rates are far above the “background” rates prevailing between the five previous mass extinctions. Earlier estimates of extinction rates have been criticized for using assumptions that might overestimate the severity of the extinction crisis. We assess, using extremely conservative assumptions, whether human activities are causing a mass extinction. First, we use a recent estimate of a background rate of 2 mammal extinctions per 10,000 species per 100 years (that is, 2 E/MSY), which is twice as high as widely used previous estimates. We then compare this rate with the current rate of mammal and vertebrate extinctions. The latter is conservatively low because listing a species as extinct requires meeting stringent criteria. Even under our assumptions, which would tend to minimize evidence of an incipient mass extinction, the average rate of vertebrate species loss over the last century is up to 100 times higher than the background rate. Under the 2 E/MSY background rate, the number of species that have gone extinct in the last century would have taken, depending on the vertebrate taxon, between 800 and 10,000 years to disappear. These estimates reveal an exceptionally rapid loss of biodiversity over the last few centuries, indicating that a sixth mass extinction is already under way. Averting a dramatic decay of biodiversity and the subsequent loss of ecosystem services is still possible through intensified conservation efforts, but that window of opportunity is rapidly closing. PMID:26601195

How does climate change cause extinction?

PubMed Central

Cahill, Abigail E.; Aiello-Lammens, Matthew E.; Fisher-Reid, M. Caitlin; Hua, Xia; Karanewsky, Caitlin J.; Yeong Ryu, Hae; Sbeglia, Gena C.; Spagnolo, Fabrizio; Waldron, John B.; Warsi, Omar; Wiens, John J.

2013-01-01

Anthropogenic climate change is predicted to be a major cause of species extinctions in the next 100 years. But what will actually cause these extinctions? For example, will it be limited physiological tolerance to high temperatures, changing biotic interactions or other factors? Here, we systematically review the proximate causes of climate-change related extinctions and their empirical support. We find 136 case studies of climatic impacts that are potentially relevant to this topic. However, only seven identified proximate causes of demonstrated local extinctions due to anthropogenic climate change. Among these seven studies, the proximate causes vary widely. Surprisingly, none show a straightforward relationship between local extinction and limited tolerances to high temperature. Instead, many studies implicate species interactions as an important proximate cause, especially decreases in food availability. We find very similar patterns in studies showing decreases in abundance associated with climate change, and in those studies showing impacts of climatic oscillations. Collectively, these results highlight our disturbingly limited knowledge of this crucial issue but also support the idea that changing species interactions are an important cause of documented population declines and extinctions related to climate change. Finally, we briefly outline general research strategies for identifying these proximate causes in future studies. PMID:23075836

How does climate change cause extinction?

PubMed

Cahill, Abigail E; Aiello-Lammens, Matthew E; Fisher-Reid, M Caitlin; Hua, Xia; Karanewsky, Caitlin J; Ryu, Hae Yeong; Sbeglia, Gena C; Spagnolo, Fabrizio; Waldron, John B; Warsi, Omar; Wiens, John J

2013-01-07

Anthropogenic climate change is predicted to be a major cause of species extinctions in the next 100 years. But what will actually cause these extinctions? For example, will it be limited physiological tolerance to high temperatures, changing biotic interactions or other factors? Here, we systematically review the proximate causes of climate-change related extinctions and their empirical support. We find 136 case studies of climatic impacts that are potentially relevant to this topic. However, only seven identified proximate causes of demonstrated local extinctions due to anthropogenic climate change. Among these seven studies, the proximate causes vary widely. Surprisingly, none show a straightforward relationship between local extinction and limited tolerances to high temperature. Instead, many studies implicate species interactions as an important proximate cause, especially decreases in food availability. We find very similar patterns in studies showing decreases in abundance associated with climate change, and in those studies showing impacts of climatic oscillations. Collectively, these results highlight our disturbingly limited knowledge of this crucial issue but also support the idea that changing species interactions are an important cause of documented population declines and extinctions related to climate change. Finally, we briefly outline general research strategies for identifying these proximate causes in future studies.

Mass extinction efficiency and extinction hygroscopicity of ambient PM2.5 in urban China.

PubMed

Cheng, Zhen; Ma, Xin; He, Yujie; Jiang, Jingkun; Wang, Xiaoliang; Wang, Yungang; Sheng, Li; Hu, Jiangkai; Yan, Naiqiang

2017-07-01

The ambient PM 2.5 pollution problem in China has drawn substantial international attentions. The mass extinction efficiency (MEE) and hygroscopicity factor (f(RH)) of PM 2.5 can be readily applied to study the impacts on atmospheric visibility and climate. The few previous investigations in China only reported results from pilot studies and are lack of spatial representativeness. In this study, hourly average ambient PM 2.5 mass concentration, relative humidity, and atmospheric visibility data from China national air quality and meteorological monitoring networks were retrieved and analyzed. It includes 24 major Chinese cities from nine city-clusters with the period of October 2013 to September 2014. Annual average extinction coefficient in urban China was 759.3±258.3Mm -1 , mainly caused by dry PM 2.5 (305.8.2±131.0Mm -1 ) and its hygroscopicity (414.6±188.1Mm -1 ). High extinction coefficient values were resulted from both high ambient PM 2.5 concentration (68.5±21.7µg/m 3 ) and high relative humidity (69.7±8.6%). The PM 2.5 mass extinction efficiency varied from 2.87 to 6.64m 2 /g with an average of 4.40±0.84m 2 /g. The average extinction hygroscopic factor f(RH=80%) was 2.63±0.45. The levels of PM 2.5 mass extinction efficiency and hygroscopic factor in China were in comparable range with those found in developed countries in spite of the significant diversities among all 24 cities. Our findings help to establish quantitative relationship between ambient extinction coefficient (visual range) and PM 2.5 & relative humidity. It will reduce the uncertainty of extinction coefficient estimation of ambient PM 2.5 in urban China which is essential for the research of haze pollution and climate radiative forcing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mass extinction of ocean organisms at the Paleozoic-Mesozoic boundary: Effects and causes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barash, M. S.

2012-04-01

At the end of the Permian, at the boundary between the Paleozoic and Mesozoic (251.0 ± 0.4 Ma), the largest mass extinction of organisms on the Earth occurred. Up to 96% of the species of marine invertebrates and ˜70% of the terrestrial vertebrates died off. A lot of factors were suggested and substantiated to explain this mass mortality, such as the disappearance of environmental niches in the course of the amalgamation of the continental plates into Pangea, sea level fluctuations, anoxia, an elevated CO2 content, H2S intoxication, volcanism, methane discharge from gas-hydrates, climate changes, impact events (collisions with large asteroids), or combinations of many of these reasons. Some of these factors are in subordination to others, while others are independent. Almost all of these factors developed relatively slowly and could not cause the sudden mass mortality of organisms globally. It could have happened when large asteroids, whose craters have been discovered lately, fell to the Earth. It is suggested that the impact events "finished off" the already suppressed biota. A simultaneous change in many of the factors responsible for the biodiversity, including those not connected in a cause-and-effect relationship, proves the existence of a common extrater-restrial cause that affected both the changes in the internal and external geospheres and the activation of asteroid attacks (the Sun's transit of spiral arms of our galaxy, the Sun's oscillations perpendicularly to the galactic plane, etc).

Organic-Chemical Clues to the Theory of Impacts as a Cause of Mass Extinctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sack, N. J.

1988-11-01

The reasons for the mass extinctions, which occur from time to time in Earth's history-as, e.g., the dinosaur extinction at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary 65 myr ago - are still not satisfactorily cleared up. A possible reason might be the impact of one or several comets of several kilometers in diameter. In this paper the astrophysical background of this hypothesis and organic-chemical processes during an impact will be discussed. Quantitative estimations are given, which show that the amount of organic substances brought to the Earth may be of the same order of magnitude as the normal biological production of organic material. Investigations are proposed to examine the organic-chemical composition of profiles of the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary and other boundaries, at which mass extinction had occurred, in order to find anomalies as consequences of impacts.

The biology of mass extinction: a palaeontological view

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jablonski, D.; Raup, D. M. (Principal Investigator)

1989-01-01

Extinctions are not biologically random: certain taxa or functional/ecological groups are more extinction-prone than others. Analysis of molluscan survivorship patterns for the end-Cretaceous mass extinctions suggests that some traits that tend to confer extinction resistance during times of normal ('background') levels of extinction are ineffectual during mass extinction. For genera, high species-richness and possession of widespread individual species imparted extinction-resistance during background times but not during the mass extinction, when overall distribution of the genus was an important factor. Reanalysis of Hoffman's (1986) data (Neues Jb. Geol. Palaont. Abh. 172, 219) on European bivalves, and preliminary analysis of a new northern European data set, reveals a similar change in survivorship rules, as do data scattered among other taxa and extinction events. Thus taxa and adaptations can be lost not because they were poorly adapted by the standards of the background processes that constitute the bulk of geological time, but because they lacked--or were not linked to--the organismic, species-level or clade-level traits favoured under mass-extinction conditions. Mass extinctions can break the hegemony of species-rich, well-adapted clades and thereby permit radiation of taxa that had previously been minor faunal elements; no net increase in the adaptation of the biota need ensue. Although some large-scale evolutionary trends transcend mass extinctions, post extinction evolutionary pathways are often channelled in directions not predictable from evolutionary patters during background times.

Mass extinction caused by large bolide impacts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alvarez, Luis W.

1987-01-01

A history and development status assessment is presented for the hypothesis that the great extinction of living species 65 million years ago, at the boundary between the Tertiary and Cretaceous geological ages, was due to the collision of a meteoroid, asteroid, or comet with the earth. The initial, deeply suggestive indication of the extraterrestial origin of the extinction-initiating mechanism was the detection of an exceptionally high concentration of iridium at the stratigraphic position of the extinction. Detailed computer modeling of the atmospheric effect of such a bolide impact has shown that the earth would have first grown intensely cold during a period of darkness due to particulate debris clouds in the upper atmosphere, followed by an enormous increase in global temperatures as the debris cleared, created by the persistence of greenhouse-effect gases; this heating would have been especially lethal to numerous forms of life.

The Sixth Great Mass Extinction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagler, Ron

2012-01-01

Five past great mass extinctions have occurred during Earth's history. Humanity is currently in the midst of a sixth, human-induced great mass extinction of plant and animal life (e.g., Alroy 2008; Jackson 2008; Lewis 2006; McDaniel and Borton 2002; Rockstrom et al. 2009; Rohr et al. 2008; Steffen, Crutzen, and McNeill 2007; Thomas et al. 2004;…

Climate change and the selective signature of the Late Ordovician mass extinction.

PubMed

Finnegan, Seth; Heim, Noel A; Peters, Shanan E; Fischer, Woodward W

2012-05-01

Selectivity patterns provide insights into the causes of ancient extinction events. The Late Ordovician mass extinction was related to Gondwanan glaciation; however, it is still unclear whether elevated extinction rates were attributable to record failure, habitat loss, or climatic cooling. We examined Middle Ordovician-Early Silurian North American fossil occurrences within a spatiotemporally explicit stratigraphic framework that allowed us to quantify rock record effects on a per-taxon basis and assay the interplay of macrostratigraphic and macroecological variables in determining extinction risk. Genera that had large proportions of their observed geographic ranges affected by stratigraphic truncation or environmental shifts at the end of the Katian stage were particularly hard hit. The duration of the subsequent sampling gaps had little effect on extinction risk, suggesting that this extinction pulse cannot be entirely attributed to rock record failure; rather, it was caused, in part, by habitat loss. Extinction risk at this time was also strongly influenced by the maximum paleolatitude at which a genus had previously been sampled, a macroecological trait linked to thermal tolerance. A model trained on the relationship between 16 explanatory variables and extinction patterns during the early Katian interval substantially underestimates the extinction of exclusively tropical taxa during the late Katian interval. These results indicate that glacioeustatic sea-level fall and tropical ocean cooling played important roles in the first pulse of the Late Ordovician mass extinction in Laurentia.

Did a Gamma-Ray Burst Initiate the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Melott, A. L.; Lieberman, B. S.; Laird, C. M.; Martin, L. D.; Medvedov, M. V.; Thomas, B. C.; Cannizzo, J. K.; Gehrels, N.; Jackman, C. H.

2004-01-01

Gamma-ray bursts (hereafter GRB) produce a flux of radiation detectable across the observable Universe. A GRB within our own galaxy could do considerable damage to the Earth's biosphere; rate estimates suggest that a dangerously near GRB should occur on average several times per billion years. At leastfive times in the history of lfe, the Earth experienced mass extinctions that eliminated a large percentage of the biota. Many possible causes have been documented, and GRB may also have contributed. The late Ordovician mass extinction approximately 440 million years ago may be at least partly the result of a GRB. Due to severe depletion of the ozone layer, intense solar ultraviolet radiation is expected to result from a nearby GRB, and some of the patterns of extinction and survivorship at this time may be attributable to elevated levels of UV radiation reaching the Earth. In addition a GRB could trigger the global cooling which occurs at the end of the Ordovician period that follows an interval of relatively warm climate. Intense rapid cooling and glaciation at that time, previously identijied as the probable cause of this mass extinction, may have resultedfiom a GRB.

Were all extinction events caused by impacts?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sheehan, P. M.; Coorough, P. J.

1994-01-01

Extraterrestrial impacts are firmly implicated in several of the five major Phanerozoic extinction events. A critical issue now is whether extraterrestrial events have been the only mechanism that produced physical changes of sufficient magnitude to cause major extinction events. While we believe the evidence is overwhelming that the KT extinction event was caused by an impact, we also find that an event of similar or larger size near the end of the Ordovician is best explained by terrestrial causes. The Ordovician extinction event (End-O extinction event) occurred near the end of the Ordovician, but the interval of extinction was completed prior to the newly established Ordovician-Silurian boundary. In spite of extensive field studies, a convincing signature of an associated impact has not been found. However, a prominent glaciation does coincide with the End-O extinction event.

Were all extinction events caused by impacts?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheehan, P. M.; Coorough, P. J.

Extraterrestrial impacts are firmly implicated in several of the five major Phanerozoic extinction events. A critical issue now is whether extraterrestrial events have been the only mechanism that produced physical changes of sufficient magnitude to cause major extinction events. While we believe the evidence is overwhelming that the KT extinction event was caused by an impact, we also find that an event of similar or larger size near the end of the Ordovician is best explained by terrestrial causes. The Ordovician extinction event (End-O extinction event) occurred near the end of the Ordovician, but the interval of extinction was completed prior to the newly established Ordovician-Silurian boundary. In spite of extensive field studies, a convincing signature of an associated impact has not been found. However, a prominent glaciation does coincide with the End-O extinction event.

A sudden end-Permian mass extinction (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, S.

2013-12-01

The end-Permian mass extinction is the largest of the Phanerozoic. In the immediate aftermath the marine ecosystem was dominated by microbial and communities with disaster taxa. Plausible kill mechanism includes an extremely rapid, explosive release of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen sulfide. Siberian flood volcanism has been suggested as the most possible mechanism to trigger the massive release of greenhouse gases from volcanic eruptions and interaction of magmas with carbon from thick organic-rich deposits or rapid venting of coal-derived methane or massive combustion of coal. A sharp δ13C isotopic excursion, rapid disappearance of carbonate benthic communities and δ18O data from conodont apatite suggest rapid global warming. The end-Permian mass extinction occurred in less than 200,000 years. This extinction interval is constrained by two ash beds (Beds 25 and 28) at the Meishan section. However, the extinction patterns remain controversial largely due to the condensed nature of the Meishan sections. Geochemical signals and their interpretations are also contentious. Thus, the level of achievable stratigraphic resolution becomes crucial to determine the nature of the event and a detailed study of the extinction interval is essential to unravel the extinction pattern, chemostratigraphy, and the causes. However, the extinction interval at Meishan is only 26 cm thick and contains distinct gaps at the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) and possibly the base of Bed 25. Thus, it is impossible to resolve a detailed extinction pattern. Studying expanded sections is crucial to understand the detailed events before, during and after the main extinction. In this report, we show a highly-expanded Permian-Triassic boundary section in Guangxi Province, South China. The last 4.5 m between beds 22 and 28 of the Meishan sections is represented by a sequence of ~560 m at the section and the extinction interval between beds 24e and 28 at Meishan is represented

Calcium isotope constraints on the end-Permian mass extinction

PubMed Central

Payne, Jonathan L.; Turchyn, Alexandra V.; Paytan, Adina; DePaolo, Donald J.; Lehrmann, Daniel J.; Yu, Meiyi; Wei, Jiayong

2010-01-01

The end-Permian mass extinction horizon is marked by an abrupt shift in style of carbonate sedimentation and a negative excursion in the carbon isotope (δ13C) composition of carbonate minerals. Several extinction scenarios consistent with these observations have been put forward. Secular variation in the calcium isotope (δ44/40Ca) composition of marine sediments provides a tool for distinguishing among these possibilities and thereby constraining the causes of mass extinction. Here we report δ44/40Ca across the Permian-Triassic boundary from marine limestone in south China. The δ44/40Ca exhibits a transient negative excursion of ∼0.3‰ over a few hundred thousand years or less, which we interpret to reflect a change in the global δ44/40Ca composition of seawater. CO2-driven ocean acidification best explains the coincidence of the δ44/40Ca excursion with negative excursions in the δ13C of carbonates and organic matter and the preferential extinction of heavily calcified marine animals. Calcium isotope constraints on carbon cycle calculations suggest that the average δ13C of CO2 released was heavier than -28‰ and more likely near -15‰; these values indicate a source containing substantial amounts of mantle- or carbonate-derived carbon. Collectively, the results point toward Siberian Trap volcanism as the trigger of mass extinction. PMID:20421502

Deccan Volcanism, Chicxulub Impact, Climate Change and the end-Cretaceous Mass Extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keller, Gerta; Punekar, Jahnavi; Mateo, Paula; Adatte, Thierry; Spangenberg, Jorge

2015-04-01

must take into account both Deccan volcanism and the Chicxulub impact. The age of this impact is controversial though generally assumed to be precisely at the KTB and the sole cause of the mass extinction. This assumption is no longer valid given the short duration of massive Deccan eruptions, and the dramatic climatic and environmental effects over just 250 ky ending with the mass extinction. The pre-KTB age of the Chicxulub impact rules out a direct role in the mass extinction, although the additional CO2 and SO2 emissions likely exacerbated the ongoing Deccan climate warming. The KTB kill mechanism was likely ocean acidification resulting in the carbonate crisis commonly considered the primary cause for four of the five Phanerozoic mass extinctions.

Mass extinctions: Persistent problems and new directions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jablonski, D.

1994-01-01

Few contest that mass extinctions have punctuated the history of life, or that those events were so pervasive environmentally, taxonomically, and geographically that physical forcing factors were probably involved. However, consensus remains elusive on the nature of those factors, and on how a given perturbation - impact, volcanism, sea-level change, or ocean anoxic event - could actually generate the observed intensity and selectivity of biotic losses. At least two basic problems underlie these long-standing disagreements: difficulties in resolving the fine details of taxon ranges and abundances immediately prior to and after an extinction boundary and the scarcity of simple, unitary cause-and-effect relations in complex biological systems.

A Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction? Were most of Earth's species killed off?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Briggs, J. C.

1991-01-01

For the past decade, the scientific and popular press have carried frequent articles about a catastrophic mass extinction that supposedly destroyed the majority of the earth's species, including the dinosaurs, approximately 65 million years ago. Since 1980, more than 2000 papers and books have dealt with some aspect of a mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T) boundary. One authoritative estimate of the severity of the extinctions is that 60-80% of all the living species became extinct at this boundary (Raup 1988). There appears to be a general acceptance of the fact that such a great catastrophe did occur. Most of the argument among scientists now is devoted to the determination of the cause. In this article, I argue that the species changes at the K/T boundary were neither sudden nor catastrophic. They were most likely caused by a regression of sea level that led to a decrease in primary production.

Life in the Aftermath of Mass Extinctions.

PubMed

Hull, Pincelli

2015-10-05

The vast majority of species that have ever lived went extinct sometime other than during one of the great mass extinction events. In spite of this, mass extinctions are thought to have outsized effects on the evolutionary history of life. While part of this effect is certainly due to the extinction itself, I here consider how the aftermaths of mass extinctions might contribute to the evolutionary importance of such events. Following the mass loss of taxa from the fossil record are prolonged intervals of ecological upheaval that create a selective regime unique to those times. The pacing and duration of ecosystem change during extinction aftermaths suggests strong ties between the biosphere and geosphere, and a previously undescribed macroevolutionary driver - earth system succession. Earth system succession occurs when global environmental or biotic change, as occurs across extinction boundaries, pushes the biosphere and geosphere out of equilibrium. As species and ecosystems re-evolve in the aftermath, they change global biogeochemical cycles - and in turn, species and ecosystems - over timescales typical of the geosphere, often many thousands to millions of years. Earth system succession provides a general explanation for the pattern and timing of ecological and evolutionary change in the fossil record. Importantly, it also suggests that a speed limit might exist for the pace of global biotic change after massive disturbance - a limit set by geosphere-biosphere interactions. For mass extinctions, earth system succession may drive the ever-changing ecological stage on which species evolve, restructuring ecosystems and setting long-term evolutionary trajectories as they do. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Isotopic evidence bearing on Late Triassic extinction events, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, and implications for the duration and cause of the Triassic/Jurassic mass extinction

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ward, P.D.; Garrison, G.H.; Haggart, J.W.; Kring, D.A.; Beattie, M.J.

2004-01-01

Stable isotope analyses of Late Triassic to earliest Jurassic strata from Kennecott Point in the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada shows the presence of two distinct and different organic carbon isotope anomalies at the Norian/Rhaetian and Rhaetian/Hettangian (=Triassic/Jurassic) stage boundaries. At the older of these boundaries, which is marked by the disappearance of the bivalve Monotis, the isotope record shows a series of short-lived positive excursions toward heavier values. Strata approaching this boundary show evidence of increasing anoxia. At the higher boundary, marked by the disappearance of the last remaining Triassic ammonites and over 50 species of radiolarians, the isotopic pattern consists of a series of short duration negative anomalies. The two events, separated by the duration of the Rhaetian age, comprise the end-Triassic mass extinction. While there is no definitive evidence as to cause, the isotopic record does not appear similar to that of the impact-caused Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary extinction. ?? 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Extinction and the fossil record

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepkoski, J. J. Jr; Sepkoski JJ, ,. J. r. (Principal Investigator)

1994-01-01

The author examines evidence of mass extinctions in the fossil record and searches for reasons for such large extinctions. Five major mass extinctions eliminated at least 40 percent of animal genera in the oceans and from 65 to 95 percent of ocean species. Questions include the occurrence of gradual or catastrophic extinctions, causes, environment, the capacity of a perturbation to cause extinctions each time it happens, and the possibility and identification of complex events leading to a mass extinction.

Mass Extinctions and Biosphere-Geosphere Stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rothman, Daniel; Bowring, Samuel

2015-04-01

Five times in the past 500 million years, mass extinctions have resulted in the loss of greater than three-fourths of living species. Each of these events is associated with significant environmental change recorded in the carbon-isotopic composition of sedimentary rocks. There are also many such environmental events in the geologic record that are not associated with mass extinctions. What makes them different? Two factors appear important: the size of the environmental perturbation, and the time scale over which it occurs. We show that the natural perturbations of Earth's carbon cycle during the past 500 million years exhibit a characteristic rate of change over two orders of magnitude in time scale. This characteristic rate is consistent with the maximum rate that limits quasistatic (i.e., near steady-state) evolution of the carbon cycle. We identify this rate with marginal stability, and show that mass extinctions occur on the fast, unstable side of the stability boundary. These results suggest that the great extinction events of the geologic past, and potentially a "sixth extinction" associated with modern environmental change, are characterized by common mechanisms of instability.

Heavy metal toxicity as a kill mechanism in impact caused mass extinctions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wdowiak, T. J.; Davenport, S. A.; Jones, D. D.; Wdowiak, P.

1988-01-01

Heavy metals that are known to be toxic exist in carbonaceous chrondrites at abundances considerably in excess to that of the terrestrial crust. An impactor of relatively undifferentiated cosmic matter would inject into the terrestrial environment large quantities of toxic elements. The abundances of toxic metals found in the Allende CV carbonaceous chondrite and the ratio of meteoritic abundance to crustal abundance are: Cr, 3630 PPM, 30X; Co, 662 PPM, 23X; ni, 13300 PPm, 134X; se, 8.2 PPM, 164X; Os, 0.828 PPM, 166X. The resulting areal density for global dispersal of impactor derived heavy metals and their dilution with terrestrial ejecta are important factors in the determination of the significance of impactor heavy metal toxicity as a kill mechanism in impact caused mass extinctions. A 10 km-diameter asteroid having a density of 3 gram per cu cm would yield a global areal density of impact dispersed chondritic material of 3 kg per square meter. The present areal density of living matter on the terrestrial land surface is 1 kg per square meter. Dilution of impactor material with terrestrial ejecta is determined by energetics, with the mass of ejecta estimated to be in the range of 10 to 100 times that of the mass of the impactor. Because a pelagic impact would be the most likely case, the result would be a heavy metal rainout.

Widespread habitat change through paludification as an interactive mechanism in mass extinction events

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klinger, L. F.

1988-01-01

The study of mass extinction events has largely focused on defining an environmental factor or factors that might account for specific patterns of faunal demise. Several hypotheses elaborate on how a given environmental factor might affect fauna directly, but differentially, causing extinction in certain taxa but not others. Yet few studies have considered specific habitat changes that might result from natural vegetation processes or from perturbations of vegetation. The role of large-scale habitat change induced by natural successional change from forest to bog (paludification) is examined and how large perturbations (e.g., volcanism, bolide impacts) might favor increased rates of paludification and consequent mass extinctions is considered. This hypothesis has an advantage over other hypotheses for mass extinctions in that modern day analogs of paludification are common throughout the world, thus allowing for considerable testing.

Rapid recovery from the Late Ordovician mass extinction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krug, A. Z.; Patzkowsky, M. E.

2004-01-01

Understanding the evolutionary role of mass extinctions requires detailed knowledge of postextinction recoveries. However, most models of recovery hinge on a direct reading of the fossil record, and several recent studies have suggested that the fossil record is especially incomplete for recovery intervals immediately after mass extinctions. Here, we analyze a database of genus occurrences for the paleocontinent of Laurentia to determine the effects of regional processes on recovery and the effects of variations in preservation and sampling intensity on perceived diversity trends and taxonomic rates during the Late Ordovician mass extinction and Early Silurian recovery. After accounting for variation in sampling intensity, we find that marine benthic diversity in Laurentia recovered to preextinction levels within 5 million years, which is nearly 15 million years sooner than suggested by global compilations. The rapid turnover in Laurentia suggests that processes such as immigration may have been particularly important in the recovery of regional ecosystems from environmental perturbations. However, additional regional studies and a global analysis of the Late Ordovician mass extinction that accounts for variations in sampling intensity are necessary to confirm this pattern. Because the record of Phanerozoic mass extinctions and postextinction recoveries may be compromised by variations in preservation and sampling intensity, all should be reevaluated with sampling-standardized analyses if the evolutionary role of mass extinctions is to be fully understood.

Graptolite community responses to global climate change and the Late Ordovician mass extinction.

PubMed

Sheets, H David; Mitchell, Charles E; Melchin, Michael J; Loxton, Jason; Štorch, Petr; Carlucci, Kristi L; Hawkins, Andrew D

2016-07-26

Mass extinctions disrupt ecological communities. Although climate changes produce stress in ecological communities, few paleobiological studies have systematically addressed the impact of global climate changes on the fine details of community structure with a view to understanding how changes in community structure presage, or even cause, biodiversity decline during mass extinctions. Based on a novel Bayesian approach to biotope assessment, we present a study of changes in species abundance distribution patterns of macroplanktonic graptolite faunas (∼447-444 Ma) leading into the Late Ordovician mass extinction. Communities at two contrasting sites exhibit significant decreases in complexity and evenness as a consequence of the preferential decline in abundance of dysaerobic zone specialist species. The observed changes in community complexity and evenness commenced well before the dramatic population depletions that mark the tipping point of the extinction event. Initially, community changes tracked changes in the oceanic water masses, but these relations broke down during the onset of mass extinction. Environmental isotope and biomarker data suggest that sea surface temperature and nutrient cycling in the paleotropical oceans changed sharply during the latest Katian time, with consequent changes in the extent of the oxygen minimum zone and phytoplankton community composition. Although many impacted species persisted in ephemeral populations, increased extinction risk selectively depleted the diversity of paleotropical graptolite species during the latest Katian and early Hirnantian. The effects of long-term climate change on habitats can thus degrade populations in ways that cascade through communities, with effects that culminate in mass extinction.

Graptolite community responses to global climate change and the Late Ordovician mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheets, H. David; Mitchell, Charles E.; Melchin, Michael J.; Loxton, Jason; Štorch, Petr; Carlucci, Kristi L.; Hawkins, Andrew D.

2016-07-01

Mass extinctions disrupt ecological communities. Although climate changes produce stress in ecological communities, few paleobiological studies have systematically addressed the impact of global climate changes on the fine details of community structure with a view to understanding how changes in community structure presage, or even cause, biodiversity decline during mass extinctions. Based on a novel Bayesian approach to biotope assessment, we present a study of changes in species abundance distribution patterns of macroplanktonic graptolite faunas (˜447-444 Ma) leading into the Late Ordovician mass extinction. Communities at two contrasting sites exhibit significant decreases in complexity and evenness as a consequence of the preferential decline in abundance of dysaerobic zone specialist species. The observed changes in community complexity and evenness commenced well before the dramatic population depletions that mark the tipping point of the extinction event. Initially, community changes tracked changes in the oceanic water masses, but these relations broke down during the onset of mass extinction. Environmental isotope and biomarker data suggest that sea surface temperature and nutrient cycling in the paleotropical oceans changed sharply during the latest Katian time, with consequent changes in the extent of the oxygen minimum zone and phytoplankton community composition. Although many impacted species persisted in ephemeral populations, increased extinction risk selectively depleted the diversity of paleotropical graptolite species during the latest Katian and early Hirnantian. The effects of long-term climate change on habitats can thus degrade populations in ways that cascade through communities, with effects that culminate in mass extinction.

Impact Crises, Mass Extinctions, and Galactic Dynamics: A Unified Theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rampino, M.R.

1997-01-01

A general hypothesis linking mass extinctions of life with impacts of large asteroids and comets is based on astronomical data, impact dynamics, and geological information. The waiting times of large-body impacts on the Earth, derived from the flux of Earth-crossing asteroids and comets, and the estimated size of impacts capable of causing large-scale environmental disasters predict that impacts of objects (sup 3)5 km in diameter ((sup 3)10(exp 7) Mt TNT equivalent) could be sufficient to explain the record of about 25 extinction pulses in the last 540 m.y., with the five recorded major mass extinctions related to the impacts of the largest objects of (sup 3)10 km in diameter ( (sup 3)10(exp 8) Mt events). Smaller impacts (about 10(exp 6)-10(exp 7) Mt), with significant regional and even global environmental effects, could be responsible for the lesser boundaries in the geologic record. Tests of the "kill curve" relationship for impact-induced extinctions based on new data on extinction intensities and several well-dated large impact craters suggest that major mass extinctions require large impacts, and that a step in the kill curve may exist at impacts that produce craters of -100 km diameter, with smaller impacts capable of only relatively weak extinction pulses. Single impact craters < about 60 km in diameter should not be associated with global extinction pulses detectable in the Sepkoski database (although they may explain stage and zone boundaries marked by lesser faunal turnover), but multiple impacts in that size range may produce significant stepped extinction pulses. Statistical tests of the last occurrences of species at mass-extinction boundaries are generally consistent with predictions for abrupt or stepped extinctions, and several boundaries are known to show "catastrophic" signatures of environmental disasters and biomass crash, impoverished postextinction fauna and flora dominated by stress-tolerant and opportunistic species, and gradual ecological

Community stability and selective extinction during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roopnarine, Peter D.; Angielczyk, Kenneth D.

2015-10-01

The fossil record contains exemplars of extreme biodiversity crises. Here, we examined the stability of terrestrial paleocommunities from South Africa during Earth's most severe mass extinction, the Permian-Triassic. We show that stability depended critically on functional diversity and patterns of guild interaction, regardless of species richness. Paleocommunities exhibited less transient instability—relative to model communities with alternative community organization—and significantly greater probabilities of being locally stable during the mass extinction. Functional patterns that have evolved during an ecosystem's history support significantly more stable communities than hypothetical alternatives.

Severe environmental effects of Chicxulub impact imply key role in end-Cretaceous mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brugger, Julia; Feulner, Georg; Petri, Stefan

2017-04-01

66 million years ago, during the most recent of the five severe mass extinctions in Earth's history, non-avian dinosaurs and many other organisms became extinct. The cause of this end-Cretaceous mass extinction is seen in either flood-basalt eruptions or an asteroid impact. Modeling the climatic changes after the Chicxulub asteroid impact allow to assess its contribution to the extinction event and to analyze the short-term and long-term response of the climate and the biosphere to the impact. Existing studies either investigated the effect of dust, which is now believed to play a minor role, or used one-dimensional, non-coupled models. In contrast, we use a coupled climate model to explore the longer lasting cooling due to sulfate aerosols. Based on data from geophysical impact modeling, we set up simulations with different stratospheric residence times for sulfate aerosols. Depending on this residence time, global surface air temperature decreased by at least 26°C, with 3 to 16 years subfreezing temperatures and a recovery time larger than 30 years. Vigorous ocean mixing, caused by the fast cooling of the surface ocean, might have perturbed marine ecosystems by the upwelling of nutrients. The dramatic climatic changes seen in our simulations imply severe environmental effects and therefore a significant contribution of the impact in the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

A unified theory of impact crises and mass extinctions: quantitative tests.

PubMed

Rampino, M R; Haggerty, B M; Pagano, T C

1997-05-30

Several quantitative tests of a general hypothesis linking impacts of large asteroids and comets with mass extinctions of life are possible based on astronomical data, impact dynamics, and geological information. The waiting times of large-body impacts on the Earth derived from the flux of Earth-crossing asteroids and comets, and the estimated size of impacts capable of causing, large-scale environmental disasters, predict the impacts of objects > or = 5 km in diameter (> or = 10(7) Mt TNT equivalent) could be sufficient to explain the record of approximately 25 extinction pulses in the last 540 Myr, with the 5 recorded major mass extinctions related to impacts of the largest objects of > or = 10 km in diameter (> or = 10(8) Mt events). Smaller impacts (approximately 10(6) Mt), with significant regional environmental effects, could be responsible for the lesser boundaries in the geologic record. Tests of the "kill curve" relationship for impact-induced extinctions based on new data on extinction intensities, and several well-dated large impact craters, also suggest that major mass extinctions require large impacts, and that a step in the kill curve may exist at impacts that produce craters of approximately 100 km diameter, smaller impacts being capable of only relatively weak extinction pulses. Single impact craters less than approximately 60 km in diameter should not be associated with detectable global extinction pulses (although they may explain stage and zone boundaries marked by lesser faunal turnover), but multiple impacts in that size range may produce significant stepped extinction pulses. Statistical tests of the last occurrences of species at mass-extinction boundaries are generally consistent with predictions for abrupt or stepped extinctions, and several boundaries are known to show "catastrophic" signatures of environmental disasters and biomass crash, impoverished postextinction fauna and flora dominated by stress-tolerant and opportunistic species

Has the Earth's sixth mass extinction already arrived?

PubMed

Barnosky, Anthony D; Matzke, Nicholas; Tomiya, Susumu; Wogan, Guinevere O U; Swartz, Brian; Quental, Tiago B; Marshall, Charles; McGuire, Jenny L; Lindsey, Emily L; Maguire, Kaitlin C; Mersey, Ben; Ferrer, Elizabeth A

2011-03-03

Palaeontologists characterize mass extinctions as times when the Earth loses more than three-quarters of its species in a geologically short interval, as has happened only five times in the past 540 million years or so. Biologists now suggest that a sixth mass extinction may be under way, given the known species losses over the past few centuries and millennia. Here we review how differences between fossil and modern data and the addition of recently available palaeontological information influence our understanding of the current extinction crisis. Our results confirm that current extinction rates are higher than would be expected from the fossil record, highlighting the need for effective conservation measures.

Tying Extinction Events to Comet Impacts Large Enough to Cause an Extinction in Themselves.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burgener, J. A.

2017-12-01

Comets over 35 km in size impacting Earth will create vast fireballs, and will boil large parts of the oceans, causing extinction events in themselves. They will likely provide enough energy to shatter the crust and eject large masses of molten rock from the mantle, forming traps. Traps are clearly associated with extinction events, but are not expected to cause extinctions. While Chicxulub is recognized to have occurred at the time of the K/Pg boundary layer, it is recognized as being too small in itself to cause an extinction. Are large comet impacts likely? The Kuiper belt has more than 100,000 objects over 100 km in diameter and millions over 10 km. Typically their orbits are less stable than asteroid orbits due to large bodies such as Pluto moving through the belt. The asteroid belt has only 10,000 objects over 10 km diameter. Comet impacts should be more common than asteroid impacts, yet none of the recognized craters are expected to be due to comets. There are many features on Earth that are poorly explained by Plate Tectonics that would be well explained if they were considered to be comet impact craters. A consideration of the Black Sea and the Tarim Basin will show that impact interpretations are a better fit than the present Plate Tectonics' explanations. Both basins are in the midst of mountain building from plate collisions, but are themselves not being disturbed by the plate collisions. Both are ellipses angled at 23.4 degrees to the equator, matching the angle expected for a low angle impact from a comet traveling in the ecliptic. Both are too deep at 15 km depths to be standard oceans (typically 5 km deep). Both are filled with horizontal layers of sediments, undisturbed by the mountain building occurring at the edges. Both have thin crusts and high Moho boundaries. Both have thin lithosphere. Yet both show GPS movement of the land around them moving away from them, as though they were much thicker and stronger than the surrounding land. The Tarim

Mass Extinction and the Structure of the Milky Way

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filipovic, M. D.; Horner, J.; Crawford, E. J.; Tothill, N. F. H.; White, G. L.

2013-12-01

We use the most up-to-date Milky Way model and solar orbit data in order to test the hypothesis that the Sun's galactic spiral arm crossings cause mass extinction events on Earth. To do this, we created a new model of the Milky Way's spiral arms by combining a large quantity of data from several surveys. We then combined this model with a recently derived solution for the solar orbit to determine the timing of the Sun's historical passages through the Galaxy's spiral arms. Our new model was designed with a symmetrical appearance, with the major alteration being the addition of a spur at the far side of the Galaxy. A correlation was found between the times at which the Sun crosses the spiral arms and six known mass extinction events. Furthermore, we identify five additional historical mass extinction events that might be explained by the motion of the Sun around our Galaxy. These five additional significant drops in marine genera that we find include significant reductions in diversity at 415, 322, 300, 145 and 33~Myr ago. Our simulations indicate that the Sun has spent ˜60 per cent of its time passing through our Galaxy's various spiral arms. Also, we briefly discuss and combine previous work on the Galactic Habitable Zone with the new Milky Way model.

A Unified Theory of Impact Crises and Mass Extinctions: Quantitative Tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rampino, Michael R.; Haggerty, Bruce M.; Pagano, Thomas C.

1997-01-01

Several quantitative tests of a general hypothesis linking impacts of large asteroids and comets with mass extinctions of life are possible based on astronomical data, impact dynamics, and geological information. The waiting of large-body impacts on the Earth derive from the flux of Earth-crossing asteroids and comets, and the estimated size of impacts capable of causing large-scale environmental disasters, predict that impacts of objects greater than or equal to 5 km in diameter (greater than or equal to 10 (exp 7) Mt TNT equivalent) could be sufficient to explain the record of approximately 25 extinction pulses in the last 540 Myr, with the 5 recorded major mass extinctions related to impacts of the largest objects of greater than or equal to 10 km in diameter (greater than or equal to 10(exp 8) Mt Events). Smaller impacts (approximately 10 (exp 6) Mt), with significant regional environmental effects, could be responsible for the lesser boundaries in the geologic record.

A scale of greatness and causal classification of mass extinctions: Implications for mechanisms

PubMed Central

Şengör, A. M. Celâl; Atayman, Saniye; Özeren, Sinan

2008-01-01

A quantitative scale for measuring greatness, G, of mass extinctions is proposed on the basis of rate of biodiversity diminution expressed as the product of the loss of biodiversity, called magnitude (M), and the inverse of time in which that loss occurs, designated as intensity (I). On this scale, the catastrophic Cretaceous–Tertiary (K-T) extinction appears as the greatest since the Ordovician and the only one with a probable extraterrestrial cause. The end-Permian extinction was less great but with a large magnitude (M) and smaller intensity (I); only some of its individual episodes involved some semblance of catastrophe. Other extinctions during the Phanerozoic, with the possible exception of the end-Silurian diversity plunge, were parts of a forced oscillatory phenomenon and seem caused by marine- and land-habitat destruction during continental assemblies that led to elimination of shelves and (after the Devonian) rain forests and enlargement of deserts. Glaciations and orogenies that shortened and thickened the continental crust only exacerbated these effects. During the Mesozoic and Cainozoic, the evolution of life was linearly progressive, interrupted catastrophically only at the K-T boundary. The end-Triassic extinction was more like the Paleozoic extinctions in nature and probably also in its cause. By contrast, the current extinction resembles none of the earlier ones and may end up being the greatest of all. PMID:18779562

Mid Pleistocene foraminiferal mass extinction coupled with phytoplankton evolution

PubMed Central

Kender, Sev; McClymont, Erin L.; Elmore, Aurora C.; Emanuele, Dario; Leng, Melanie J.; Elderfield, Henry

2016-01-01

Understanding the interaction between climate and biotic evolution is crucial for deciphering the sensitivity of life. An enigmatic mass extinction occurred in the deep oceans during the Mid Pleistocene, with a loss of over 100 species (20%) of sea floor calcareous foraminifera. An evolutionarily conservative group, benthic foraminifera often comprise >50% of eukaryote biomass on the deep-ocean floor. Here we test extinction hypotheses (temperature, corrosiveness and productivity) in the Tasman Sea, using geochemistry and micropalaeontology, and find evidence from several globally distributed sites that the extinction was caused by a change in phytoplankton food source. Coccolithophore evolution may have enhanced the seasonal ‘bloom' nature of primary productivity and fundamentally shifted it towards a more intra-annually variable state at ∼0.8 Ma. Our results highlight intra-annual variability as a potential new consideration for Mid Pleistocene global biogeochemical climate models, and imply that deep-sea biota may be sensitive to future changes in productivity. PMID:27311937

End-Triassic mass extinction started by intrusive CAMP activity.

PubMed

Davies, J H F L; Marzoli, A; Bertrand, H; Youbi, N; Ernesto, M; Schaltegger, U

2017-05-31

The end-Triassic extinction is one of the Phanerozoic's largest mass extinctions. This extinction is typically attributed to climate change associated with degassing of basalt flows from the central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP). However, recent work suggests that the earliest known CAMP basalts occur above the extinction horizon and that climatic and biotic changes began before the earliest known CAMP eruptions. Here we present new high-precision U-Pb ages from CAMP mafic intrusive units, showing that magmatic activity was occurring ∼100 Kyr ago before the earliest known eruptions. We correlate the early magmatic activity with the onset of changes to the climatic and biotic records. We also report ages from sills in an organic rich sedimentary basin in Brazil that intrude synchronously with the extinction suggesting that degassing of these organics contributed to the climate change which drove the extinction. Our results indicate that the intrusive record from large igneous provinces may be more important for linking to mass extinctions than the eruptive record.

End-Triassic mass extinction started by intrusive CAMP activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davies, J. H. F. L.; Marzoli, A.; Bertrand, H.; Youbi, N.; Ernesto, M.; Schaltegger, U.

2017-05-01

The end-Triassic extinction is one of the Phanerozoic's largest mass extinctions. This extinction is typically attributed to climate change associated with degassing of basalt flows from the central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP). However, recent work suggests that the earliest known CAMP basalts occur above the extinction horizon and that climatic and biotic changes began before the earliest known CAMP eruptions. Here we present new high-precision U-Pb ages from CAMP mafic intrusive units, showing that magmatic activity was occurring ~100 Kyr ago before the earliest known eruptions. We correlate the early magmatic activity with the onset of changes to the climatic and biotic records. We also report ages from sills in an organic rich sedimentary basin in Brazil that intrude synchronously with the extinction suggesting that degassing of these organics contributed to the climate change which drove the extinction. Our results indicate that the intrusive record from large igneous provinces may be more important for linking to mass extinctions than the eruptive record.

A general theory of impacts and mass extinctions, and the consequences of large-body impact on the Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rampino, M. R.

1994-01-01

The theory that large-body impacts are the primary cause of mass extinctions of life on the Earth now has a sound theoretical and observational foundation. A convergence of evidence suggests that the biosphere may be a sensitive detector of large impact events, which result in the recorded global mass extinction pulses. The astronomically observed flux of asteroids and comets in the neighborhood of the Earth, and the threshold impact size calculated to produce a global environment catastrophe, can be used to predict a time history of large impact events and related mass extinctions of life that agrees well with the record of approx. 24 extinction events in the last 540 m.y.

The case for extraterrestrial causes of extinction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raup, D. M.

1989-01-01

The dramatic increase in our knowledge of large-body impacts that have occurred in Earth's history has led to strong arguments for the plausibility of meteorite impact as a cause of extinction. Proof of causation is often hampered, however, by our inability to demonstrate the synchronism of specific impacts and extinctions. A central problem is range truncation: the last reported occurrences of fossil taxa generally underestimate the true times of extinction. Range truncation, because of gaps in sedimentation, lack of preservation, or lack of discovery, can make sudden extinctions appear gradual and gradual extinctions appear sudden. Also, stepwise extinction may appear as an artefact of range truncation. These effects are demonstrated by experiments performed on data from field collections of Cretaceous ammonities from Zumaya (Spain). The challenge for future research is to develop a new calculus for treating biostratigraphic data so that fossils can provide more accurate assessments of the timing of extinctions.

Chronology of magmatic and biological events during mass extinctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaltegger, U.; Davies, J.; Baresel, B.; Bucher, H.

2016-12-01

For mass extinctions, high-precision geochronology is key to understanding: 1) the age and duration of mass extinction intervals, derived from palaeo-biodiversity or chemical proxies in marine sections, and 2) the age and duration of the magmatism responsible for injecting volatiles into the atmosphere. Using high-precision geochronology, here we investigate the sequence of events linked to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary (TJB) and the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) mass extinctions. At the TJB, the model of Guex et al. (2016) invokes degassing of early magmas produced by thermal erosion of cratonic lithosphere as a trigger of climate disturbance in the late Rhaetian. We provide geochronological evidence that such early intrusives from the CAMP (Central Atlantic Magmatic Province), predate the end-Triassic extinction event (Blackburn et al. 2013) by 100 kyr (Davies et al., subm.). We propose that these early intrusions and associated explosive volcanism (currently unidentified) initiate the extinction, followed by the younger basalt eruptions of the CAMP. We also provide accurate and precise calibration of the PTB in marine sections in S. China: The PTB and the extinction event coincide within 30 kyr in deep water settings; a hiatus followed by microbial limestone deposition in shallow water settings is of <100 kyr duration. The PTB extinction interval is preceded by up to 300 kyr by the onset of partly alkaline explosive, extrusive and intrusive rocks, which are suggested as the trigger of the mass extinction, rather than the subsequent basalt flows of the Siberian Traps (Burgess and Bowring 2015). From temporal constraints, the main inferences that can be made are: The duration of extinction events is in the x10 kyr range during the initial intrusive activity of a Large Igneous Province, and is postdated by the majority of basalt flows over several 100 kyr. For modeling climate change associated with mass extinctions, volatiles released from the basalt flows may

Mass Estinctions Caused by Large Bolide Impacts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lavarez, Luis W.

1987-01-01

In this talk, I will describe the wealth of evidence that has forced my colleagues and me to conclude that the great mass extinctions, 65 million years ago, were caused by a large bolide impact on the earth. Bolide is a new word to most people, and it means any piece of solar system debris, such as a meteorite, asteroid, or comet nucleus. As I will show, the bolide responsible for the extinction of most of the then existing species, including the dinosaurs, was about 10 kilometers in diameter.

Mass Extinctions of Pangea (Jean Baptiste Lamarck Medal Lecture)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wignall, Paul B.

2017-04-01

The 80 million years of Earth history from middle of the Permian to the early Jurassic were some of the worst life ever experienced. The interval includes two mass extinctions that bracket the Triassic period and several lesser crises. It was to be nearly another 120 million years before another major crisis was to strike (this time it was the famous one that removed the dinosaurs). So what was so bad about the 80 million years and why was it so good afterwards? My talk will try to provide at least some of the answers. There are plenty of clues. Notably, the interval coincides with the presence of the Pangea supercontinent and all the extinctions coincided with the eruption of large igneous provinces (LIPs). Indeed, every LIP of this interval coincides with an extinction crisis, a perfect correlation that completely breaks down afterwards. However, getting from correlation to causation is far from straight forward. There are many unknowns - how much gas was released by the volcanism, how quickly and what type of gases were they? These are all questions under investigation. Most of the extinctions of Pangean time coincide with rapid global warming and extensive marine anoxia suggesting that greenhouse gas emissions linked to volcanism were an important extinction driver. For the most severe crises (Permo-Triassic and end-Triassic) losses occurred throughout the food chain all the way down to the primary producers of the oceans and across all habitats including terrestrial ecosystems. At the other end of the spectrum of disaster, the lesser extinctions (Toarcian, Smithian/Spathian) only affected marine invertebrates. The full panoply of catastrophe was played out during the Permo-Triassic mass extinction and has received the most attention. The record in South China shows that there were two phases of extinction. These straddle the boundary and show selective losses initially for shallow-water organisms that were susceptible to high temperatures and then for deeper

Cooler winters as a possible cause of mass extinctions at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivany, Linda C.; Patterson, William P.; Lohmann, Kyger C.

2000-10-01

The Eocene/Oligocene boundary, at about 33.7Myr ago, marks one of the largest extinctions of marine invertebrates in the Cenozoic period. For example, turnover of mollusc species in the US Gulf coastal plain was over 90% at this time. A temperature change across this boundary-from warm Eocene climates to cooler conditions in the Oligocene-has been suggested as a cause of this extinction event, but climate reconstructions have not provided support for this hypothesis. Here we report stable oxygen isotope measurements of aragonite in fish otoliths-ear stones-collected across the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. Palaeotemperatures reconstructed from mean otolith oxygen isotope values show little change through this interval, in agreement with previous studies. From incremental microsampling of otoliths, however, we can resolve the seasonal variation in temperature, recorded as the otoliths continue to accrete new material over the life of the fish. These seasonal data suggest that winters became about 4°C colder across the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. We suggest that temperature variability, rather than change in mean annual temperature, helped to cause faunal turnover during this transition.

Mass extinctions drove increased global faunal cosmopolitanism on the supercontinent Pangaea.

PubMed

Button, David J; Lloyd, Graeme T; Ezcurra, Martín D; Butler, Richard J

2017-10-10

Mass extinctions have profoundly impacted the evolution of life through not only reducing taxonomic diversity but also reshaping ecosystems and biogeographic patterns. In particular, they are considered to have driven increased biogeographic cosmopolitanism, but quantitative tests of this hypothesis are rare and have not explicitly incorporated information on evolutionary relationships. Here we quantify faunal cosmopolitanism using a phylogenetic network approach for 891 terrestrial vertebrate species spanning the late Permian through Early Jurassic. This key interval witnessed the Permian-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic mass extinctions, the onset of fragmentation of the supercontinent Pangaea, and the origins of dinosaurs and many modern vertebrate groups. Our results recover significant increases in global faunal cosmopolitanism following both mass extinctions, driven mainly by new, widespread taxa, leading to homogenous 'disaster faunas'. Cosmopolitanism subsequently declines in post-recovery communities. These shared patterns in both biotic crises suggest that mass extinctions have predictable influences on animal distribution and may shed light on biodiversity loss in extant ecosystems.Mass extinctions are thought to produce 'disaster faunas', communities dominated by a small number of widespread species. Here, Button et al. develop a phylogenetic network approach to test this hypothesis and find that mass extinctions did increase faunal cosmopolitanism across Pangaea during the late Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic.

Compound-specific carbon isotopes from Earth’s largest flood basalt eruptions directly linked to the end-Triassic mass extinction

PubMed Central

Whiteside, Jessica H.; Olsen, Paul E.; Eglinton, Timothy; Brookfield, Michael E.; Sambrotto, Raymond N.

2010-01-01

A leading hypothesis explaining Phanerozoic mass extinctions and associated carbon isotopic anomalies is the emission of greenhouse, other gases, and aerosols caused by eruptions of continental flood basalt provinces. However, the necessary serial relationship between these eruptions, isotopic excursions, and extinctions has never been tested in geological sections preserving all three records. The end-Triassic extinction (ETE) at 201.4 Ma is among the largest of these extinctions and is tied to a large negative carbon isotope excursion, reflecting perturbations of the carbon cycle including a transient increase in CO2. The cause of the ETE has been inferred to be the eruption of the giant Central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP). Here, we show that carbon isotopes of leaf wax derived lipids (n-alkanes), wood, and total organic carbon from two orbitally paced lacustrine sections interbedded with the CAMP in eastern North America show similar excursions to those seen in the mostly marine St. Audrie’s Bay section in England. Based on these results, the ETE began synchronously in marine and terrestrial environments slightly before the oldest basalts in eastern North America but simultaneous with the eruption of the oldest flows in Morocco, a CO2 super greenhouse, and marine biocalcification crisis. Because the temporal relationship between CAMP eruptions, mass extinction, and the carbon isotopic excursions are shown in the same place, this is the strongest case for a volcanic cause of a mass extinction to date. PMID:20308590

What can experimental geobiology tell us about mass extinctions, past, present and future?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bond, David

2017-04-01

We know more than ever about the causes and consequences of Earth's greatest mass extinctions thanks to much improved resolution in the fossil record, dating, and proxies for palaeoenvironmental change. Despite much progress, there is no consensus on what drives ecosystems to collapse. The realisation that Earth is again facing stresses implicated in its past crises (e.g. proximal kill mechanisms such as global warming, ocean acidification and anoxia) has intensified research on the ultimate cause(s) of extinctions (e.g. large igneous provinces and bolide impacts). However, the links between proximal kill mechanisms and their drivers remains poorly understood. Here I evaluate environmental factors implicated in major episodes of species extinctions and explores the mechanistic links by which they did their damage. Experimental geobiology is beginning to unlock the secrets of past crises by examining responses of species to change. Reduced pH, for instance alters the efficacy of fishes' chemical receptors, leaving them less equipped to detect prey, predators and mates - invoking "death-by-celibacy" scenarios. Elevated atmospheric CO2 induces hypercapnic stress (as well as being the root cause of ocean acidification). Prolonged exposure to anoxia causes death without selectivity. Global warming induces a multitude of stresses, primarily linked to increased metabolic rate according to the Q10 law. Experimental geobiologists and Earth scientists could together unravel the causes of past extinctions, better inform understanding of the modern crisis and our approach to the future.

Rarity in mass extinctions and the future of ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hull, Pincelli M.; Darroch, Simon A. F.; Erwin, Douglas H.

2015-12-01

The fossil record provides striking case studies of biodiversity loss and global ecosystem upheaval. Because of this, many studies have sought to assess the magnitude of the current biodiversity crisis relative to past crises—a task greatly complicated by the need to extrapolate extinction rates. Here we challenge this approach by showing that the rarity of previously abundant taxa may be more important than extinction in the cascade of events leading to global changes in the biosphere. Mass rarity may provide the most robust measure of our current biodiversity crisis relative to those past, and new insights into the dynamics of mass extinction.

Biogeographic and bathymetric determinants of brachiopod extinction and survival during the Late Ordovician mass extinction.

PubMed

Finnegan, Seth; Rasmussen, Christian M Ø; Harper, David A T

2016-04-27

The Late Ordovician mass extinction (LOME) coincided with dramatic climate changes, but there are numerous ways in which these changes could have driven marine extinctions. We use a palaeobiogeographic database of rhynchonelliform brachiopods to examine the selectivity of Late Ordovician-Early Silurian genus extinctions and evaluate which extinction drivers are best supported by the data. The first (latest Katian) pulse of the LOME preferentially affected genera restricted to deeper waters or to relatively narrow (less than 35°) palaeolatitudinal ranges. This pattern is only observed in the latest Katian, suggesting that it reflects drivers unique to this interval. Extinction of exclusively deeper-water genera implies that changes in water mass properties such as dissolved oxygen content played an important role. Extinction of genera with narrow latitudinal ranges suggests that interactions between shifting climate zones and palaeobiogeography may also have been important. We test the latter hypothesis by estimating whether each genus would have been able to track habitats within its thermal tolerance range during the greenhouse-icehouse climate transition. Models including these estimates are favoured over alternative models. We argue that the LOME, long regarded as non-selective, is highly selective along biogeographic and bathymetric axes that are not closely correlated with taxonomic identity. © 2016 The Author(s).

Biogeographic and bathymetric determinants of brachiopod extinction and survival during the Late Ordovician mass extinction

PubMed Central

Finnegan, Seth; Rasmussen, Christian M. Ø.; Harper, David A. T.

2016-01-01

The Late Ordovician mass extinction (LOME) coincided with dramatic climate changes, but there are numerous ways in which these changes could have driven marine extinctions. We use a palaeobiogeographic database of rhynchonelliform brachiopods to examine the selectivity of Late Ordovician–Early Silurian genus extinctions and evaluate which extinction drivers are best supported by the data. The first (latest Katian) pulse of the LOME preferentially affected genera restricted to deeper waters or to relatively narrow (less than 35°) palaeolatitudinal ranges. This pattern is only observed in the latest Katian, suggesting that it reflects drivers unique to this interval. Extinction of exclusively deeper-water genera implies that changes in water mass properties such as dissolved oxygen content played an important role. Extinction of genera with narrow latitudinal ranges suggests that interactions between shifting climate zones and palaeobiogeography may also have been important. We test the latter hypothesis by estimating whether each genus would have been able to track habitats within its thermal tolerance range during the greenhouse–icehouse climate transition. Models including these estimates are favoured over alternative models. We argue that the LOME, long regarded as non-selective, is highly selective along biogeographic and bathymetric axes that are not closely correlated with taxonomic identity. PMID:27122567

Timing and pacing of the Late Devonian mass extinction event regulated by eccentricity and obliquity.

PubMed

De Vleeschouwer, David; Da Silva, Anne-Christine; Sinnesael, Matthias; Chen, Daizhao; Day, James E; Whalen, Michael T; Guo, Zenghui; Claeys, Philippe

2017-12-22

The Late Devonian envelops one of Earth's big five mass extinction events at the Frasnian-Famennian boundary (374 Ma). Environmental change across the extinction severely affected Devonian reef-builders, besides many other forms of marine life. Yet, cause-and-effect chains leading to the extinction remain poorly constrained as Late Devonian stratigraphy is poorly resolved, compared to younger cataclysmic intervals. In this study we present a global orbitally calibrated chronology across this momentous interval, applying cyclostratigraphic techniques. Our timescale stipulates that 600 kyr separate the lower and upper Kellwasser positive δ 13 C excursions. The latter excursion is paced by obliquity and is therein similar to Mesozoic intervals of environmental upheaval, like the Cretaceous Ocean-Anoxic-Event-2 (OAE-2). This obliquity signature implies coincidence with a minimum of the 2.4 Myr eccentricity cycle, during which obliquity prevails over precession, and highlights the decisive role of astronomically forced "Milankovitch" climate change in timing and pacing the Late Devonian mass extinction.

Surviving Mass Extinctions through Biomineralized DNA.

PubMed

Turon, Pau; Puiggalí, Jordi; Bertrán, Oscar; Alemán, Carlos

2015-12-21

Even in the worst of conditions, such as those which occurred during mass extinction events, life on Earth never totally stopped. Aggressive chemical and physical attacks able to sterilize or poison living organisms occurred repeatedly. Surprisingly, DNA was not degraded, denatured or modified to the point of losing the capability of transferring the genetic information to the next generations. After the events of mass extinction life was able to survive and thrive. DNA was passed on despite being an extremely fragile biomolecule. The potential implications of hydroxyapatite protection of DNA are discussed in this Concept article including how DNA acts as a template for hydroxyapatite (HAp) formation, how cell death can trigger biomineralization, and how DNA can be successfully released from HAp when the conditions are favorable for life. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Anoxia, toxic metals and acidification: volcanically-driven causes of the Middle Permian (Capitanian) mass extinction in NW Pangaea?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bond, David; Grasby, Stephen; Wignall, Paul

2017-04-01

The controversial Capitanian (Middle Permian, 262 Ma) mass extinction, mostly known from equatorial latitudes, has recently been identified in a Boreal setting in Spitsbergen. We now document this extinction in the record of brachiopods from the Sverdrup Basin in NW Pangaea (Ellesmere Island, Canada), confirming Middle Permian losses as a global crisis on par with the "Big Five". Redox proxies (pyrite framboids and trace metals) show that the high latitude crisis coincided with an intensification of oxygen-poor conditions - a potent killer that is not clearly developed in lower latitude sections. Mercury becomes briefly enriched in strata at the level of the Middle Permian extinction level in Spitsbergen and Ellesmere Island, indicating voluminous but short-lived volcanism that is likely to have been the emplacement of the Emeishan large igneous province (LIP) in SW China. A potent cocktail of poisons appears to have impacted across the Boreal Realm, whilst the near-total loss of carbonates near the extinction level is also consistent with reduced pH across the region. Multiple stresses, possibly with origins in low-latitude LIP volcanism, are therefore implicated in the Middle Permian extinction and there was no respite even in the far-distant Boreal Realm.

Estimates of the magnitudes of major marine mass extinctions in earth history

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Procedures introduced here make it possible, first, to show that background (piecemeal) extinction is recorded throughout geologic stages and substages (not all extinction has occurred suddenly at the ends of such intervals); second, to separate out background extinction from mass extinction for a major crisis in earth history; and third, to correct for clustering of extinctions when using the rarefaction method to estimate the percentage of species lost in a mass extinction. Also presented here is a method for estimating the magnitude of the Signor–Lipps effect, which is the incorrect assignment of extinctions that occurred during a crisis to an interval preceding the crisis because of the incompleteness of the fossil record. Estimates for the magnitudes of mass extinctions presented here are in most cases lower than those previously published. They indicate that only ∼81% of marine species died out in the great terminal Permian crisis, whereas levels of 90–96% have frequently been quoted in the literature. Calculations of the latter numbers were incorrectly based on combined data for the Middle and Late Permian mass extinctions. About 90 orders and more than 220 families of marine animals survived the terminal Permian crisis, and they embodied an enormous amount of morphological, physiological, and ecological diversity. Life did not nearly disappear at the end of the Permian, as has often been claimed. PMID:27698119

Estimates of the magnitudes of major marine mass extinctions in earth history

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanley, Steven M.

2016-10-01

Procedures introduced here make it possible, first, to show that background (piecemeal) extinction is recorded throughout geologic stages and substages (not all extinction has occurred suddenly at the ends of such intervals); second, to separate out background extinction from mass extinction for a major crisis in earth history; and third, to correct for clustering of extinctions when using the rarefaction method to estimate the percentage of species lost in a mass extinction. Also presented here is a method for estimating the magnitude of the Signor-Lipps effect, which is the incorrect assignment of extinctions that occurred during a crisis to an interval preceding the crisis because of the incompleteness of the fossil record. Estimates for the magnitudes of mass extinctions presented here are in most cases lower than those previously published. They indicate that only ˜81% of marine species died out in the great terminal Permian crisis, whereas levels of 90-96% have frequently been quoted in the literature. Calculations of the latter numbers were incorrectly based on combined data for the Middle and Late Permian mass extinctions. About 90 orders and more than 220 families of marine animals survived the terminal Permian crisis, and they embodied an enormous amount of morphological, physiological, and ecological diversity. Life did not nearly disappear at the end of the Permian, as has often been claimed.

Estimates of the magnitudes of major marine mass extinctions in earth history.

PubMed

Stanley, Steven M

2016-10-18

Procedures introduced here make it possible, first, to show that background (piecemeal) extinction is recorded throughout geologic stages and substages (not all extinction has occurred suddenly at the ends of such intervals); second, to separate out background extinction from mass extinction for a major crisis in earth history; and third, to correct for clustering of extinctions when using the rarefaction method to estimate the percentage of species lost in a mass extinction. Also presented here is a method for estimating the magnitude of the Signor-Lipps effect, which is the incorrect assignment of extinctions that occurred during a crisis to an interval preceding the crisis because of the incompleteness of the fossil record. Estimates for the magnitudes of mass extinctions presented here are in most cases lower than those previously published. They indicate that only ∼81% of marine species died out in the great terminal Permian crisis, whereas levels of 90-96% have frequently been quoted in the literature. Calculations of the latter numbers were incorrectly based on combined data for the Middle and Late Permian mass extinctions. About 90 orders and more than 220 families of marine animals survived the terminal Permian crisis, and they embodied an enormous amount of morphological, physiological, and ecological diversity. Life did not nearly disappear at the end of the Permian, as has often been claimed.

Can we avoid the Sixth Mass Extinction? Setting today's extinction crisis in the context of the Big Five

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnosky, A. D.

2012-12-01

While the ultimate extinction driver now—Homo sapiens—is unique with respect to the drivers of past extinctions, comparison of parallel neontological and paleontological information helps calibrate how far the so-called Sixth Mass Extinction has progressed and whether it is inevitable. Such comparisons document that rates of extinction today are approaching or exceeding those that characterized the Big Five Mass Extinctions. Continuation of present extinction rates for vertebrates, for example, would result in 75% species loss—the minimum benchmark exhibited in the Big Five extinctions—within 3 to 22 centuries, assuming constant rates of loss and no threshold effects. Preceding and during each of the Big Five, the global ecosystem experienced major changes in climate, atmospheric chemisty, and ocean chemistry—not unlike what is being observed presently. Nevertheless, only 1-2% of well-assessed modern species have been lost over the past five centuries, still far below what characterized past mass extinctions in the strict paleontological sense. For mammals, adding in the end-Pleistocene species that died out would increase the species-loss percentage by some 5%. If threatened vertebrate species were to actually go extinct, losses would rise to between 14 and 40%, depending on the group. Such observations highlight that, although many species have already had their populations drastically reduced to near-critical levels, the Sixth Mass Extinction has not yet progressed to the point where it is unavoidable. Put another way, the vast majority of species that have occupied the world in concert with Homo sapiens are still alive and are possible to save. That task, however, will require slowing the abnormally high extinction rates that are now in progress, which in turn requires unified efforts to cap human population growth, decrease the average human footprint, reduce fossil fuel use while simultaneously increasing clean energy technologies, integrate

New theories about ancient extinctions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Spall, H.

1986-01-01

But all this may be changing. Mass extinctions have been very much in the news in the last few years, triggered in large part by the proposal that the extinction of the dinosaurs and marine animals was caused by a catastrophic collision between the Earth and an extra-terrestrial body (bolide). Recently an equally contentious suggestion has been made that mass extinctions have swept the Earth every 26 to 31 million years for at least the last 250 million years-caused by encounters with some kind of extra-terrestrial object such as one of the asteroids or the comets. 

Eutrophication, microbial-sulfate reduction and mass extinctions

PubMed Central

Schobben, Martin; Stebbins, Alan; Ghaderi, Abbas; Strauss, Harald; Korn, Dieter; Korte, Christoph

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT In post-Cambrian time, life on Earth experienced 5 major extinction events, likely instigated by adverse environmental conditions. Biodiversity loss among marine taxa, for at least 3 of these mass extinction events (Late Devonian, end-Permian and end-Triassic), has been connected with widespread oxygen-depleted and sulfide-bearing marine water. Furthermore, geochemical and sedimentary evidence suggest that these events correlate with rather abrupt climate warming and possibly increased terrestrial weathering. This suggests that biodiversity loss may be triggered by mechanisms intrinsic to the Earth system, notably, the biogeochemical sulfur and carbon cycle. This climate warming feedback produces large-scale eutrophication on the continental shelf, which, in turn, expands oxygen minimum zones by increased respiration, which can turn to a sulfidic state by increased microbial-sulfate reduction due to increased availability of organic matter. A plankton community turnover from a high-diversity eukaryote to high-biomass bacterial dominated food web is the catalyst proposed in this anoxia-extinction scenario and stands in stark contrast to the postulated productivity collapse suggested for the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. This cascade of events is relevant for the future ocean under predicted greenhouse driven climate change. The exacerbation of anoxic “dead” zones is already progressing in modern oceanic environments, and this is likely to increase due to climate induced continental weathering and resulting eutrophication of the oceans. PMID:27066181

Cumulative frequency distribution of past species extinctions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raup, D. M.

1991-01-01

Analysis of Sepkoski's compendium of the time ranges of 30,000+ taxa yields a mean duration of 28.4 ma for genera of fossil invertebrates. This converts to an average extinction rate of 3.5 percent per million years or about one percent every 286,000 years. Using survivorship techniques, these estimates can be converted to the species level, yielding a Phanerozoic average of one percent species extinction every 40,000 years. Variation in extinction rates through time is far greater than the null expectation of a homogeneous birth-death model and this reflects the well-known episodicity of extinction ranging from a few large mass extinctions to so-called background extinction. The observed variation in rates can be used to construct a cumulative frequency distribution of extinction intensity, and this distribution, in the form of a kill curve for species, shows the expected waiting times between extinction events of a given intensity. The kill curve is an average description of the extinction events of a given intensity. The kill curve is an average description of the extinction record and does not imply any cause or causes of extinction. The kill curve shows, among other things, that only about five percent of total species extinctions in the Phanerozoic were involved in the five largest mass extinctions. The other 95 percent were distributed among large and small events not normally called mass extinctions. As an exploration of the possibly absurd proposition that most past extinctions were produced by the effects of large-body impact, the kill curve for species was mapped on the comparable distribution for comet and asteroid impacts. The result is a curve predicting the species kill for a given size of impacting object (expressed as crater size). The results are reasonable in that impacts producing craters less than 30 km (diameter) cause negligible extinction but those producing craters 100-150 km (diameter) cause extinction of species in the range of 45

Contrasting microbial community changes during mass extinctions at the Middle/Late Permian and Permian/Triassic boundaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Shucheng; Algeo, Thomas J.; Zhou, Wenfeng; Ruan, Xiaoyan; Luo, Genming; Huang, Junhua; Yan, Jiaxin

2017-02-01

Microbial communities are known to expand as a result of environmental deterioration during mass extinctions, but differences in microbial community changes between extinction events and their underlying causes have received little study to date. Here, we present a systematic investigation of microbial lipid biomarkers spanning ∼20 Myr (Middle Permian to Early Triassic) at Shangsi, South China, to contrast microbial changes associated with the Guadalupian-Lopingian boundary (GLB) and Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) mass extinctions. High-resolution analysis of the PTB crisis interval reveals a distinct succession of microbial communities based on secular variation in moretanes, 2-methylhopanes, aryl isoprenoids, steranes, n-alkyl cyclohexanes, and other biomarkers. The first episode of the PTB mass extinction (ME1) was associated with increases in red algae and nitrogen-fixing bacteria along with evidence for enhanced wildfires and elevated soil erosion, whereas the second episode was associated with expansions of green sulfur bacteria, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and acritarchs coinciding with climatic hyperwarming, ocean stratification, and seawater acidification. This pattern of microbial community change suggests that marine environmental deterioration was greater during the second extinction episode (ME2). The GLB shows more limited changes in microbial community composition and more limited environmental deterioration than the PTB, consistent with differences in species-level extinction rates (∼71% vs. 90%, respectively). Microbial biomarker records have the potential to refine our understanding of the nature of these crises and to provide insights concerning possible outcomes of present-day anthropogenic stresses on Earth's ecosystems.

Earth history. U-Pb geochronology of the Deccan Traps and relation to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

PubMed

Schoene, Blair; Samperton, Kyle M; Eddy, Michael P; Keller, Gerta; Adatte, Thierry; Bowring, Samuel A; Khadri, Syed F R; Gertsch, Brian

2015-01-09

The Chicxulub asteroid impact (Mexico) and the eruption of the massive Deccan volcanic province (India) are two proposed causes of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, which includes the demise of nonavian dinosaurs. Despite widespread acceptance of the impact hypothesis, the lack of a high-resolution eruption timeline for the Deccan basalts has prevented full assessment of their relationship to the mass extinction. Here we apply uranium-lead (U-Pb) zircon geochronology to Deccan rocks and show that the main phase of eruptions initiated ~250,000 years before the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary and that >1.1 million cubic kilometers of basalt erupted in ~750,000 years. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the Deccan Traps contributed to the latest Cretaceous environmental change and biologic turnover that culminated in the marine and terrestrial mass extinctions. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

THE OBSERVED RELATION BETWEEN STELLAR MASS, DUST EXTINCTION, AND STAR FORMATION RATE IN LOCAL GALAXIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zahid, H. J.; Kewley, L. J.; Kudritzki, R. P.

In this study, we investigate the relation between stellar mass, dust extinction, and star formation rate (SFR) using {approx}150,000 star-forming galaxies from SDSS DR7. We show that the relation between dust extinction and SFR changes with stellar mass. For galaxies at the same stellar mass, dust extinction is anti-correlated with the SFR at stellar masses <10{sup 10} M {sub Sun }. There is a sharp transition in the relation at a stellar mass of 10{sup 10} M {sub Sun }. At larger stellar masses, dust extinction is positively correlated with the SFR for galaxies at the same stellar mass. Themore » observed relation between stellar mass, dust extinction, and SFR presented in this study helps to confirm similar trends observed in the relation between stellar mass, metallicity, and SFR. The relation reported in this study provides important new constraints on the physical processes governing the chemical evolution of galaxies. The correlation between SFR and dust extinction for galaxies with stellar masses >10{sup 10} M {sub Sun} is shown to extend to the population of quiescent galaxies suggesting that the physical processes responsible for the observed relation between stellar mass, dust extinction, and SFR may be related to the processes leading to the shutdown of star formation in galaxies.« less

EARTH SCIENCE: Did Volcanoes Drive Ancient Extinctions?

PubMed

Kerr, R A

2000-08-18

With the publication in recent weeks of two papers on a mass extinction 183 million years ago, researchers can add five suggestive cases to the list of extinctions with known causes. These extinctions coincide with massive outpourings of lava, accompanied by signs that global warming threw the ocean-atmosphere system out of whack. Although no one can yet pin any of these mass extinctions with certainty on the volcanic eruptions, scientists say it's unlikely that they're all coincidences.

Science observed: The mass-extinction debates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glen, W.

1994-01-01

The upheaval triggered in 1980 by the Alvarez-Berkeley group impact hypothesis transformed the literature of mass extinctions from an unfocused, sporadic collection of papers that virtually ignored extraterrestrial causes and treated endogenous ones only sparingly better to an integrated, diverse body of literature. Research programs organized seemingly overnight spawned collaborative teams whose members, often from distant, isolated disciplines, redirected their careers in order to address the captivating, high-stakes issues. The initial, generally skeptical, cool reception of the impact hypothesis might have been predicted for any of a number of reasons: such an instantaneous catastrophe contravened earth science's reigning philosophy of uniformitarianism; it was formulated from a form of evidence - siderophile element anomalies - alien to the community charged with its appraisal; it advanced a causal mechanism that was improbable in terms of canonical knowledge; and it was proffered mainly by specialists alien to earth and biological science, especially paleobiology. Early on it became clear that irrespective of which causal hypothesis was chosen, the chosen one would be the strongest predictor of how the chooser would select and apply standards in assessing evidence bearing on all such hypothesis. Less strong correlation also appeared between disciplinary speciality and the assessment of evidence. Such correlations varied with the level of specialization; the most robust correlations appeared in the broadest areas of science practice. The gestalt (mindset) seemingly engendered by the embrace of an extinction hypothesis overrode, or was stronger than, the intellectual predispositions attributable to disciplinary specialty.

Science observed: The mass-extinction debates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glen, W.

The upheaval triggered in 1980 by the Alvarez-Berkeley group impact hypothesis transformed the literature of mass extinctions from an unfocused, sporadic collection of papers that virtually ignored extraterrestrial causes and treated endogenous ones only sparingly better to an integrated, diverse body of literature. Research programs organized seemingly overnight spawned collaborative teams whose members, often from distant, isolated disciplines, redirected their careers in order to address the captivating, high-stakes issues. The initial, generally skeptical, cool reception of the impact hypothesis might have been predicted for any of a number of reasons: such an instantaneous catastrophe contravened earth science's reigning philosophy of uniformitarianism; it was formulated from a form of evidence - siderophile element anomalies - alien to the community charged with its appraisal; it advanced a causal mechanism that was improbable in terms of canonical knowledge; and it was proffered mainly by specialists alien to earth and biological science, especially paleobiology. Early on it became clear that irrespective of which causal hypothesis was chosen, the chosen one would be the strongest predictor of how the chooser would select and apply standards in assessing evidence bearing on all such hypothesis. Less strong correlation also appeared between disciplinary speciality and the assessment of evidence. Such correlations varied with the level of specialization; the most robust correlations appeared in the broadest areas of science practice. The gestalt (mindset) seemingly engendered by the embrace of an extinction hypothesis overrode, or was stronger than, the intellectual predispositions attributable to disciplinary specialty.

Breeding Young as a Survival Strategy during Earth's Greatest Mass Extinction.

PubMed

Botha-Brink, Jennifer; Codron, Daryl; Huttenlocker, Adam K; Angielczyk, Kenneth D; Ruta, Marcello

2016-04-05

Studies of the effects of mass extinctions on ancient ecosystems have focused on changes in taxic diversity, morphological disparity, abundance, behaviour and resource availability as key determinants of group survival. Crucially, the contribution of life history traits to survival during terrestrial mass extinctions has not been investigated, despite the critical role of such traits for population viability. We use bone microstructure and body size data to investigate the palaeoecological implications of changes in life history strategies in the therapsid forerunners of mammals before and after the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction (PTME), the most catastrophic crisis in Phanerozoic history. Our results are consistent with truncated development, shortened life expectancies, elevated mortality rates and higher extinction risks amongst post-extinction species. Various simulations of ecological dynamics indicate that an earlier onset of reproduction leading to shortened generation times could explain the persistence of therapsids in the unpredictable, resource-limited Early Triassic environments, and help explain observed body size distributions of some disaster taxa (e.g., Lystrosaurus). Our study accounts for differential survival in mammal ancestors after the PTME and provides a methodological framework for quantifying survival strategies in other vertebrates during major biotic crises.

Biological extinction in earth history

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raup, D. M.

1986-01-01

Virtually all plant and animal species that have ever lived on the earth are extinct. For this reason alone, extinction must play an important role in the evolution of life. The five largest mass extinctions of the past 600 million years are of greatest interest, but there is also a spectrum of smaller events, many of which indicate biological systems in profound stress. Extinction may be episodic at all scales, with relatively long periods of stability alternating with short-lived extinction events. Most extinction episodes are biologically selective, and further analysis of the victims and survivors offers the greatest chance of deducing the proximal causes of extinction. A drop in sea level and climatic change are most frequently invoked to explain mass extinctions, but new theories of collisions with extraterrestrial bodies are gaining favor. Extinction may be constructive in a Darwinian sense or it may only perturb the system by eliminating those organisms that happen to be susceptible to geologically rare stresses.

Biological Extinction in Earth History

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raup, David M.

1986-03-01

Virtually all plant and animal species that have ever lived on the earth are extinct. For this reason alone, extinction must play an important role in the evolution of life. The five largest mass extinctions of the past 600 million years are of greatest interest, but there is also a spectrum of smaller events, many of which indicate biological systems in profound stress. Extinction may be episodic at all scales, with relatively long periods of stability alternating with short-lived extinction events. Most extinction episodes are biologically selective, and further analysis of the victims and survivors offers the greatest chance of deducing the proximal causes of extinction. A drop in sea level and climatic change are most frequently invoked to explain mass extinctions, but new theories of collisions with extraterrestrial bodies are gaining favor. Extinction may be constructive in a Darwinian sense or it may only perturb the system by eliminating those organisms that happen to be susceptible to geologically rare stresses.

Catastrophic Events and Mass Extinctions: Impacts and Beyond

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

This volume contains extended abstracts that have been accepted for presentation at the conference on Catastrophic Events and Mass Extinctions: Impacts and Beyond, July 9-12, 2000, in Vienna, Austria.

The fossil record of evolution: Analysis of extinction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raup, D. M.

1986-01-01

There is increasing evidence that events in space have had direct effects on Earth history and on the history of life on Earth. Nowhere is this more evident than in mass extinction. The biosphere has undergone repeated devastation caused by relatively short-lived environmental stress, with species kill rates up to 80 and 95%. For five of the mass extinctions, geochemical or other evidence was reported suggesting large body impact as the cause of the environmental stress producing the extinctions. It was argued on statistical ground that the major extinction events are uniformly periodic in geological time. If it is true that large body impact is a principal cause of mass extinctions and if the periodicity is real, than a cosmic driving mechanism is inescapable. Paleontological data sets were developed which detail the ranges in geological time of about 4,000 families and 25,000 genera of fossil marine organisms. Analyses to date have concentrated on the most recent 250 million years. Associated with these studies are analyses of other aspects of Earth history which may have signatures indicative of extraterrestrial effects.

Origination, diversity, and extinction metrics essential for analysis of mass biotic crisis events: An example from cretaceous ammonoidea

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collom, Christopher J.

1988-01-01

Traditional mass extinction research has predominently concentrated on statistically demonstrating that mass extinction intervals are significantly above background levels of familial and generic extinction in terms of extinction percentage, extinction rate, and per-taxon extinction rate; mass extinction intervals occur on a set periodicity throughout geologic time, which is estimated to be some 30 MYR in duration. The published literature has given little emphasis to equally important considerations and metrics such as origination rate, standing diversity, and rate of generation of new taxa DURING mass extinction intervals. The extent to which a mass extinction affects the regional or global biota, must ultimately be gauged by taking into consideration both the number of taxa which become extinct at or near the event (stage) boundary, and the number of taxa which are either not affected at all by the extinction or actually evolved during or shortly before/after the extinction interval. These effects can be seen in Cretaceous Ammonoidea (at the genus level), and their combined usage allow better insight into paleobiological dynamics and responses to mass extinction and its affect on this dominant Molluscan organism.

Immediate extinction causes a less durable loss of performance than delayed extinction following either fear or appetitive conditioning.

PubMed

Woods, Amanda M; Bouton, Mark E

2008-12-01

Five experiments with rat subjects compared the effects of immediate and delayed extinction on the durability of extinction learning. Three experiments examined extinction of fear conditioning (using the conditioned emotional response method), and two experiments examined extinction of appetitive conditioning (using the food-cup entry method). In all experiments, conditioning and extinction were accomplished in single sessions, and retention testing took place 24 h after extinction. In both fear and appetitive conditioning, immediate extinction (beginning 10 min after conditioning) caused a faster loss of responding than delayed extinction (beginning 24 h after conditioning). However, immediate extinction was less durable than delayed extinction: There was stronger spontaneous recovery during the final retention test. There was also substantial renewal of responding when the physical context was changed between immediate extinction and testing (Experiment 1). The results suggest that, in these two widely used conditioning preparations, immediate extinction does not erase or depotentiate the original learning, and instead creates a less permanent reduction in conditioned responding. Results did not support the possibility that the strong recovery after immediate extinction was due to a mismatch in the recent "context" provided by the presence or absence of a recent conditioning experience. Several other accounts are considered.

Stress-enhanced fear learning in rats is resistant to the effects of immediate massed extinction

PubMed Central

Long, Virginia A.; Fanselow, Michael S.

2014-01-01

Enhanced fear learning occurs subsequent to traumatic or stressful events and is a persistent challenge to the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Facilitation of learning produced by prior stress can elicit an exaggerated fear response to a minimally aversive event or stimulus. Stress-enhanced fear learning (SEFL) is a rat model of PTSD; rats previously exposed to the SEFL 15 electrical shocks procedure exhibit several behavioral responses similar to those seen in patients with PTSD. However, past reports found that SEFL is not mitigated by extinction (a model of exposure therapy) when the spaced extinction began 24 h after stress. Recent studies found that extinction from 10 min to 1 h subsequent to fear conditioning “erased” learning, whereas later extinction, occurring from 24 to 72 h after conditioning did not. Other studies indicate that massed extinction is more effective than spaced procedures. Therefore, we examined the time-dependent nature of extinction on the stress-induced enhancement of fear learning using a massed trial’s procedure. Experimental rats received 15 foot shocks and were given either no extinction or massed extinction 10 min or 72 h later. Our present data indicate that SEFL, following traumatic stress, is resistant to immediate massed extinction. Experimental rats showed exaggerated new fear learning regardless of when extinction training occurred. Thus, post-traumatic reactivity such as SEFL does not seem responsive to extinction treatments. PMID:22176467

Dental Disparity and Ecological Stability in Bird-like Dinosaurs prior to the End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction.

PubMed

Larson, Derek W; Brown, Caleb M; Evans, David C

2016-05-23

The causes, rate, and selectivity of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction continue to be highly debated [1-5]. Extinction patterns in small, feathered maniraptoran dinosaurs (including birds) are important for understanding extant biodiversity and present an enigma considering the survival of crown group birds (Neornithes) and the extinction of their close kin across the end-Cretaceous boundary [6]. Because of the patchy Cretaceous fossil record of small maniraptorans [7-12], this important transition has not been closely examined in this group. Here, we test the hypothesis that morphological disparity in bird-like dinosaurs was decreasing leading up to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, as has been hypothesized in some dinosaurs [13, 14]. To test this, we examined tooth morphology, an ecological indicator in fossil reptiles [15-19], from over 3,100 maniraptoran teeth from four groups (Troodontidae, Dromaeosauridae, Richardoestesia, and cf. Aves) across the last 18 million years of the Cretaceous. We demonstrate that tooth disparity, a proxy for variation in feeding ecology, shows no significant decline leading up to the extinction event within any of the groups. Tooth morphospace occupation also remains static over this time interval except for increased size during the early Maastrichtian. Our data provide strong support that extinction within this group occurred suddenly after a prolonged period of ecological stability. To explain this sudden extinction of toothed maniraptorans and the survival of Neornithes, we propose that diet may have been an extinction filter and suggest that granivory associated with an edentulous beak was a key ecological trait in the survival of some lineages. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using the Theme of Mass Extinctions to Teach Science to Non-Science Major College and University Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boness, D. A.

2013-12-01

The general public is heavily exposed to "news" and commentary---and arts and entertainment---that either inadvertently misrepresents science or even acts to undermine it. Climate change denial and evolution denial is well funded and pervasive. Even university-educated people get little exposure to the aims, methods, debates, and results of scientific inquiry because unless they earn degrees in science they typically only take one or two introductory science courses at the university level. This presentation reports the development of a new, non-science major Seattle University course on mass extinctions throughout earth history. Seattle University is an urban, Jesuit Catholic university. The topic of mass extinctions was chosen for several reasons: (1) To expose the students to a part of current science that has rich historical roots yet by necessity uses methods and reasoning from geology, geophysics, oceanography, physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy. This multidisciplinary course provides some coverage of sciences that the student would not typically ever see beyond secondary school. (2) To enable the students to learn enough to follow some of the recent and current debates within science (e.g., mass extinctions by asteroid impact versus massive volcanism, ocean anoxia, and ocean acidification), with the students reading some of the actual literature, such as articles in Science, Nature, or Nature Geoscience. (3) To emphasize the importance of "deep time" as evolutionary biological processes interact with massive environmental change over time scales from hundreds of millions of years down to the seconds and hours of an asteroid or comet strike. (4) To show the effects of climate change in the past, present, and future, due to both natural and anthropogenic causes. (5) To help the student critically evaluate the extent to which their future involves a human-caused mass extinction.

Breeding Young as a Survival Strategy during Earth’s Greatest Mass Extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Botha-Brink, Jennifer; Codron, Daryl; Huttenlocker, Adam K.; Angielczyk, Kenneth D.; Ruta, Marcello

2016-04-01

Studies of the effects of mass extinctions on ancient ecosystems have focused on changes in taxic diversity, morphological disparity, abundance, behaviour and resource availability as key determinants of group survival. Crucially, the contribution of life history traits to survival during terrestrial mass extinctions has not been investigated, despite the critical role of such traits for population viability. We use bone microstructure and body size data to investigate the palaeoecological implications of changes in life history strategies in the therapsid forerunners of mammals before and after the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction (PTME), the most catastrophic crisis in Phanerozoic history. Our results are consistent with truncated development, shortened life expectancies, elevated mortality rates and higher extinction risks amongst post-extinction species. Various simulations of ecological dynamics indicate that an earlier onset of reproduction leading to shortened generation times could explain the persistence of therapsids in the unpredictable, resource-limited Early Triassic environments, and help explain observed body size distributions of some disaster taxa (e.g., Lystrosaurus). Our study accounts for differential survival in mammal ancestors after the PTME and provides a methodological framework for quantifying survival strategies in other vertebrates during major biotic crises.

Microbes and mass extinctions: paleoenvironmental distribution of microbialites during times of biotic crisis.

PubMed

Mata, S A; Bottjer, D J

2012-01-01

Widespread development of microbialites characterizes the substrate and ecological response during the aftermath of two of the 'big five' mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic. This study reviews the microbial response recorded by macroscopic microbial structures to these events to examine how extinction mechanism may be linked to the style of microbialite development. Two main styles of response are recognized: (i) the expansion of microbialites into environments not previously occupied during the pre-extinction interval and (ii) increases in microbialite abundance and attainment of ecological dominance within environments occupied prior to the extinction. The Late Devonian biotic crisis contributed toward the decimation of platform margin reef taxa and was followed by increases in microbialite abundance in Famennian and earliest Carboniferous platform interior, margin, and slope settings. The end-Permian event records the suppression of infaunal activity and an elimination of metazoan-dominated reefs. The aftermath of this mass extinction is characterized by the expansion of microbialites into new environments including offshore and nearshore ramp, platform interior, and slope settings. The mass extinctions at the end of the Triassic and Cretaceous have not yet been associated with a macroscopic microbial response, although one has been suggested for the end-Ordovician event. The case for microbialites behaving as 'disaster forms' in the aftermath of mass extinctions accurately describes the response following the Late Devonian and end-Permian events, and this may be because each is marked by the reduction of reef communities in addition to a suppression of bioturbation related to the development of shallow-water anoxia. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Mass extinctions and missing matter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stothers, R. B.

1984-01-01

The possible influence of 'invisible matter' on the solar system's comet halo, and therefore on quasi-periodic cometary bombardment of the earth and consequent mass extinctions, is briefly addressed. Invisible matter consisting of small or cold interstellar molecular clouds could significantly modulate the comet background flux, while invisible matter consisting of a large population of old, dead stars with a relatively small galactic concentration probably could not. It is also shown that the downward force exerted by the Galaxy will perturb the halo, but will not produce any periodicity.

Are marine and nonmarine extinctions correlated?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rampino, Michael R.

Recent papers in Eos have debated the possible relationships between marine mass extinctions, comet showers, and volcanism [Alvarez, 1986; Officer and Grieve, 1986], and ail three might be linked [Rampino, 1987]. Moreover, as Officer and Grieve [ 1986] point out, various other causes have been suggested for given extinction events, including changes in climate, ocean circulation, and sea level fluctuations, possibly related to plate tectonics and continental positions. Also under debate is the issue of whether mass extinctions were gradual, stepped, or geologically sudden events (see, for example, Hut et al. [1987]). A missing ingredient thus far in these debates has been the record of faunal diversity of nonmarine animals. Does this show any agreement with the marine extinction record?

New Age of Fishes initiated by the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sibert, Elizabeth C.; Norris, Richard D.

2015-07-01

Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) comprise nearly half of all modern vertebrate diversity, and are an ecologically and numerically dominant megafauna in most aquatic environments. Crown teleost fishes diversified relatively recently, during the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene, although the exact timing and cause of their radiation and rise to ecological dominance is poorly constrained. Here we use microfossil teeth and shark dermal scales (ichthyoliths) preserved in deep-sea sediments to study the changes in the pelagic fish community in the latest Cretaceous and early Paleogene. We find that the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) extinction event marked a profound change in the structure of ichthyolith communities around the globe: Whereas shark denticles outnumber ray-finned fish teeth in Cretaceous deep-sea sediments around the world, there is a dramatic increase in the proportion of ray-finned fish teeth to shark denticles in the Paleocene. There is also an increase in size and numerical abundance of ray-finned fish teeth at the boundary. These changes are sustained through at least the first 24 million years of the Cenozoic. This new fish community structure began at the K/Pg mass extinction, suggesting the extinction event played an important role in initiating the modern "age of fishes."

New Age of Fishes initiated by the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction.

PubMed

Sibert, Elizabeth C; Norris, Richard D

2015-07-14

Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) comprise nearly half of all modern vertebrate diversity, and are an ecologically and numerically dominant megafauna in most aquatic environments. Crown teleost fishes diversified relatively recently, during the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene, although the exact timing and cause of their radiation and rise to ecological dominance is poorly constrained. Here we use microfossil teeth and shark dermal scales (ichthyoliths) preserved in deep-sea sediments to study the changes in the pelagic fish community in the latest Cretaceous and early Paleogene. We find that the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) extinction event marked a profound change in the structure of ichthyolith communities around the globe: Whereas shark denticles outnumber ray-finned fish teeth in Cretaceous deep-sea sediments around the world, there is a dramatic increase in the proportion of ray-finned fish teeth to shark denticles in the Paleocene. There is also an increase in size and numerical abundance of ray-finned fish teeth at the boundary. These changes are sustained through at least the first 24 million years of the Cenozoic. This new fish community structure began at the K/Pg mass extinction, suggesting the extinction event played an important role in initiating the modern "age of fishes."

New Age of Fishes initiated by the Cretaceous−Paleogene mass extinction

PubMed Central

Sibert, Elizabeth C.; Norris, Richard D.

2015-01-01

Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) comprise nearly half of all modern vertebrate diversity, and are an ecologically and numerically dominant megafauna in most aquatic environments. Crown teleost fishes diversified relatively recently, during the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene, although the exact timing and cause of their radiation and rise to ecological dominance is poorly constrained. Here we use microfossil teeth and shark dermal scales (ichthyoliths) preserved in deep-sea sediments to study the changes in the pelagic fish community in the latest Cretaceous and early Paleogene. We find that the Cretaceous−Paleogene (K/Pg) extinction event marked a profound change in the structure of ichthyolith communities around the globe: Whereas shark denticles outnumber ray-finned fish teeth in Cretaceous deep-sea sediments around the world, there is a dramatic increase in the proportion of ray-finned fish teeth to shark denticles in the Paleocene. There is also an increase in size and numerical abundance of ray-finned fish teeth at the boundary. These changes are sustained through at least the first 24 million years of the Cenozoic. This new fish community structure began at the K/Pg mass extinction, suggesting the extinction event played an important role in initiating the modern “age of fishes.” PMID:26124114

Provincialization of terrestrial faunas following the end-Permian mass extinction.

PubMed

Sidor, Christian A; Vilhena, Daril A; Angielczyk, Kenneth D; Huttenlocker, Adam K; Nesbitt, Sterling J; Peecook, Brandon R; Steyer, J Sébastien; Smith, Roger M H; Tsuji, Linda A

2013-05-14

In addition to their devastating effects on global biodiversity, mass extinctions have had a long-term influence on the history of life by eliminating dominant lineages that suppressed ecological change. Here, we test whether the end-Permian mass extinction (252.3 Ma) affected the distribution of tetrapod faunas within the southern hemisphere and apply quantitative methods to analyze four components of biogeographic structure: connectedness, clustering, range size, and endemism. For all four components, we detected increased provincialism between our Permian and Triassic datasets. In southern Pangea, a more homogeneous and broadly distributed fauna in the Late Permian (Wuchiapingian, ∼257 Ma) was replaced by a provincial and biogeographically fragmented fauna by Middle Triassic times (Anisian, ∼242 Ma). Importantly in the Triassic, lower latitude basins in Tanzania and Zambia included dinosaur predecessors and other archosaurs unknown elsewhere. The recognition of heterogeneous tetrapod communities in the Triassic implies that the end-Permian mass extinction afforded ecologically marginalized lineages the ecospace to diversify, and that biotic controls (i.e., evolutionary incumbency) were fundamentally reset. Archosaurs, which began diversifying in the Early Triassic, were likely beneficiaries of this ecological release and remained dominant for much of the later Mesozoic.

Provincialization of terrestrial faunas following the end-Permian mass extinction

PubMed Central

Sidor, Christian A.; Vilhena, Daril A.; Angielczyk, Kenneth D.; Huttenlocker, Adam K.; Nesbitt, Sterling J.; Peecook, Brandon R.; Steyer, J. Sébastien; Smith, Roger M. H.; Tsuji, Linda A.

2013-01-01

In addition to their devastating effects on global biodiversity, mass extinctions have had a long-term influence on the history of life by eliminating dominant lineages that suppressed ecological change. Here, we test whether the end-Permian mass extinction (252.3 Ma) affected the distribution of tetrapod faunas within the southern hemisphere and apply quantitative methods to analyze four components of biogeographic structure: connectedness, clustering, range size, and endemism. For all four components, we detected increased provincialism between our Permian and Triassic datasets. In southern Pangea, a more homogeneous and broadly distributed fauna in the Late Permian (Wuchiapingian, ∼257 Ma) was replaced by a provincial and biogeographically fragmented fauna by Middle Triassic times (Anisian, ∼242 Ma). Importantly in the Triassic, lower latitude basins in Tanzania and Zambia included dinosaur predecessors and other archosaurs unknown elsewhere. The recognition of heterogeneous tetrapod communities in the Triassic implies that the end-Permian mass extinction afforded ecologically marginalized lineages the ecospace to diversify, and that biotic controls (i.e., evolutionary incumbency) were fundamentally reset. Archosaurs, which began diversifying in the Early Triassic, were likely beneficiaries of this ecological release and remained dominant for much of the later Mesozoic. PMID:23630295

Extended period of K/T boundary mass extinction in the marine realm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, G.

1988-01-01

The Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary mass extinction has been widely recognized as a nearly instantaneous catastrophy among marine plankton such as foraminifera. However, the suddenness of this extinction event may have been overemphasized because most pelagic K/T boundary sequences are stratigraphically incomplete and generally lack the earliest Tertiary (Zones P0 and P1a) either due to carbonate dissolution and/or non-deposition. Stratigraphically complete sections appear to be restricted to continental shelf regions with high sedimentation rates and deposition well above the CCD. Such sections have been recovered from El Kef, Tunisia (1) and Brazos River, Texas. Quantitative foraminiferal analysis of these sections indicate an extinction pattern beginning below the K/T boundary and ending above the boundary. These data imply that the mass extinction event was not geologically instantaneous, but occurred over an extended period of time. Evidence supporting this conclusion is discussed.

Quantifying ecological impacts of mass extinctions with network analysis of fossil communities

PubMed Central

Muscente, A. D.; Prabhu, Anirudh; Zhong, Hao; Eleish, Ahmed; Meyer, Michael B.; Fox, Peter; Hazen, Robert M.; Knoll, Andrew H.

2018-01-01

Mass extinctions documented by the fossil record provide critical benchmarks for assessing changes through time in biodiversity and ecology. Efforts to compare biotic crises of the past and present, however, encounter difficulty because taxonomic and ecological changes are decoupled, and although various metrics exist for describing taxonomic turnover, no methods have yet been proposed to quantify the ecological impacts of extinction events. To address this issue, we apply a network-based approach to exploring the evolution of marine animal communities over the Phanerozoic Eon. Network analysis of fossil co-occurrence data enables us to identify nonrandom associations of interrelated paleocommunities. These associations, or evolutionary paleocommunities, dominated total diversity during successive intervals of relative community stasis. Community turnover occurred largely during mass extinctions and radiations, when ecological reorganization resulted in the decline of one association and the rise of another. Altogether, we identify five evolutionary paleocommunities at the generic and familial levels in addition to three ordinal associations that correspond to Sepkoski’s Cambrian, Paleozoic, and Modern evolutionary faunas. In this context, we quantify magnitudes of ecological change by measuring shifts in the representation of evolutionary paleocommunities over geologic time. Our work shows that the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event had the largest effect on ecology, followed in descending order by the Permian–Triassic, Cretaceous–Paleogene, Devonian, and Triassic–Jurassic mass extinctions. Despite its taxonomic severity, the Ordovician extinction did not strongly affect co-occurrences of taxa, affirming its limited ecological impact. Network paleoecology offers promising approaches to exploring ecological consequences of extinctions and radiations. PMID:29686079

Quantifying ecological impacts of mass extinctions with network analysis of fossil communities.

PubMed

Muscente, A D; Prabhu, Anirudh; Zhong, Hao; Eleish, Ahmed; Meyer, Michael B; Fox, Peter; Hazen, Robert M; Knoll, Andrew H

2018-05-15

Mass extinctions documented by the fossil record provide critical benchmarks for assessing changes through time in biodiversity and ecology. Efforts to compare biotic crises of the past and present, however, encounter difficulty because taxonomic and ecological changes are decoupled, and although various metrics exist for describing taxonomic turnover, no methods have yet been proposed to quantify the ecological impacts of extinction events. To address this issue, we apply a network-based approach to exploring the evolution of marine animal communities over the Phanerozoic Eon. Network analysis of fossil co-occurrence data enables us to identify nonrandom associations of interrelated paleocommunities. These associations, or evolutionary paleocommunities, dominated total diversity during successive intervals of relative community stasis. Community turnover occurred largely during mass extinctions and radiations, when ecological reorganization resulted in the decline of one association and the rise of another. Altogether, we identify five evolutionary paleocommunities at the generic and familial levels in addition to three ordinal associations that correspond to Sepkoski's Cambrian, Paleozoic, and Modern evolutionary faunas. In this context, we quantify magnitudes of ecological change by measuring shifts in the representation of evolutionary paleocommunities over geologic time. Our work shows that the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event had the largest effect on ecology, followed in descending order by the Permian-Triassic, Cretaceous-Paleogene, Devonian, and Triassic-Jurassic mass extinctions. Despite its taxonomic severity, the Ordovician extinction did not strongly affect co-occurrences of taxa, affirming its limited ecological impact. Network paleoecology offers promising approaches to exploring ecological consequences of extinctions and radiations. Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Triassic–Jurassic mass extinction as trigger for the Mesozoic radiation of crocodylomorphs

PubMed Central

Toljagić, Olja; Butler, Richard J.

2013-01-01

Pseudosuchia, one of the two main clades of Archosauria (Reptilia: Diapsida), suffered a major decline in lineage diversity during the Triassic–Jurassic (TJ) mass extinction (approx. 201 Ma). Crocodylomorpha, including living crocodilians and their extinct relatives, is the only group of pseudosuchians that survived into the Jurassic. We reassess changes in pseudosuchian morphological diversity (disparity) across this time interval, using considerably larger sample sizes than in previous analyses. Our results show that metrics of pseudosuchian disparity did not change significantly across the TJ boundary, contrasting with previous work suggesting low pseudosuchian disparity in the Early Jurassic following the TJ mass extinction. However, a significant shift in morphospace occupation between Late Triassic and Early Jurassic taxa is recognized, suggesting that the TJ extinction of many pseudosuchian lineages was followed by a major and geologically rapid adaptive radiation of crocodylomorphs. This marks the onset of the spectacularly successful evolutionary history of crocodylomorphs in Jurassic and Cretaceous ecosystems. PMID:23536443

Climatic changes resulting from mass extinctions at the K-T boundary (and other bio-events)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rampino, Michael R.; Volk, Tyler

1988-01-01

The mass extinctions at the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary include about 90 percent of marine calcareous nannoplankton (coccoliths), and carbon-isotope data show that marine primary productivity was drastically reduced for about 500,000 years after the boundary event, the so-called Strangelove Ocean effect. One result of the elimination of most marine phytoplankton would have been a severe reduction in production of dimethyl sulfide (DMS), a biogenic gas that is believed to be the major precursor of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) over the oceans. A drastic reduction in marine CCN should lead to a cloud canopy with significantly lower reflectivity, and hence cause a significant warming at the earth's surface. Calculations suggest that, all other things being held constant, a reduction in CCN of more than 80 percent (a reasonable value for the K-T extinctions) could have produced a rapid global warming of 6 C or more. Oxygen-isotope analyses of marine sediments, and other kinds of paleoclimatic data, have provided for a marked warming, and a general instability of climate coincident with the killoff of marine plankton at the K-T boundary. Similar reductions in phytoplankton abundance at other boundaries, as indicated by marked shifts in carbon-isotope curves, suggest that severe temperature changes may have accompanied other mass extinctions, and raises the intriguing possibility that the extinction events themselves could have contributed to the climatic instabilities at critical bio-events in the geologic record.

Body size reductions in nonmammalian eutheriodont therapsids (Synapsida) during the end-Permian mass extinction.

PubMed

Huttenlocker, Adam K

2014-01-01

The extent to which mass extinctions influence body size evolution in major tetrapod clades is inadequately understood. For example, the 'Lilliput effect,' a common feature of mass extinctions, describes a temporary decrease in body sizes of survivor taxa in post-extinction faunas. However, its signature on existing patterns of body size evolution in tetrapods and the persistence of its impacts during post-extinction recoveries are virtually unknown, and rarely compared in both geologic and phylogenetic contexts. Here, I evaluate temporal and phylogenetic distributions of body size in Permo-Triassic therocephalian and cynodont therapsids (eutheriodonts) using a museum collections-based approach and time series model fitting on a regional stratigraphic sequence from the Karoo Basin, South Africa. I further employed rank order correlation tests on global age and clade rank data from an expanded phylogenetic dataset, and performed evolutionary model testing using Brownian (passive diffusion) models. Results support significant size reductions in the immediate aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction (ca. 252.3 Ma) consistent with some definitions of Lilliput effects. However, this temporal succession reflects a pattern that was underscored largely by Brownian processes and constructive selectivity. Results also support two recent contentions about body size evolution and mass extinctions: 1) active, directional evolution in size traits is rare over macroevolutionary time scales and 2) geologically brief size reductions may be accomplished by the ecological removal of large-bodied species without rapid originations of new small-bodied clades or shifts from long-term evolutionary patterns.

Fear extinction causes target-specific remodeling of perisomatic inhibitory synapses

PubMed Central

Trouche, Stéphanie; Sasaki, Jennifer M.; Tu, Tiffany; Reijmers, Leon G.

2013-01-01

SUMMARY A more complete understanding of how fear extinction alters neuronal activity and connectivity within fear circuits may aid in the development of strategies to treat human fear disorders. Using a c-fos based transgenic mouse, we found that contextual fear extinction silenced basal amygdala (BA) excitatory neurons that had been previously activated during fear conditioning. We hypothesized that the silencing of BA fear neurons was caused by an action of extinction on BA inhibitory synapses. In support of this hypothesis, we found extinction-induced target-specific remodeling of BA perisomatic inhibitory synapses originating from parvalbumin and cholecystokinin-positive interneurons. Interestingly, the predicted changes in the balance of perisomatic inhibition matched the silent and active states of the target BA fear neurons. These observations suggest that target-specific changes in perisomatic inhibitory synapses represent a mechanism through which experience can sculpt the activation patterns within a neural circuit. PMID:24183705

Are we in the midst of the sixth mass extinction? A view from the world of amphibians

PubMed Central

Wake, David B.; Vredenburg, Vance T.

2008-01-01

Many scientists argue that we are either entering or in the midst of the sixth great mass extinction. Intense human pressure, both direct and indirect, is having profound effects on natural environments. The amphibians—frogs, salamanders, and caecilians—may be the only major group currently at risk globally. A detailed worldwide assessment and subsequent updates show that one-third or more of the 6,300 species are threatened with extinction. This trend is likely to accelerate because most amphibians occur in the tropics and have small geographic ranges that make them susceptible to extinction. The increasing pressure from habitat destruction and climate change is likely to have major impacts on narrowly adapted and distributed species. We show that salamanders on tropical mountains are particularly at risk. A new and significant threat to amphibians is a virulent, emerging infectious disease, chytridiomycosis, which appears to be globally distributed, and its effects may be exacerbated by global warming. This disease, which is caused by a fungal pathogen and implicated in serious declines and extinctions of >200 species of amphibians, poses the greatest threat to biodiversity of any known disease. Our data for frogs in the Sierra Nevada of California show that the fungus is having a devastating impact on native species, already weakened by the effects of pollution and introduced predators. A general message from amphibians is that we may have little time to stave off a potential mass extinction. PMID:18695221

Post-Extinction Ecological Recovery of Marine Life Modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, C.; de la Torre, N. G.; Heim, N.; Payne, J.

2016-12-01

A mass extinction is defined by a substantial increase in extinction rates, resulting in a loss of taxonomic and ecological diversity. Bush et al. (2007) defined ecological life modes as the feeding, motility, and tiering habits and organized them in a six-by-six "eco-cube" in which each section represented a life mode. In our research, we analyzed the ecological recovery of each life mode after the five mass extinctions. Using a fossil marine genera database, we compiled five heat maps that depict the recovery of the life modes by plotting the diversity of genera in each life mode two intervals before and five intervals after each mass extinction interval. New life modes seem to appear either immediately following or three or more intervals after a mass extinction, which indicates that ecological recovery is not a gradual process, but rather occurs in a punctuated manner. Furthermore, the "filling order" of new life modes differ in each extinction. However, some seem to have defined patterns, such as the Ordovician, where earlier post-extinction intervals experienced an increase in the diversity of erect (tiering) ecospaces, followed by that of surficial and shallow infaunal life modes. The Devonian mass extinction followed a similar pattern as the end Ordovician where erect organisms came first followed by surficial, deep-infaunal, and pelagic life modes. Conversely, intervals following the end-Permian mass extinction experienced a recovery in pelagic, freely-moving life modes, followed by a recovery in infaunal organisms and an explosion in semi-infaunal, erect, surficial, and pelagic ecospaces in the Ladinian. New life modes in the Triassic and Cretaceous mass extinctions did not seem to generate in a distinct pattern. Overall, we conclude that recovery patterns are unique depending on the cause of each mass extinction, and that any general tendency in post-extinction ecological recovery was most likely overridden by the environmental condition of the recovery

Global microbial carbonate proliferation after the end-Devonian mass extinction: Mainly controlled by demise of skeletal bioconstructors

PubMed Central

Yao, Le; Aretz, Markus; Chen, Jitao; Webb, Gregory E.; Wang, Xiangdong

2016-01-01

Microbial carbonates commonly flourished following mass extinction events. The end-Devonian (Hangenberg) mass extinction event is a first-order mass extinction on the scale of the ‘Big Five’ extinctions. However, to date, it is still unclear whether global microbial carbonate proliferation occurred after the Hangenberg event. The earliest known Carboniferous stromatolites on tidal flats are described from intertidal environments of the lowermost Tournaisian (Qianheishan Formation) in northwestern China. With other early Tournaisian microbe-dominated bioconstructions extensively distributed on shelves, the Qianheishan stromatolites support microbial carbonate proliferation after the Hangenberg extinction. Additional support comes from quantitative analysis of the abundance of microbe-dominated bioconstructions through the Famennian and early Tournaisian, which shows that they were globally distributed (between 40° latitude on both sides of the palaeoequator) and that their abundance increased distinctly in the early Tournaisian compared to the latest Devonian (Strunian). Comparison of variations in the relative abundance of skeleton- versus microbe-dominated bioconstructions across the Hangenberg and ‘Big Five’ extinctions suggests that changes in abundance of skeletal bioconstructors may play a first-order control on microbial carbonate proliferation during extinction transitions but that microbial proliferation is not a general necessary feature after mass extinctions. PMID:28009013

Impact-driven ocean acidification as a mechanism of the Cretaceous-Palaeogene mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohno, S.; Kadono, T.; Kurosawa, K.; Hamura, T.; Sakaiya, T.; Shigemori, K.; Hironaka, Y.; Sano, T.; Watari, T.; Otani, K.; Matsui, T.; Sugita, S.

2014-12-01

The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event at 66 Ma triggered by a meteorite impact is one of the most drastic events in the history of life on the Earth. Many hypotheses have been proposed as killing mechanisms induced by the impact, including global darkness due to high concentrations of atmospheric silicate dust particles, global wildfires, greenhouse warming due to CO2 release, and global acid rain. However, the actual mechanism of extinction remains highly controversial. One of the most important clues for understanding the extinction mechanism is the marine plankton record, which indicates that plankton foraminifera, living in the near-surface ocean, suffered very severe extinction in contrast to the high survival ratio of benthic foraminifera. No proposed extinction mechanism can account for this globally observed marine extinction pattern. Here, we show that SO3-rich impact vapor was released in the K-Pg impact and resulted in the occurrence of global acid rain and sudden severe ocean acidification at the end of the Cretaceous, based on the new results of impact experiments at velocities much higher than previous works (> 10 km/s) and theoretical calculations on aerosol coagulation processes. Sudden severe ocean acidification can account for many of the features of various geologic records at the K?Pg boundary, including severe extinction of plankton foraminifera. This extinction mechanism requires impact degassing of SO3-rich vapor, which is not necessarily found at impact sites other than Chicxulub, suggesting that the degree of mass extinction was controlled greatly by target lithology.

Body Size Reductions in Nonmammalian Eutheriodont Therapsids (Synapsida) during the End-Permian Mass Extinction

PubMed Central

Huttenlocker, Adam K.

2014-01-01

The extent to which mass extinctions influence body size evolution in major tetrapod clades is inadequately understood. For example, the ‘Lilliput effect,’ a common feature of mass extinctions, describes a temporary decrease in body sizes of survivor taxa in post-extinction faunas. However, its signature on existing patterns of body size evolution in tetrapods and the persistence of its impacts during post-extinction recoveries are virtually unknown, and rarely compared in both geologic and phylogenetic contexts. Here, I evaluate temporal and phylogenetic distributions of body size in Permo-Triassic therocephalian and cynodont therapsids (eutheriodonts) using a museum collections-based approach and time series model fitting on a regional stratigraphic sequence from the Karoo Basin, South Africa. I further employed rank order correlation tests on global age and clade rank data from an expanded phylogenetic dataset, and performed evolutionary model testing using Brownian (passive diffusion) models. Results support significant size reductions in the immediate aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction (ca. 252.3 Ma) consistent with some definitions of Lilliput effects. However, this temporal succession reflects a pattern that was underscored largely by Brownian processes and constructive selectivity. Results also support two recent contentions about body size evolution and mass extinctions: 1) active, directional evolution in size traits is rare over macroevolutionary time scales and 2) geologically brief size reductions may be accomplished by the ecological removal of large-bodied species without rapid originations of new small-bodied clades or shifts from long-term evolutionary patterns. PMID:24498335

Estimating How Often Mass Extinctions Due to Impacts Occur on the Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buratti, Bonnie J.

2013-01-01

This hands-on, inquiry based activity has been taught at JPL's summer workshop "Teachers Touch the Sky" for the past two decades. Students act as mini-investigators as they gather and analyze data to estimate how often an impact large enough to cause a mass extinction occurs on the Earth. Large craters are counted on the Moon, and this number is extrapolated to the size of the Earth. Given the age of the Solar System, the students can then estimate how often large impacts occur on the Earth. This activity is based on an idea by Dr. David Morrison, NASA Ames Research Center.

Flourishing ocean drives the end-Permian marine mass extinction

PubMed Central

Schobben, Martin; Stebbins, Alan; Ghaderi, Abbas; Strauss, Harald; Korn, Dieter; Korte, Christoph

2015-01-01

The end-Permian mass extinction, the most severe biotic crisis in the Phanerozoic, was accompanied by climate change and expansion of oceanic anoxic zones. The partitioning of sulfur among different exogenic reservoirs by biological and physical processes was of importance for this biodiversity crisis, but the exact role of bioessential sulfur in the mass extinction is still unclear. Here we show that globally increased production of organic matter affected the seawater sulfate sulfur and oxygen isotope signature that has been recorded in carbonate rock spanning the Permian−Triassic boundary. A bifurcating temporal trend is observed for the strata spanning the marine mass extinction with carbonate-associated sulfate sulfur and oxygen isotope excursions toward decreased and increased values, respectively. By coupling these results to a box model, we show that increased marine productivity and successive enhanced microbial sulfate reduction is the most likely scenario to explain these temporal trends. The new data demonstrate that worldwide expansion of euxinic and anoxic zones are symptoms of increased biological carbon recycling in the marine realm initiated by global warming. The spatial distribution of sulfidic water column conditions in shallow seafloor environments is dictated by the severity and geographic patterns of nutrient fluxes and serves as an adequate model to explain the scale of the marine biodiversity crisis. Our results provide evidence that the major biodiversity crises in Earth’s history do not necessarily implicate an ocean stripped of (most) life but rather the demise of certain eukaryotic organisms, leading to a decline in species richness. PMID:26240323

Flourishing ocean drives the end-Permian marine mass extinction.

PubMed

Schobben, Martin; Stebbins, Alan; Ghaderi, Abbas; Strauss, Harald; Korn, Dieter; Korte, Christoph

2015-08-18

The end-Permian mass extinction, the most severe biotic crisis in the Phanerozoic, was accompanied by climate change and expansion of oceanic anoxic zones. The partitioning of sulfur among different exogenic reservoirs by biological and physical processes was of importance for this biodiversity crisis, but the exact role of bioessential sulfur in the mass extinction is still unclear. Here we show that globally increased production of organic matter affected the seawater sulfate sulfur and oxygen isotope signature that has been recorded in carbonate rock spanning the Permian-Triassic boundary. A bifurcating temporal trend is observed for the strata spanning the marine mass extinction with carbonate-associated sulfate sulfur and oxygen isotope excursions toward decreased and increased values, respectively. By coupling these results to a box model, we show that increased marine productivity and successive enhanced microbial sulfate reduction is the most likely scenario to explain these temporal trends. The new data demonstrate that worldwide expansion of euxinic and anoxic zones are symptoms of increased biological carbon recycling in the marine realm initiated by global warming. The spatial distribution of sulfidic water column conditions in shallow seafloor environments is dictated by the severity and geographic patterns of nutrient fluxes and serves as an adequate model to explain the scale of the marine biodiversity crisis. Our results provide evidence that the major biodiversity crises in Earth's history do not necessarily implicate an ocean stripped of (most) life but rather the demise of certain eukaryotic organisms, leading to a decline in species richness.

Fear extinction causes target-specific remodeling of perisomatic inhibitory synapses.

PubMed

Trouche, Stéphanie; Sasaki, Jennifer M; Tu, Tiffany; Reijmers, Leon G

2013-11-20

A more complete understanding of how fear extinction alters neuronal activity and connectivity within fear circuits may aid in the development of strategies to treat human fear disorders. Using a c-fos-based transgenic mouse, we found that contextual fear extinction silenced basal amygdala (BA) excitatory neurons that had been previously activated during fear conditioning. We hypothesized that the silencing of BA fear neurons was caused by an action of extinction on BA inhibitory synapses. In support of this hypothesis, we found extinction-induced target-specific remodeling of BA perisomatic inhibitory synapses originating from parvalbumin and cholecystokinin-positive interneurons. Interestingly, the predicted changes in the balance of perisomatic inhibition matched the silent and active states of the target BA fear neurons. These observations suggest that target-specific changes in perisomatic inhibitory synapses represent a mechanism through which experience can sculpt the activation patterns within a neural circuit. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mercury anomalies and the timing of biotic recovery following the end-Triassic mass extinction

PubMed Central

Thibodeau, Alyson M.; Ritterbush, Kathleen; Yager, Joyce A.; West, A. Joshua; Ibarra, Yadira; Bottjer, David J.; Berelson, William M.; Bergquist, Bridget A.; Corsetti, Frank A.

2016-01-01

The end-Triassic mass extinction overlapped with the eruption of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), and release of CO2 and other volcanic volatiles has been implicated in the extinction. However, the timing of marine biotic recovery versus CAMP eruptions remains uncertain. Here we use Hg concentrations and isotopes as indicators of CAMP volcanism in continental shelf sediments, the primary archive of faunal data. In Triassic–Jurassic strata, Muller Canyon, Nevada, Hg levels rise in the extinction interval, peak before the appearance of the first Jurassic ammonite, remain above background in association with a depauperate fauna, and fall to pre-extinction levels during significant pelagic and benthic faunal recovery. Hg isotopes display no significant mass independent fractionation within the extinction and depauperate intervals, consistent with a volcanic origin for the Hg. The Hg and palaeontological evidence from the same archive indicate that significant biotic recovery did not begin until CAMP eruptions ceased. PMID:27048776

Testing Proximate Cause Hypotheses for the End-Ordovician Mass Extinction: Do Patterns of Change in Biomarker Signatures Support a Linkage Between Graptolite and Phytoplankton Community Changes?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marshall, N.; Thomas, E.; Mitchell, C. E.; Aga, D.; Wombacher, R.

2017-12-01

The goal of our study is to analyze the biomarkers in the Vinini Creek section based on a set of samples in which graptolite community change has been identified. The study will test several competing hypotheses about the cause of the observed changes in the environmental proxies and the graptolite community structure and composition. The study interval in the Late Ordovician (444.7-443.4 Ma) was a glacial period with varying climate and sea level changes that are marked by geochemical signatures. Climate change drove changes in deep-ocean circulation and upwelling zones during the concomitant mass extinction and it appears that the graptolites inhabiting the mesopelagic zone were the most vulnerable during these events. Due to the high vulnerability of the graptolites in the Vinini Creek section, biomarkers in the section are especially important for interpreting changing ocean conditions. Changing productivity in the upwelling zones of modern oceans is reflected in the microbial community, which forms the base of the food chain and drives biogeochemical cycles. Moreover, microbes can be traced using organism-specific biomarkers. Steranes (C27-C29) are biomarkers for eukaryotic organisms (e.g., green algae) and hopanes (C27-C35) are biomarkers for bacteria. We will determine hopane-sterane ratios, which reflect measurable relative contributions of bacteria and eukaryotes to sedimentary organic matter as a result of fluctuations in the strength of the oxygen minimum zone and associated denitrification processes. Previous work at lower resolution in this section suggests a decrease in denitrification and increase in abundance of eukaryotes (e.g., green algae) relative to bacteria within the Hirnantian glacial lowstand interval, roughly synchronously with the mass extinction. These relationships suggest that climatically driven changes in nutrient cycling and phytoplankton communities drove the mass extinction. If this is so, then changes in graptolite community

Timing and causes of mid-Holocene mammoth extinction on St. Paul Island, Alaska

PubMed Central

Graham, Russell W.; Belmecheri, Soumaya; Choy, Kyungcheol; Culleton, Brendan J.; Davies, Lauren J.; Hritz, Carrie; Kapp, Joshua D.; Newsom, Lee A.; Rawcliffe, Ruth; Saulnier-Talbot, Émilie; Wang, Yue; Williams, John W.; Wooller, Matthew J.

2016-01-01

Relict woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) populations survived on several small Beringian islands for thousands of years after mainland populations went extinct. Here we present multiproxy paleoenvironmental records to investigate the timing, causes, and consequences of mammoth disappearance from St. Paul Island, Alaska. Five independent indicators of extinction show that mammoths survived on St. Paul until 5,600 ± 100 y ago. Vegetation composition remained stable during the extinction window, and there is no evidence of human presence on the island before 1787 CE, suggesting that these factors were not extinction drivers. Instead, the extinction coincided with declining freshwater resources and drier climates between 7,850 and 5,600 y ago, as inferred from sedimentary magnetic susceptibility, oxygen isotopes, and diatom and cladoceran assemblages in a sediment core from a freshwater lake on the island, and stable nitrogen isotopes from mammoth remains. Contrary to other extinction models for the St. Paul mammoth population, this evidence indicates that this mammoth population died out because of the synergistic effects of shrinking island area and freshwater scarcity caused by rising sea levels and regional climate change. Degradation of water quality by intensified mammoth activity around the lake likely exacerbated the situation. The St. Paul mammoth demise is now one of the best-dated prehistoric extinctions, highlighting freshwater limitation as an overlooked extinction driver and underscoring the vulnerability of small island populations to environmental change, even in the absence of human influence. PMID:27482085

Earth's biggest 'whodunnit': unravelling the clues in the case of the end-Permian mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, Rosalind V.

2002-12-01

The mass extinction that occurred at the end of the Permian period, 250 million years ago, was the most devastating loss of life that Earth has ever experienced. It is estimated that ca.96% of marine species were wiped out and land plants, reptiles, amphibians and insects also suffered. The causes of this catastrophic event are currently a topic of intense debate. The geological record points to significant environmental disturbances, for example, global warming and stagnation of ocean water. A key issue is whether the Earth's feedback mechanisms can become unstable on their own, or whether some forcing is required to precipitate a catastrophe of this magnitude. A prime suspect for pushing Earth's systems into a critical condition is massive end-Permian Siberian volcanism, which would have pumped large quantities of carbon dioxide and toxic gases into the atmosphere. Recently, it has been postulated that Earth was also the victim of a bolide impact at this time. If further research substantiates this claim, it raises some intriguing questions. The Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction, 65 million years ago, was contemporaneous with both an impact and massive volcanism. Are both types of calamity necessary to drive Earth to the brink of faunal cataclysm? We do not presently have enough pieces of the jigsaw to solve the mystery of the end-Permian extinction, but the forensic work continues.

A stochastic model for the probability of malaria extinction by mass drug administration.

PubMed

Pemberton-Ross, Peter; Chitnis, Nakul; Pothin, Emilie; Smith, Thomas A

2017-09-18

Mass drug administration (MDA) has been proposed as an intervention to achieve local extinction of malaria. Although its effect on the reproduction number is short lived, extinction may subsequently occur in a small population due to stochastic fluctuations. This paper examines how the probability of stochastic extinction depends on population size, MDA coverage and the reproduction number under control, R c . A simple compartmental model is developed which is used to compute the probability of extinction using probability generating functions. The expected time to extinction in small populations after MDA for various scenarios in this model is calculated analytically. The results indicate that mass drug administration (Firstly, R c must be sustained at R c  < 1.2 to avoid the rapid re-establishment of infections in the population. Secondly, the MDA must produce effective cure rates of >95% to have a non-negligible probability of successful elimination. Stochastic fluctuations only significantly affect the probability of extinction in populations of about 1000 individuals or less. The expected time to extinction via stochastic fluctuation is less than 10 years only in populations less than about 150 individuals. Clustering of secondary infections and of MDA distribution both contribute positively to the potential probability of success, indicating that MDA would most effectively be administered at the household level. There are very limited circumstances in which MDA will lead to local malaria elimination with a substantial probability.

High-precision timeline for Earth's most severe extinction.

PubMed

Burgess, Seth D; Bowring, Samuel; Shen, Shu-zhong

2014-03-04

The end-Permian mass extinction was the most severe loss of marine and terrestrial biota in the last 542 My. Understanding its cause and the controls on extinction/recovery dynamics depends on an accurate and precise age model. U-Pb zircon dates for five volcanic ash beds from the Global Stratotype Section and Point for the Permian-Triassic boundary at Meishan, China, define an age model for the extinction and allow exploration of the links between global environmental perturbation, carbon cycle disruption, mass extinction, and recovery at millennial timescales. The extinction occurred between 251.941 ± 0.037 and 251.880 ± 0.031 Mya, an interval of 60 ± 48 ka. Onset of a major reorganization of the carbon cycle immediately precedes the initiation of extinction and is punctuated by a sharp (3‰), short-lived negative spike in the isotopic composition of carbonate carbon. Carbon cycle volatility persists for ∼500 ka before a return to near preextinction values. Decamillenial to millennial level resolution of the mass extinction and its aftermath will permit a refined evaluation of the relative roles of rate-dependent processes contributing to the extinction, allowing insight into postextinction ecosystem expansion, and establish an accurate time point for evaluating the plausibility of trigger and kill mechanisms.

The Arches Cluster Out to its Tidal Radius: Dynamical Mass Segregation and the Effect of the Extinction Law on the - Lar Mass Function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habibi, Maryam; Stolte, Andrea; Brandner, Wolfgang; Hussman, Benjamin

2013-07-01

The Galactic Center is the most active site of star formation in the Milky Way Galaxy, where particularly high-mass stars have formed very recently and are still forming today. However, since we are looking at the Galactic Center through the Galactic disk, knowledge of extinction is crucial to study this region. The Arches cluster is a young, massive starburst cluster near the Galactic Center. We observed the Arches cluster out to its tidal radius using Ks-band imaging obtained with NAOS/CONICA at the VLT combined with Subaro/Cisco J-band data to gain a full understanding of the cluster mass distribution. We show that the determination of the mass of the most massive star in the Arches cluster, which had been used in previous studies to establish an upper-mass limit for the star formation process in the Milky Way, strongly depends on the assumed slope of the extinction law. Assuming the two regimes of widely used infrared extinction laws, we show that the difference can reach up to 30% for individually derived stellar masses and ∆AKs˜1 magnitude in acquired Ks-band extinction, while the present mass function slope changes by ˜0.17 dex. The present-day mass function slope derived assuming the Nishiyama et al. (2009) extinction law increases from a flat slope of α-Nishi = 1.50 ± 0.35 in the core (r<0.2 pc) to α-Nishi = 2.21±0.27 in the intermediate annulus (0.2

Metal-induced malformations in early Palaeozoic plankton are harbingers of mass extinction

PubMed Central

Vandenbroucke, Thijs R. A.; Emsbo, Poul; Munnecke, Axel; Nuns, Nicolas; Duponchel, Ludovic; Lepot, Kevin; Quijada, Melesio; Paris, Florentin; Servais, Thomas; Kiessling, Wolfgang

2015-01-01

Glacial episodes have been linked to Ordovician–Silurian extinction events, but cooling itself may not be solely responsible for these extinctions. Teratological (malformed) assemblages of fossil plankton that correlate precisely with the extinction events can help identify alternate drivers of extinction. Here we show that metal poisoning may have caused these aberrant morphologies during a late Silurian (Pridoli) event. Malformations coincide with a dramatic increase of metals (Fe, Mo, Pb, Mn and As) in the fossils and their host rocks. Metallic toxins are known to cause a teratological response in modern organisms, which is now routinely used as a proxy to assess oceanic metal contamination. Similarly, our study identifies metal-induced teratology as a deep-time, palaeobiological monitor of palaeo-ocean chemistry. The redox-sensitive character of enriched metals supports emerging ‘oceanic anoxic event' models. Our data suggest that spreading anoxia and redox cycling of harmful metals was a contributing kill mechanism during these devastating Ordovician–Silurian palaeobiological events. PMID:26305681

Metal-induced malformations in early Palaeozoic plankton are harbingers of mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vandenbroucke, Thijs R. A.; Emsbo, Poul; Munnecke, Axel; Nuns, Nicolas; Duponchel, Ludovic; Lepot, Kevin; Quijada, Melesio; Paris, Florentin; Servais, Thomas; Kiessling, Wolfgang

2015-08-01

Glacial episodes have been linked to Ordovician-Silurian extinction events, but cooling itself may not be solely responsible for these extinctions. Teratological (malformed) assemblages of fossil plankton that correlate precisely with the extinction events can help identify alternate drivers of extinction. Here we show that metal poisoning may have caused these aberrant morphologies during a late Silurian (Pridoli) event. Malformations coincide with a dramatic increase of metals (Fe, Mo, Pb, Mn and As) in the fossils and their host rocks. Metallic toxins are known to cause a teratological response in modern organisms, which is now routinely used as a proxy to assess oceanic metal contamination. Similarly, our study identifies metal-induced teratology as a deep-time, palaeobiological monitor of palaeo-ocean chemistry. The redox-sensitive character of enriched metals supports emerging `oceanic anoxic event' models. Our data suggest that spreading anoxia and redox cycling of harmful metals was a contributing kill mechanism during these devastating Ordovician-Silurian palaeobiological events.

Macrofossil evidence for a rapid and severe Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction in Antarctica.

PubMed

Witts, James D; Whittle, Rowan J; Wignall, Paul B; Crame, J Alistair; Francis, Jane E; Newton, Robert J; Bowman, Vanessa C

2016-05-26

Debate continues about the nature of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event. An abrupt crisis triggered by a bolide impact contrasts with ideas of a more gradual extinction involving flood volcanism or climatic changes. Evidence from high latitudes has also been used to suggest that the severity of the extinction decreased from low latitudes towards the poles. Here we present a record of the K-Pg extinction based on extensive assemblages of marine macrofossils (primarily new data from benthic molluscs) from a highly expanded Cretaceous-Paleogene succession: the López de Bertodano Formation of Seymour Island, Antarctica. We show that the extinction was rapid and severe in Antarctica, with no significant biotic decline during the latest Cretaceous, contrary to previous studies. These data are consistent with a catastrophic driver for the extinction, such as bolide impact, rather than a significant contribution from Deccan Traps volcanism during the late Maastrichtian.

Macrofossil evidence for a rapid and severe Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction in Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witts, James D.; Whittle, Rowan J.; Wignall, Paul B.; Crame, J. Alistair; Francis, Jane E.; Newton, Robert J.; Bowman, Vanessa C.

2016-05-01

Debate continues about the nature of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event. An abrupt crisis triggered by a bolide impact contrasts with ideas of a more gradual extinction involving flood volcanism or climatic changes. Evidence from high latitudes has also been used to suggest that the severity of the extinction decreased from low latitudes towards the poles. Here we present a record of the K-Pg extinction based on extensive assemblages of marine macrofossils (primarily new data from benthic molluscs) from a highly expanded Cretaceous-Paleogene succession: the López de Bertodano Formation of Seymour Island, Antarctica. We show that the extinction was rapid and severe in Antarctica, with no significant biotic decline during the latest Cretaceous, contrary to previous studies. These data are consistent with a catastrophic driver for the extinction, such as bolide impact, rather than a significant contribution from Deccan Traps volcanism during the late Maastrichtian.

Structure and dating errors in the geologic time scale and periodicity in mass extinctions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stothers, Richard B.

1989-01-01

Structure in the geologic time scale reflects a partly paleontological origin. As a result, ages of Cenozoic and Mesozoic stage boundaries exhibit a weak 28-Myr periodicity that is similar to the strong 26-Myr periodicity detected in mass extinctions of marine life by Raup and Sepkoski. Radiometric dating errors in the geologic time scale, to which the mass extinctions are stratigraphically tied, do not necessarily lessen the likelihood of a significant periodicity in mass extinctions, but do spread the acceptable values of the period over the range 25-27 Myr for the Harland et al. time scale or 25-30 Myr for the DNAG time scale. If the Odin time scale is adopted, acceptable periods fall between 24 and 33 Myr, but are not robust against dating errors. Some indirect evidence from independently-dated flood-basalt volcanic horizons tends to favor the Odin time scale.

Colloquium paper: are we in the midst of the sixth mass extinction? A view from the world of amphibians.

PubMed

Wake, David B; Vredenburg, Vance T

2008-08-12

Many scientists argue that we are either entering or in the midst of the sixth great mass extinction. Intense human pressure, both direct and indirect, is having profound effects on natural environments. The amphibians--frogs, salamanders, and caecilians--may be the only major group currently at risk globally. A detailed worldwide assessment and subsequent updates show that one-third or more of the 6,300 species are threatened with extinction. This trend is likely to accelerate because most amphibians occur in the tropics and have small geographic ranges that make them susceptible to extinction. The increasing pressure from habitat destruction and climate change is likely to have major impacts on narrowly adapted and distributed species. We show that salamanders on tropical mountains are particularly at risk. A new and significant threat to amphibians is a virulent, emerging infectious disease, chytridiomycosis, which appears to be globally distributed, and its effects may be exacerbated by global warming. This disease, which is caused by a fungal pathogen and implicated in serious declines and extinctions of >200 species of amphibians, poses the greatest threat to biodiversity of any known disease. Our data for frogs in the Sierra Nevada of California show that the fungus is having a devastating impact on native species, already weakened by the effects of pollution and introduced predators. A general message from amphibians is that we may have little time to stave off a potential mass extinction.

Extinctions of life

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepkoski, J. J. Jr; Sepkoski JJ, J. r. (Principal Investigator)

1988-01-01

This meeting presentation examines mass extinctions through earth's history. Extinctions are charted for marine families and marine genera. Timing of marine genera extinctions is discussed. Periodicity in extinctions during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras is plotted and compared with Paleozoic extinction peaks. The role of extinction in evolution and mankind's role in present extinctions are examined.

Macrofossil evidence for a rapid and severe Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction in Antarctica

PubMed Central

Witts, James D.; Whittle, Rowan J.; Wignall, Paul B.; Crame, J. Alistair; Francis, Jane E.; Newton, Robert J.; Bowman, Vanessa C.

2016-01-01

Debate continues about the nature of the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) mass extinction event. An abrupt crisis triggered by a bolide impact contrasts with ideas of a more gradual extinction involving flood volcanism or climatic changes. Evidence from high latitudes has also been used to suggest that the severity of the extinction decreased from low latitudes towards the poles. Here we present a record of the K–Pg extinction based on extensive assemblages of marine macrofossils (primarily new data from benthic molluscs) from a highly expanded Cretaceous–Paleogene succession: the López de Bertodano Formation of Seymour Island, Antarctica. We show that the extinction was rapid and severe in Antarctica, with no significant biotic decline during the latest Cretaceous, contrary to previous studies. These data are consistent with a catastrophic driver for the extinction, such as bolide impact, rather than a significant contribution from Deccan Traps volcanism during the late Maastrichtian. PMID:27226414

High-precision timeline for Earth’s most severe extinction

PubMed Central

Burgess, Seth D.; Bowring, Samuel; Shen, Shu-zhong

2014-01-01

The end-Permian mass extinction was the most severe loss of marine and terrestrial biota in the last 542 My. Understanding its cause and the controls on extinction/recovery dynamics depends on an accurate and precise age model. U-Pb zircon dates for five volcanic ash beds from the Global Stratotype Section and Point for the Permian-Triassic boundary at Meishan, China, define an age model for the extinction and allow exploration of the links between global environmental perturbation, carbon cycle disruption, mass extinction, and recovery at millennial timescales. The extinction occurred between 251.941 ± 0.037 and 251.880 ± 0.031 Mya, an interval of 60 ± 48 ka. Onset of a major reorganization of the carbon cycle immediately precedes the initiation of extinction and is punctuated by a sharp (3‰), short-lived negative spike in the isotopic composition of carbonate carbon. Carbon cycle volatility persists for ∼500 ka before a return to near preextinction values. Decamillenial to millennial level resolution of the mass extinction and its aftermath will permit a refined evaluation of the relative roles of rate-dependent processes contributing to the extinction, allowing insight into postextinction ecosystem expansion, and establish an accurate time point for evaluating the plausibility of trigger and kill mechanisms. PMID:24516148

Ocean anoxia did not cause the Latest Permian Extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Proemse, Bernadette C.; Grasby, Stephen E.; Wieser, Michael E.; Mayer, Bernhard; Beauchamp, Benoit

2014-05-01

The Latest Permian Extinction (LPE, ~252 million years ago) was a turning point in the history of life on Earth with a loss of ~96% of all marine species and ~70% of all terrestrial species. While, the event undoubtedly shaped the evolution of life its cause remains enigmatic. A leading hypothesis is that the global oceans became depleted in oxygen (anoxia). In order to test this hypothesis we investigated a proxy for marine oxygen levels (molybdenum isotopic composition) in shale across the LPE horizon located on the subtropical northwest margin of Pangea at that time. We studied two sedimentary records in the Sverdrup basin, Canadian High Arctic: Buchanan Lake (eastern Axel Heiberg Island; 79° 26.1'N, 87° 12.6'W), representing a distal deep-water slope environment, and West Blind Fiord (southwest Ellesmere Island; 78° 23.9'N, 85° 57.2'W), representing a deep outer shelf environment (below storm wave base). The molybdenum isotopic composition (δ98/95Mo) of sediments has recently become a powerful tool as a paleo-oceanographic proxy of marine oxygen levels. Sample preparation was carried out in a metal-free clean room facility in the isotope laboratory of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Canada, that is supplied by HEPA-filtered air. Molybdenum isotope ratios were determined on a Thermo Scientific multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) with an uncertainty better than ±0.10o for δ98/95Mo values. Results from the Buchanan Lake section show a large shift in δ98/95Mo values from 2.02o to +2.23o at the extinction horizon, consistent with onset of euxinic conditions. In contrast, West Blind Fiord shales, representing the sub-storm wave base shelf environment, show little change in the molybdenum isotopic composition (1.34o to +0.05), indicating ongoing oxic conditions across the LPE (Proemse et al., 2013). Our results suggest that areas of the Pangea continental shelf (North West Pangea) experienced

Evaluating the temporal link between Siberian Traps magmatism and the end-Permian mass extinction (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burgess, S. D.; Bowring, S. A.

2013-12-01

Interest in Large Igneous Provinces as agents for massive climatic and biological change is steadily increasing, though the temporal constraints on both are seldom precise enough to allow detailed testing of a causal relationship. The end-Permian mass extinction is one of the most biologically important and intensely studied events in Earth history and has been linked to many possible trigger mechanisms, from voluminous volcanism to bolide impact. Proposed kill mechanisms range from acidic and/or anoxic oceans to a cocktail of toxic gases, although the link between trigger and kill mechanisms is unconstrained due to the lack of a high-precision timeline. Critical to assessing the plausibility of different trigger and kill mechanisms is an accurate age model for the biotic crisis and the perturbations to the global carbon cycle and ocean chemistry. Recent work using the EARTHTIME U/Pb tracer solution has refined the timing of the onset and duration of the marine mass extinction event and the earliest Triassic recovery at the GSSP for the Permian-Triassic boundary in Meishan, China. This work constrains the mass extinction duration to less than 100 kyr and provides an accurate and precise time point for the onset of extinction, against which the timing of potential trigger mechanisms may be compared. For more than two decades, eruption and emplacement of the Siberian traps has been implicated as a potential trigger of the end-Permian extinction. In this scenario, magmatism drives the biotic crisis through mobilization of volatiles from the sedimentary rock with which intruding and erupting magmas interact. Massive volatile release is believed to trigger major changes in atmospheric chemistry and temperature, both of which have been proposed as kill mechanisms. Current temporal constrains on the timing and duration of the Siberian magmatism are an order of magnitude less precise than those for the mass extinction event and associated environmental perturbations

Redox conditions and marine microbial community changes during the end-Ordovician mass extinction event

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smolarek, Justyna; Marynowski, Leszek; Trela, Wiesław; Kujawski, Piotr; Simoneit, Bernd R. T.

2017-02-01

The end-Ordovician (Hirnantian) crisis is the first globally distinct extinction during the Phanerozoic, but its causes are still not fully known. Here, we present an integrated geochemical and petrographic analysis to understand the sedimentary conditions taking place before, during and after the Late Ordovician ice age. New data from the Zbrza (Holy Cross Mountains) and Gołdap (Baltic Depression) boreholes shows that, like in other worldwide sections, the total organic carbon (TOC) content is elevated in the upper Katian and uppermost Hirnantian to Rhudannian black shales, but depleted (below 1%) during most of the Hirnantian. Euxinic conditions occurred in the photic zone in both TOC-rich intervals. This is based on the maleimide distribution, occurrence of aryl isoprenoids and isorenieratane, as well as a dominance of tiny pyrite framboids. Euxinic conditions were interrupted by the Hirnantian regression caused by glaciation. Sedimentation on the deep shelf changed to aerobic probably due to intense thermohaline circulation. Euxinia in the water column occurred directly during the time associated with the second pulse of the mass extinction with a termination of the end-Ordovician glaciation and sea level rise just at the Ordovician/Silurian (O/S) boundary. In contrast, we suggest based on inorganic proxies that bottom water conditions were generally oxic to dysoxic due to upwelling in the Rheic Ocean. The only episode of seafloor anoxia in the Zbrza basin was found at the O/S boundary, where all inorganic indicators showed elevated values typical for anoxia (U/Th > 1.25; V/Cr > 4.25; V/(V + Ni): 0.54-0.82 and Mo > 10-25 ppm). Significant differences in hopanes to steranes ratio and in C27-C29 sterane distribution between the Katian, Rhudannian and Hirnantian deposits indicate changes in marine microbial communities triggered by sharp climate change and Gondwana glaciation. The increase from biomarkers of cyanobacteria (2α-methylhopanes) after the O

Mass extinction in poorly known taxa.

PubMed

Régnier, Claire; Achaz, Guillaume; Lambert, Amaury; Cowie, Robert H; Bouchet, Philippe; Fontaine, Benoît

2015-06-23

Since the 1980s, many have suggested we are in the midst of a massive extinction crisis, yet only 799 (0.04%) of the 1.9 million known recent species are recorded as extinct, questioning the reality of the crisis. This low figure is due to the fact that the status of very few invertebrates, which represent the bulk of biodiversity, have been evaluated. Here we show, based on extrapolation from a random sample of land snail species via two independent approaches, that we may already have lost 7% (130,000 extinctions) of the species on Earth. However, this loss is masked by the emphasis on terrestrial vertebrates, the target of most conservation actions. Projections of species extinction rates are controversial because invertebrates are essentially excluded from these scenarios. Invertebrates can and must be assessed if we are to obtain a more realistic picture of the sixth extinction crisis.

Mass extinction in poorly known taxa

PubMed Central

Régnier, Claire; Achaz, Guillaume; Lambert, Amaury; Cowie, Robert H.; Bouchet, Philippe; Fontaine, Benoît

2015-01-01

Since the 1980s, many have suggested we are in the midst of a massive extinction crisis, yet only 799 (0.04%) of the 1.9 million known recent species are recorded as extinct, questioning the reality of the crisis. This low figure is due to the fact that the status of very few invertebrates, which represent the bulk of biodiversity, have been evaluated. Here we show, based on extrapolation from a random sample of land snail species via two independent approaches, that we may already have lost 7% (130,000 extinctions) of the species on Earth. However, this loss is masked by the emphasis on terrestrial vertebrates, the target of most conservation actions. Projections of species extinction rates are controversial because invertebrates are essentially excluded from these scenarios. Invertebrates can and must be assessed if we are to obtain a more realistic picture of the sixth extinction crisis. PMID:26056308

Evidence of constant diversification punctuated by a mass extinction in the African cycads

PubMed Central

Yessoufou, Kowiyou; Bamigboye, Samuel O; Daru, Barnabas H; van der Bank, Michelle

2014-01-01

The recent evidence that extant cycads are not living fossils triggered a renewed search for a better understanding of their evolutionary history. In this study, we investigated the evolutionary diversification history of the genus Encephalartos, a monophyletic cycad endemic to Africa. We found an antisigmoidal pattern with a plateau and punctual explosive radiation. This pattern is typical of a constant radiation with mass extinction. The rate shift that we found may therefore be a result of a rapid recolonization of niches that have been emptied owing to mass extinction. Because the explosive radiation occurred during the transition Pliocene–Pleistocene, we argued that the processes might have been climatically mediated. PMID:24455160

Repeated Carbon-Cycle Disturbances at the Permian-Triassic Boundary Separate two Mass Extinctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicol, J. A.; Watson, L.; Claire, M.; Buick, R.; Catling, D. C.

2004-12-01

Non-marine organic matter in Permian-Triassic sediments from the Blue Mountains, eastern Australia shows seven negative δ13C excursions of up to 7%, terminating with a positive excursion of 4%. Fluctuations start at the late Permian Glossopteris floral extinction and continue until just above the palynological Permian-Triassic boundary, correlated with the peak of marine mass extinction. The isotopic fluctuations are not linked to changes in depositional setting, kerogen composition or plant community, so they evidently resulted from global perturbations in atmospheric δ13C and/or CO2. The pattern was not produced by a single catastrophe such as a meteorite impact, and carbon-cycle calculations indicate that gas release during flood-basalt volcanism was insufficient. Methane-hydrate melting can generate a single -7% shift, but cannot produce rapid multiple excursions without repeated reservoir regeneration and release. However, the data are consistent with repeated overturning of a stratified ocean, expelling toxic gases that promoted sequential mass extinctions in the terrestrial and marine realms.

Assessing the record and causes of Late Triassic extinctions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tanner, L.H.; Lucas, S.G.; Chapman, M.G.

2004-01-01

Accelerated biotic turnover during the Late Triassic has led to the perception of an end-Triassic mass extinction event, now regarded as one of the "big five" extinctions. Close examination of the fossil record reveals that many groups thought to be affected severely by this event, such as ammonoids, bivalves and conodonts, instead were in decline throughout the Late Triassic, and that other groups were relatively unaffected or subject to only regional effects. Explanations for the biotic turnover have included both gradualistic and catastrophic mechanisms. Regression during the Rhaetian, with consequent habitat loss, is compatible with the disappearance of some marine faunal groups, but may be regional, not global in scale, and cannot explain apparent synchronous decline in the terrestrial realm. Gradual, widespread aridification of the Pangaean supercontinent could explain a decline in terrestrial diversity during the Late Triassic. Although evidence for an impact precisely at the boundary is lacking, the presence of impact structures with Late Triassic ages suggests the possibility of bolide impact-induced environmental degradation prior to the end-Triassic. Widespread eruptions of flood basalts of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) were synchronous with or slightly postdate the system boundary; emissions of CO2 and SO2 during these eruptions were substantial, but the contradictory evidence for the environmental effects of outgassing of these lavas remains to be resolved. A substantial excursion in the marine carbon-isotope record of both carbonate and organic matter suggests a significant disturbance of the global carbon cycle at the system boundary. Release of methane hydrates from seafloor sediments is a possible cause for this isotope excursion, although the triggering mechanism and climatic effects of such a release remain uncertain. ?? 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dinosaur bone beds and mass mortality: Implications for the K-T extinction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carpenter, Kenneth

1988-01-01

Mass accumulations of fossilized large terrestrial vertebrate skeletons (bone beds: BB) provide a test for K-T catastrophic extinction hypotheses. The two major factors contributing to BB formation are mode of death and sedimentation rate. Catastrophic mass mortality (CMM) is the sudden death of numerous individuals where species, age, health, gender, or social ranking offer no survivorship advantage. Noncatastrophic mass mortality (NCMM) occurs over time and is strongly influenced by species, age, or gender. In addition to cause of death, sedimentation rate is also important in BB formation. Models of BBs can be made. The CMM drops all individuals in their tracks, therefore, the BB should reflect the living population with respect to species, age, or gender. The NCMM results in monospecific BBs skewed in the direction of the less fit, usually the very young or very old, or towards a specific gender. The NCMM and AM BBs may become more similar the more spread out over time NCMM deaths occur because carcasses are widely scattered requiring hydraulic accumulation, and the greater time allows for more disarticulation and weathering. The CMM and NCMM BB appear to be dominated by social animals. Applying this and the characteristics of mortality patterns to the uppermost Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation indicates that only NCMM and AM BB occur. Furthermore, NCMM BB are rare in the upper third of the Hell Creek. Near the K-T boundary, only AM BB are known. The absence of CMM and NCMM BB appears to be real reflecting a decrease in population levels of some dinosaurs prior to the K-T event. The absence of CMM suggests that the K-T event did not lead to an instantaneous extinction of dinosaurs. Nor was there a protracted die-off due to an asteroid impact winter, because no NCMM BB are known at or near the K-T boundary.

Arthropods and the Current Great Mass Extinction: Effective Themes to Decrease Arthropod Fear and Disgust and Increase Positive Environmental Beliefs in Children?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagler, Amy; Wagler, Ron

2014-01-01

Earth is experiencing a great mass extinction (GME) that has been caused by the environmentally destructive activities of humans. This GME is having and will have profound effects on Earth's biodiversity if environmental sustainability is not reached. Activities and curriculum tools have been developed to assist teachers in integrating the current…

Influence of Feeding and Body Mass on IUCN Extinction Threat of Extant Marine and Terrestrial Mammals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lam, G.; Wang, I. M.; Heim, N.; Payne, J.

2016-12-01

Extinction is a fundamental phenomenon that has been occurring for millions of years and is critical to the development of new organisms and niches. However, the current extinction rate is now one hundred to a thousand times the past background extinction rate due to human influences and rapidly changing environments. Research on geographic range and life history has been performed in extinction analyses, but rarely any on feeding type and trophic level. We compiled data from the IUCN Red List Database, Paleobiology database and diets from Pauly et al. (1998) to explore the possible correlation between various aspects of ecology and extinction threat. By doing so, we can better understand where to focus our conservation efforts, and what type of approach will reap the best results. We discovered that terrestrial carnivores are slightly less at risk than herbivores and omnivores, and that the feeding and tiering of marine mammals have minimal effect on their IUCN threat level. Body mass is the most influential factor on risk level, with larger adult body masses being most at risk.

Geochemical and palynological records for the end-Triassic Mass-Extinction Event in the NE Paris Basin (Luxemburg)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuhlmann, Natascha; van de Schootbrugge, Bas; Thein, Jean; Fiebig, Jens; Franz, Sven-Oliver; Hanzo, Micheline; Colbach, Robert; Faber, Alain

2016-04-01

The End-Triassic mass-extinction event is one of the "big five" mass extinctions in Earth's history. Large scale flood basalt volcanism associated with the break-up of Pangaea, which resulted in the opening of the central Atlantic Ocean, is considered as the leading cause. In addition, an asteroid impact in Rochechouart (France; 201 ± 2 Ma) may have had a local influence on ecosystems and sedimentary settings. The Luxembourg Embayment, in the NE Paris Basin, offers a rare chance to study both effects in a range of settings from deltaic to lagoonal. A multidisciplinary study (sedimentology, geochemistry, palynology) has been carried out on a number of outcrops and cores that span from the Norian to lower Hettangian. Combined geochemical and palynological records from the Boust core drilled in the NE Paris Basin, provide evidence for paleoenvironmental changes associated with the end-Triassic mass-extinction event. The Triassic-Jurassic stratigraphy of the Boust core is well constrained by palynomorphs showing the disappaerance of typical Triassic pollen taxa (e.g. Ricciisporites tuberculates) and the occurrence of the marker species Polypodiisporites polymicroforatus within the uppermost Rhaetian, prior to the Hettangian dominance of Classopollis pollen. The organic carbon stable isotope record (δ13Corg) spanning the Norian to Hettangian, shows a series of prominent negative excursions within the middle Rhaetian, followed by a trend towards more positive values (approx -24 per mille) within the uppermost Rhaetian Argiles de Levallois Member. The lowermost Hettangian is characterized by a major negative excursion, reaching - 30 per mille that occurs in organic-rich sediments. This so-called "main negative excursion" is well-known from other locations, for example from Mariental in Northern Germany and from St Audrie's Bay in England, and Stenlille in Denmark. Based on redox-sensitive trace element records (V, Cr, Ni, Co, Th, U) the lowermost Hettangian in most of

The tree balance signature of mass extinction is erased by continued evolution in clades of constrained size with trait-dependent speciation

PubMed Central

Yang, Guan-Dong; Agapow, Paul-Michael

2017-01-01

The kind and duration of phylogenetic topological “signatures” left in the wake of macroevolutionary events remain poorly understood. To this end, we examined a broad range of simulated phylogenies generated using trait-biased, heritable speciation probabilities and mass extinction that could be either random or selective on trait value, but also using background extinction and diversity-dependence to constrain clade sizes. In keeping with prior results, random mass extinction increased imbalance of clades that recovered to pre-extinction size, but was a relatively weak effect. Mass extinction that was selective on trait values tended to produce clades of similar or greater balance compared to random extinction or controls. Allowing evolution to continue past the point of clade-size recovery resulted in erosion and eventual erasure of this signal, with all treatments converging on similar values of imbalance, except for very intense extinction regimes targeted at taxa with high speciation rates. Return to a more balanced state with extended post-extinction evolution was also associated with loss of the previous phylogenetic root in most treatments. These results further demonstrate that while a mass extinction event can produce a recognizable phylogenetic signal, its effects become increasingly obscured the further an evolving clade gets from that event, with any sharp imbalance due to unrelated evolutionary factors. PMID:28644846

Pre- versus post-mass extinction divergence of Mesozoic marine reptiles dictated by time-scale dependence of evolutionary rates.

PubMed

Motani, Ryosuke; Jiang, Da-Yong; Tintori, Andrea; Ji, Cheng; Huang, Jian-Dong

2017-05-17

The fossil record of a major clade often starts after a mass extinction even though evolutionary rates, molecular or morphological, suggest its pre-extinction emergence (e.g. squamates, placentals and teleosts). The discrepancy is larger for older clades, and the presence of a time-scale-dependent methodological bias has been suggested, yet it has been difficult to avoid the bias using Bayesian phylogenetic methods. This paradox raises the question of whether ecological vacancies, such as those after mass extinctions, prompt the radiations. We addressed this problem by using a unique temporal characteristic of the morphological data and a high-resolution stratigraphic record, for the oldest clade of Mesozoic marine reptiles, Ichthyosauromorpha. The evolutionary rate was fastest during the first few million years of ichthyosauromorph evolution and became progressively slower over time, eventually becoming six times slower. Using the later slower rates, estimates of divergence time become excessively older. The fast, initial rate suggests the emergence of ichthyosauromorphs after the end-Permian mass extinction, matching an independent result from high-resolution stratigraphic confidence intervals. These reptiles probably invaded the sea as a new ecosystem was formed after the end-Permian mass extinction. Lack of information on early evolution biased Bayesian clock rates. © 2017 The Author(s).

Pre- versus post-mass extinction divergence of Mesozoic marine reptiles dictated by time-scale dependence of evolutionary rates

PubMed Central

Ji, Cheng; Huang, Jian-dong

2017-01-01

The fossil record of a major clade often starts after a mass extinction even though evolutionary rates, molecular or morphological, suggest its pre-extinction emergence (e.g. squamates, placentals and teleosts). The discrepancy is larger for older clades, and the presence of a time-scale-dependent methodological bias has been suggested, yet it has been difficult to avoid the bias using Bayesian phylogenetic methods. This paradox raises the question of whether ecological vacancies, such as those after mass extinctions, prompt the radiations. We addressed this problem by using a unique temporal characteristic of the morphological data and a high-resolution stratigraphic record, for the oldest clade of Mesozoic marine reptiles, Ichthyosauromorpha. The evolutionary rate was fastest during the first few million years of ichthyosauromorph evolution and became progressively slower over time, eventually becoming six times slower. Using the later slower rates, estimates of divergence time become excessively older. The fast, initial rate suggests the emergence of ichthyosauromorphs after the end-Permian mass extinction, matching an independent result from high-resolution stratigraphic confidence intervals. These reptiles probably invaded the sea as a new ecosystem was formed after the end-Permian mass extinction. Lack of information on early evolution biased Bayesian clock rates. PMID:28515201

Atmospheric Carbon Injection Linked to End-Triassic Mass Extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruhl, Micha; Bonis, Nina R.; Reichart, Gert-Jan; Damsté, Jaap S. Sinninghe; Kürschner, Wolfram M.

2011-07-01

The end-Triassic mass extinction (~201.4 million years ago), marked by terrestrial ecosystem turnover and up to ~50% loss in marine biodiversity, has been attributed to intensified volcanic activity during the break-up of Pangaea. Here, we present compound-specific carbon-isotope data of long-chain n-alkanes derived from waxes of land plants, showing a ~8.5 per mil negative excursion, coincident with the extinction interval. These data indicate strong carbon-13 depletion of the end-Triassic atmosphere, within only 10,000 to 20,000 years. The magnitude and rate of this carbon-cycle disruption can be explained by the injection of at least ~12 × 103 gigatons of isotopically depleted carbon as methane into the atmosphere. Concurrent vegetation changes reflect strong warming and an enhanced hydrological cycle. Hence, end-Triassic events are robustly linked to methane-derived massive carbon release and associated climate change.

Atmospheric carbon injection linked to end-Triassic mass extinction.

PubMed

Ruhl, Micha; Bonis, Nina R; Reichart, Gert-Jan; Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S; Kürschner, Wolfram M

2011-07-22

The end-Triassic mass extinction (~201.4 million years ago), marked by terrestrial ecosystem turnover and up to ~50% loss in marine biodiversity, has been attributed to intensified volcanic activity during the break-up of Pangaea. Here, we present compound-specific carbon-isotope data of long-chain n-alkanes derived from waxes of land plants, showing a ~8.5 per mil negative excursion, coincident with the extinction interval. These data indicate strong carbon-13 depletion of the end-Triassic atmosphere, within only 10,000 to 20,000 years. The magnitude and rate of this carbon-cycle disruption can be explained by the injection of at least ~12 × 10(3) gigatons of isotopically depleted carbon as methane into the atmosphere. Concurrent vegetation changes reflect strong warming and an enhanced hydrological cycle. Hence, end-Triassic events are robustly linked to methane-derived massive carbon release and associated climate change.

Extinction from a paleontological perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raup, D. M.

1993-01-01

Extinction of widespread species is common in evolutionary time (millions of years) but rare in ecological time (hundreds or thousands of years). In the fossil record, there appears to be a smooth continuum between background and mass extinction; and the clustering of extinctions at mass extinctions cannot be explained by the chance coincidence of independent events. Although some extinction is selective, much is apparently random in that survivors have no recognizable superiority over victims. Extinction certainly plays an important role in evolution, but whether it is constructive or destructive has not yet been determined.

Comparative Earth history and Late Permian mass extinction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knoll, A. H.; Bambach, R. K.; Canfield, D. E.; Grotzinger, J. P.

1996-01-01

The repeated association during the late Neoproterozoic Era of large carbon-isotopic excursions, continental glaciation, and stratigraphically anomalous carbonate precipitation provides a framework for interpreting the reprise of these conditions on the Late Permian Earth. A paleoceanographic model that was developed to explain these stratigraphically linked phenomena suggests that the overturn of anoxic deep oceans during the Late Permian introduced high concentrations of carbon dioxide into surficial environments. The predicted physiological and climatic consequences for marine and terrestrial organisms are in good accord with the observed timing and selectivity of Late Permian mass extinction.

Inhibition of Rac1 activity in the hippocampus impaired extinction of contextual fear.

PubMed

Jiang, Lizhu; Mao, Rongrong; Tong, Jianbin; Li, Jinnan; Chai, Anping; Zhou, Qixin; Yang, Yuexiong; Wang, Liping; Li, Lingjiang; Xu, Lin

2016-10-01

Promoting extinction of fear memory is the main treatment of fear disorders, especially post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, fear extinction is often incomplete in these patients. Our previous study had shown that Rac1 activity in hippocampus plays a crucial role in the learning of contextual fear memory in rats. Here, we further investigated whether Rac1 activity also modulated the extinction of contextual fear memory. We found that massed extinction obviously upregulated hippocampal Rac1 activity and induced long-term extinction of contextual fear in rats. Intrahippocampal injection of the Rac1 inhibitor NSC23766 prevents extinction of contextual fear in massed extinction training rats. In contrast, long-spaced extinction downregulated Rac1 activity and caused less extinction. And Rac1 activator CN04-A promotes extinction of contextual fear in long-spaced extinction rats. Our study demonstrates that inhibition of Rac1 activity in the hippocampus impaired extinction of contextual fear, suggesting that modulating Rac1 activity of the hippocampus may be promising therapy of fear disorders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lognormals for SETI, Evolution and Mass Extinctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maccone, Claudio

2014-12-01

In a series of recent papers (Refs. [1-5,7,8]) and in a book (Ref. [6]), this author suggested a new mathematical theory capable of merging Darwinian Evolution and SETI into a unified statistical framework. In this new vision, Darwinian Evolution, as it unfolded on Earth over the last 3.5 billion years, is defined as just one particular realization of a certain lognormal stochastic process in the number of living species on Earth, whose mean value increased in time exponentially. SETI also may be brought into this vision since the number of communicating civilizations in the Galaxy is given by a lognormal distribution (Statistical Drake Equation). Now, in this paper we further elaborate on all that particularly with regard to two important topics: The introduction of the general lognormal stochastic process L(t) whose mean value may be an arbitrary continuous function of the time, m(t), rather than just the exponential mGBM (t) =N0eμt typical of the Geometric Brownian Motion (GBM). This is a considerable generalization of the GBM-based theory used in Refs. [1-8]. The particular application of the general stochastic process L(t) to the understanding of Mass Extinctions like the K-Pg one that marked the dinosaurs' end 65 million years ago. We first model this Mass Extinction as a decreasing Geometric Brownian Motion (GBM) extending from the asteroid's impact time all through the ensuing 'nuclear winter'. However, this model has a flaw: the 'final value' of the GBM cannot have a horizontal tangent, as requested to enable the recovery of life again after this 'final extinction value'. That flaw, however, is removed if the rapidly decreasing mean value function of L(t) is the left branch of a parabola extending from the asteroid's impact time all through the ensuing 'nuclear winter' and up to the time when the number of living species on Earth started growing up again, as we show mathematically in Section 3. In conclusion, we have uncovered an important generalization

Strangelove Ocean and Deposition of Unusual Shallow-Water Carbonates After the End-Permian Mass Extinction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rampino, Michael R.; Caldeira, Ken

2003-01-01

The severe mass extinction of marine and terrestrial organisms at the end of the Permian Period (approx. 251 Ma) was accompanied by a rapid negative excursion of approx. 3 to 4 per mil in the carbon-isotope ratio of the global surface oceans and atmosphere that persisted for some 500,000 into the Early Triassic. Simulations with an ocean-atmosphere/carbon-cycle model suggest that the isotope excursion can be explained by collapse of ocean primary productivity (a Strangelove Ocean) and changes in the delivery and cycling of carbon in the ocean and on land. Model results also suggest that perturbations of the global carbon cycle resulting from the extinctions led to short-term fluctuations in atmospheric pCO2 and ocean carbonate deposition, and to a long-term (>1 Ma) decrease in sedimentary burial of organic carbon in the Triassic. Deposition of calcium carbonate is a major sink of river-derived ocean alkalinity and for CO2 from the ocean/atmosphere system. The end of the Permian was marked by extinction of most calcium carbonate secreting organisms. Therefore, the reduction of carbonate accumulation made the oceans vulnerable to a build-up of alkalinity and related fluctuations in atmospheric CO2. Our model results suggest that an increase in ocean carbonate-ion concentration should cause increased carbonate accumulation rates in shallow-water settings. After the end-Permian extinctions, early Triassic shallow-water sediments show an abundance of abiogenic and microbial carbonates that removed CaCO3 from the ocean and may have prevented a full 'ocean-alkalinity crisis' from developing.

The Arches cluster out to its tidal radius: dynamical mass segregation and the effect of the extinction law on the stellar mass function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habibi, M.; Stolte, A.; Brandner, W.; Hußmann, B.; Motohara, K.

2013-08-01

The Galactic center is the most active site of star formation in the Milky Way, where particularly high-mass stars have formed very recently and are still forming today. However, since we are looking at the Galactic center through the Galactic disk, knowledge of extinction is crucial when studying this region. The Arches cluster is a young, massive starburst cluster near the Galactic center. We observed the Arches cluster out to its tidal radius using Ks-band imaging obtained with NAOS/CONICA at the VLT combined with Subaru/CISCO J-band data to gain a full understanding of the cluster mass distribution. We show that the determination of the mass of the most massive star in the Arches cluster, which had been used in previous studies to establish an upper mass limit for the star formation process in the Milky Way, strongly depends on the assumed slope of the extinction law. Assuming the two regimes of widely used infrared extinction laws, we show that the difference can reach up to 30% for individually derived stellar masses and ΔAKs ~ 1 magnitude in acquired Ks-band extinction, while the present-day mass function slope changes by ~ 0.17 dex. The present-day mass function slope derived assuming the more recent extinction law increases from a flat slope of αNishi = -1.50 ± 0.35 in the core (r < 0.2 pc) to αNishi = -2.21 ± 0.27 in the intermediate annulus (0.2 < r < 0.4 pc), where the Salpeter slope is -2.3. The mass function steepens to αNishi = -3.21 ± 0.30 in the outer annulus (0.4 < r < 1.5 pc), indicating that the outer cluster region is depleted of high-mass stars. This picture is consistent with mass segregation owing to the dynamical evolution of the cluster. Based on observations collected at the ESO/VLT under Program ID 081.D-0572(B) (PI: Brandner) and ID 71.C-0344(A) (PI: Eisenhauer, retrieved from the ESO archive). Also based on data collected at the Subaru Telescope, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.Full Table 5 is

Periodic mass extinctions and the Planet X model reconsidered

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitmire, Daniel P.

2016-01-01

The 27 Myr period in the fossil extinction record has been confirmed in modern data bases dating back 500 Myr, which is twice the time interval of the original analysis from 30 years ago. The surprising regularity of this period has been used to reject the Nemesis model. A second model based on the Sun's vertical Galactic oscillations has been challenged on the basis of an inconsistency in period and phasing. The third astronomical model originally proposed to explain the periodicity is the Planet X model in which the period is associated with the perihelion precession of the inclined orbit of a trans-Neptunian planet. Recently, and unrelated to mass extinctions, a trans-Neptunian super-Earth planet has been proposed to explain the observation that the inner Oort cloud objects Sedna and 2012VP113 have perihelia that lie near the ecliptic plane. In this Letter, we reconsider the Planet X model in light of the confluence of the modern palaeontological and outer Solar system dynamical evidence.

Evidence for local and global redox conditions at an Early Ordovician (Tremadocian) mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edwards, Cole T.; Fike, David A.; Saltzman, Matthew R.; Lu, Wanyi; Lu, Zunli

2018-01-01

Profound changes in environmental conditions, particularly atmospheric oxygen levels, are thought to be important drivers of several major biotic events (e.g. mass extinctions and diversifications). The early Paleozoic represents a key interval in the oxygenation of the ocean-atmosphere system and evolution of the biosphere. Global proxies (e.g. carbon (δ13C) and sulfur (δ34S) isotopes) are used to diagnose potential changes in oxygenation and infer causes of environmental change and biotic turnover. The Cambrian-Ordovician contains several trilobite extinctions (some are apparently local, but others are globally correlative) that are attributed to anoxia based on coeval positive δ13C and δ34S excursions. These extinction and excursion events have yet to be coupled with more recently developed proxies thought to be more reflective of local redox conditions in the water column (e.g. I/Ca) to confirm whether these extinctions were associated with oxygen crises over a regional or global scale. Here we examine an Early Ordovician (Tremadocian Stage) extinction event previously interpreted to reflect a continuation of recurrent early Paleozoic anoxic events that expanded into nearshore environments. δ13C, δ34S, and I/Ca trends were measured from three sections in the Great Basin region to test whether I/Ca trends support the notion that anoxia was locally present in the water column along the Laurentian margin. Evidence for anoxia is based on coincident, but not always synchronous, positive δ13C and δ34S excursions (mainly from carbonate-associated sulfate and less so from pyrite data), a 30% extinction of standing generic diversity, and near-zero I/Ca values. Although evidence for local water column anoxia from the I/Ca proxy broadly agrees with intervals of global anoxia inferred from δ13C and δ34S trends, a more complex picture is evident where spatially and temporally variable local trends are superimposed on time-averaged global trends. Stratigraphic

Multiple episodes of extensive marine anoxia linked to global warming and continental weathering following the latest Permian mass extinction.

PubMed

Zhang, Feifei; Romaniello, Stephen J; Algeo, Thomas J; Lau, Kimberly V; Clapham, Matthew E; Richoz, Sylvain; Herrmann, Achim D; Smith, Harrison; Horacek, Micha; Anbar, Ariel D

2018-04-01

Explaining the ~5-million-year delay in marine biotic recovery following the latest Permian mass extinction, the largest biotic crisis of the Phanerozoic, is a fundamental challenge for both geological and biological sciences. Ocean redox perturbations may have played a critical role in this delayed recovery. However, the lack of quantitative constraints on the details of Early Triassic oceanic anoxia (for example, time, duration, and extent) leaves the links between oceanic conditions and the delayed biotic recovery ambiguous. We report high-resolution U-isotope (δ 238 U) data from carbonates of the uppermost Permian to lowermost Middle Triassic Zal section (Iran) to characterize the timing and global extent of ocean redox variation during the Early Triassic. Our δ 238 U record reveals multiple negative shifts during the Early Triassic. Isotope mass-balance modeling suggests that the global area of anoxic seafloor expanded substantially in the Early Triassic, peaking during the latest Permian to mid-Griesbachian, the late Griesbachian to mid-Dienerian, the Smithian-Spathian transition, and the Early/Middle Triassic transition. Comparisons of the U-, C-, and Sr-isotope records with a modeled seawater PO 4 3- concentration curve for the Early Triassic suggest that elevated marine productivity and enhanced oceanic stratification were likely the immediate causes of expanded oceanic anoxia. The patterns of redox variation documented by the U-isotope record show a good first-order correspondence to peaks in ammonoid extinctions during the Early Triassic. Our results indicate that multiple oscillations in oceanic anoxia modulated the recovery of marine ecosystems following the latest Permian mass extinction.

Recovery collapse coincident with ongoing carbon cycle perturbations following the Permian-Triassic mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petsios, E.; Bottjer, D. J.

2016-12-01

The Permian-Triassic mass extinction, the largest extinction of the Phanerozoic, is attributed to volcanic outgassing from the Siberian Traps and the resulting climate change. Ongoing volcanism in the Early Triassic is implicated for continued carbon cycle instability following the initial event, reflected in large inorganic carbon isotope excursions throughout the 5 Mya interval. Recent paleoecological studies have shown that timing of recovery from the extinction in the Early Triassic is highly complex, differing between regions, with documented cases of "early" recovery in some environments. The importance of specific environmental factors, such as oxygen levels and sea surface temperatures, in aiding or hindering recovery following the extinction is the topic of ongoing study. Here we present an ecological survey of marine benthic communities from the Lower Triassic Blacktail Creek outcrop of the Dinwoody Formation, correlated bed-for-bed with inorganic carbon isotope values. We observe incipient recovery as communities show increasing richness and evenness throughout the section, followed by a `collapse' with a return of high dominance, low richness fauna coincident with large δ13Ccarb shifts. We observe a statistically significant correlation between the magnitude of δ13Ccarb excursions and benthic community complexity over a stratigraphic section, implying a shared causal mechanism acting at the local scale. The globally correlatable nature of these observed carbon isotope shifts, as well as an absence of lithologic evidence for oxygen limitation, points to thermal stress brought on by pulses of volcanism as the shared cause between recovery collapse and carbon cycle perturbations. We propose that the "early" recovery at Blacktail Creek was truncated by recurrent greenhouse gas induced thermal spikes, highlighting the interplay of local and global environmental conditions in expediting or hindering Early Triassic recovery.

Mercury evidence for pulsed volcanism during the end-Triassic mass extinction

PubMed Central

Percival, Lawrence M. E.; Ruhl, Micha; Hesselbo, Stephen P.; Jenkyns, Hugh C.; Mather, Tamsin A.; Whiteside, Jessica H.

2017-01-01

The Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) has long been proposed as having a causal relationship with the end-Triassic extinction event (∼201.5 Ma). In North America and northern Africa, CAMP is preserved as multiple basaltic units interbedded with uppermost Triassic to lowermost Jurassic sediments. However, it has been unclear whether this apparent pulsing was a local feature, or if pulses in the intensity of CAMP volcanism characterized the emplacement of the province as a whole. Here, six geographically widespread Triassic–Jurassic records, representing varied paleoenvironments, are analyzed for mercury (Hg) concentrations and Hg/total organic carbon (Hg/TOC) ratios. Volcanism is a major source of mercury to the modern environment. Clear increases in Hg and Hg/TOC are observed at the end-Triassic extinction horizon, confirming that a volcanically induced global Hg cycle perturbation occurred at that time. The established correlation between the extinction horizon and lowest CAMP basalts allows this sedimentary Hg excursion to be stratigraphically tied to a specific flood basalt unit, strengthening the case for volcanic Hg as the driver of sedimentary Hg/TOC spikes. Additional Hg/TOC peaks are also documented between the extinction horizon and the Triassic–Jurassic boundary (separated by ∼200 ky), supporting pulsatory intensity of CAMP volcanism across the entire province and providing direct evidence for episodic volatile release during the initial stages of CAMP emplacement. Pulsatory volcanism, and associated perturbations in the ocean–atmosphere system, likely had profound implications for the rate and magnitude of the end-Triassic mass extinction and subsequent biotic recovery. PMID:28630294

Mercury evidence for pulsed volcanism during the end-Triassic mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Percival, Lawrence M. E.; Ruhl, Micha; Hesselbo, Stephen P.; Jenkyns, Hugh C.; Mather, Tamsin A.; Whiteside, Jessica H.

2017-07-01

The Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) has long been proposed as having a causal relationship with the end-Triassic extinction event (˜201.5 Ma). In North America and northern Africa, CAMP is preserved as multiple basaltic units interbedded with uppermost Triassic to lowermost Jurassic sediments. However, it has been unclear whether this apparent pulsing was a local feature, or if pulses in the intensity of CAMP volcanism characterized the emplacement of the province as a whole. Here, six geographically widespread Triassic-Jurassic records, representing varied paleoenvironments, are analyzed for mercury (Hg) concentrations and Hg/total organic carbon (Hg/TOC) ratios. Volcanism is a major source of mercury to the modern environment. Clear increases in Hg and Hg/TOC are observed at the end-Triassic extinction horizon, confirming that a volcanically induced global Hg cycle perturbation occurred at that time. The established correlation between the extinction horizon and lowest CAMP basalts allows this sedimentary Hg excursion to be stratigraphically tied to a specific flood basalt unit, strengthening the case for volcanic Hg as the driver of sedimentary Hg/TOC spikes. Additional Hg/TOC peaks are also documented between the extinction horizon and the Triassic-Jurassic boundary (separated by ˜200 ky), supporting pulsatory intensity of CAMP volcanism across the entire province and providing direct evidence for episodic volatile release during the initial stages of CAMP emplacement. Pulsatory volcanism, and associated perturbations in the ocean-atmosphere system, likely had profound implications for the rate and magnitude of the end-Triassic mass extinction and subsequent biotic recovery.

Redox chemistry changes in the Panthalassic Ocean linked to the end-Permian mass extinction and delayed Early Triassic biotic recovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Guijie; Zhang, Xiaolin; Hu, Dongping; Li, Dandan; Algeo, Thomas J.; Farquhar, James; Henderson, Charles M.; Qin, Liping; Shen, Megan; Shen, Danielle; Schoepfer, Shane D.; Chen, Kefan; Shen, Yanan

2017-02-01

The end-Permian mass extinction represents the most severe biotic crisis for the last 540 million years, and the marine ecosystem recovery from this extinction was protracted, spanning the entirety of the Early Triassic and possibly longer. Numerous studies from the low-latitude Paleotethys and high-latitude Boreal oceans have examined the possible link between ocean chemistry changes and the end-Permian mass extinction. However, redox chemistry changes in the Panthalassic Ocean, comprising ˜85-90% of the global ocean area, remain under debate. Here, we report multiple S-isotopic data of pyrite from Upper Permian-Lower Triassic deep-sea sediments of the Panthalassic Ocean, now present in outcrops of western Canada and Japan. We find a sulfur isotope signal of negative Δ33S with either positive δ34S or negative δ34S that implies mixing of sulfide sulfur with different δ34S before, during, and after the end-Permian mass extinction. The precise coincidence of the negative Δ33S anomaly with the extinction horizon in western Canada suggests that shoaling of H2S-rich waters may have driven the end-Permian mass extinction. Our data also imply episodic euxinia and oscillations between sulfidic and oxic conditions during the earliest Triassic, providing evidence of a causal link between incursion of sulfidic waters and the delayed recovery of the marine ecosystem.

2MASS wide-field extinction maps. V. Corona Australis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alves, João; Lombardi, Marco; Lada, Charles J.

2014-05-01

We present a near-infrared extinction map of a large region (~870 deg2) covering the isolated Corona Australis complex of molecular clouds. We reach a 1-σ error of 0.02 mag in the K-band extinction with a resolution of 3 arcmin over the entire map. We find that the Corona Australis cloud is about three times as large as revealed by previous CO and dust emission surveys. The cloud consists of a 45 pc long complex of filamentary structure from the well known star forming Western-end (the head, N ≥ 1023 cm-2) to the diffuse Eastern-end (the tail, N ≤ 1021 cm-2). Remarkably, about two thirds of the complex both in size and mass lie beneath AV ~ 1 mag. We find that the probability density function (PDF) of the cloud cannot be described by a single log-normal function. Similar to prior studies, we found a significant excess at high column densities, but a log-normal + power-law tail fit does not work well at low column densities. We show that at low column densities near the peak of the observed PDF, both the amplitude and shape of the PDF are dominated by noise in the extinction measurements making it impractical to derive the intrinsic cloud PDF below AK < 0.15 mag. Above AK ~ 0.15 mag, essentially the molecular component of the cloud, the PDF appears to be best described by a power-law with index -3, but could also described as the tail of a broad and relatively low amplitude, log-normal PDF that peaks at very low column densities. FITS files of the extinction maps are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/565/A18

Impact ejecta layer from the mid-Devonian: possible connection to global mass extinctions.

PubMed

Ellwood, Brooks B; Benoist, Stephen L; El Hassani, Ahmed; Wheeler, Christopher; Crick, Rex E

2003-06-13

We have found evidence for a bolide impacting Earth in the mid-Devonian ( approximately 380 million years ago), including high concentrations of shocked quartz, Ni, Cr, As, V, and Co anomalies; a large negative carbon isotope shift (-9 per mil); and microspherules and microcrysts at Jebel Mech Irdane in the Anti Atlas desert near Rissani, Morocco. This impact is important because it is coincident with a major global extinction event (Kacák/otomari event), suggesting a possible cause-and-effect relation between the impact and the extinction. The result may represent the extinction of as many as 40% of all living marine animal genera.

Impact Ejecta Layer from the Mid-Devonian: Possible Connection to Global Mass Extinctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellwood, Brooks B.; Benoist, Stephen L.; Hassani, Ahmed El; Wheeler, Christopher; Crick, Rex E.

2003-06-01

We have found evidence for a bolide impacting Earth in the mid-Devonian (~380 million years ago), including high concentrations of shocked quartz, Ni, Cr, As, V, and Co anomalies; a large negative carbon isotope shift (-9 per mil); and microspherules and microcrysts at Jebel Mech Irdane in the Anti Atlas desert near Rissani, Morocco. This impact is important because it is coincident with a major global extinction event (Kacák/otomari event), suggesting a possible cause-and-effect relation between the impact and the extinction. The result may represent the extinction of as many as 40% of all living marine animal genera.

Delayed recovery of non-marine tetrapods after the end-Permian mass extinction tracks global carbon cycle

PubMed Central

Irmis, Randall B.; Whiteside, Jessica H.

2012-01-01

During the end-Permian mass extinction, marine ecosystems suffered a major drop in diversity, which was maintained throughout the Early Triassic until delayed recovery during the Middle Triassic. This depressed diversity in the Early Triassic correlates with multiple major perturbations to the global carbon cycle, interpreted as either intrinsic ecosystem or external palaeoenvironmental effects. In contrast, the terrestrial record of extinction and recovery is less clear; the effects and magnitude of the end-Permian extinction on non-marine vertebrates are particularly controversial. We use specimen-level data from southern Africa and Russia to investigate the palaeodiversity dynamics of non-marine tetrapods across the Permo-Triassic boundary by analysing sample-standardized generic richness, evenness and relative abundance. In addition, we investigate the potential effects of sampling, geological and taxonomic biases on these data. Our analyses demonstrate that non-marine tetrapods were severely affected by the end-Permian mass extinction, and that these assemblages did not begin to recover until the Middle Triassic. These data are congruent with those from land plants and marine invertebrates. Furthermore, they are consistent with the idea that unstable low-diversity post-extinction ecosystems were subject to boom–bust cycles, reflected in multiple Early Triassic perturbations of the carbon cycle. PMID:22031757

High-precision U-Pb zircon geochronological constraints on the End-Triassic Mass Extinction, the late Triassic Astronomical Time Scale and geochemical evolution of CAMP magmatism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blackburn, T. J.; Olsen, P. E.; Bowring, S. A.; McLean, N. M.; Kent, D. V.; Puffer, J. H.; McHone, G.; Rasbury, T.

2012-12-01

Mass extinction events that punctuate Earth's history have had a large influence on the evolution, diversity and composition of our planet's biosphere. The approximate temporal coincidence between the five major extinction events over the last 542 million years and the eruption of Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) has led to the speculation that climate and environmental perturbations generated by the emplacement of a large volume of magma in a short period of time triggered each global biologic crisis. Establishing a causal link between extinction and the onset and tempo of LIP eruption has proved difficult because of the geographic separation between LIP volcanic deposits and stratigraphic sequences preserving evidence of the extinction. In most cases, the uncertainties on available radioisotopic dates used to correlate between geographically separated study areas often exceed the duration of both the extinction interval and LIP volcanism by an order of magnitude. The "end-Triassic extinction" (ETE) is one of the "big five" and is characterized by the disappearance of several terrestrial and marine species and dominance of Dinosaurs for the next 134 million years. Speculation on the cause has centered on massive climate perturbations thought to accompany the eruption of flood basalts related to the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), the most aerially extensive and volumetrically one of the largest LIPs on Earth. Despite an approximate temporal coincidence between extinction and volcanism, there lacks evidence placing the eruption of CAMP prior to or at the initiation of the extinction. Estimates of the timing and/or duration of CAMP volcanism provided by astrochronology and Ar-Ar geochronology differ by an order of magnitude, precluding high-precision tests of the relationship between LIP volcanism and the mass extinction, the causes of which are dependent upon the rate of magma eruption. Here we present high precision zircon U-Pb ID-TIMS geochronologic data

Ca and Sr isotope records support ocean acidification during end-Permian mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, J.; Jacobson, A. D.; Zhang, H.; Ramezani, J.; Sageman, B. B.; Hurtgen, M.; Bowring, S. A.; Shen, S.

2017-12-01

The end-Permian mass extinction represents the most devastating loss of biodiversity during the Phanerozoic. A negative carbon isotope (δ13C) excursion that accompanies the event suggests a significant perturbation to the global carbon cycle, likely induced by CO2 emissions during eruption of the Siberian Traps large igneous province. The carbon cycle is linked with the Ca and Sr cycles through chemical weathering and carbonate precipitation. Therefore, analyses of Ca (δ44/40Ca), radiogenic Sr (87Sr/86Sr), and stable Sr (δ88/86Sr) isotope abundance variations in marine carbonate rocks spanning the Permian-Triassic Boundary (PTB) can reveal key information about biogeochemical changes that occurred during this time. We report δ44/40Ca, 87Sr/86Sr, and δ88/86Sr records analyzed by TIMS for the Meishan and Dajiang sections in China. δ44/40Ca values exhibit similar patterns in both sections. The values remain unchanged across the extinction event layer (EXT) and then decrease by 0.20‰ before increasing by 0.20‰ to 0.40‰ around the PTB. In the Meishan section, 87Sr/86Sr ratios increase after the EXT and return to pre-excursion levels by the PTB. Simultaneously, δ88/86Sr values decrease by 0.12‰ across the EXT and increase by 0.08‰ by the PTB. The patterns of our data support the hypothesis that elevated atmospheric CO2 levels enhanced chemical weathering inputs and might have caused transient ocean acidification, with an "alkalinity overshoot" and increased carbonate deposition occurring after the extinction. Additional measurements and model calculations are underway to help refine and improve these preliminary interpretations.

The Permian-Triassic boundary & mass extinction in China

USGS Publications Warehouse

Metcalfe, I.; Nicoll, R.S.; Mundil, R.; Foster, C.; Glen, J.; Lyons, J.; Xiaofeng, W.; Cheng-Yuan, W.; Renne, P.R.; Black, L.; Xun, Q.; Xiaodong, M.

2001-01-01

The first appearance of Hindeodus parvus (Kozur & Pjatakova) at the Permian-Triassic (P-T) GSSP level (base of Bed 27c) at Meishan is here confirmed. Hindeodus changxingensis Wang occurs from Beds 26 to 29 at Meishan and appears to be restricted to the narrow boundary interval immediately above the main mass extinction level in Bed 25. It is suggested that this species is therefore a valuable P-T boundary interval index taxon. Our collections from the Shangsi section confirm that the first occurrence of Hindeodus parvus in that section is about 5 in above the highest level from which a typical Permian fauna is recovered. This may suggest that that some section may be missing at Meishan. The age of the currently defined Permian-Triassic Boundary is estimated by our own studies and a reassessment of previous worker's data at c. 253 Ma, slightly older than our IDTIMS 206Pb/238U age of 252.5 ??0.3 Ma for Bed 28, just 8 cm above the GSSP boundary (Mundil et al., 2001). The age of the main mass extinction, at the base of Bed 25 at Meishan, is estimated at slightly older than 254 Ma based on an age of >254 Ma for the Bed 25 ash. Regardless of the absolute age of the boundary, it is evident that the claimed <165,000 y short duration for the negative carbon isotope excursion at the P-T boundary (Bowring et al., 1998) cannot be confirmed. Purportedly extraterrestrial fullerenes at the boundary (Hecker et al., 2001) have equivocal significance due to their chronostratigraphic non-uniqueness and their occurrence in a volcanic ash.

Unusual Deep Water sponge assemblage in South China—Witness of the end-Ordovician mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Lixia; Feng, Hongzhen; Janussen, Dorte; Reitner, Joachim

2015-11-01

There are few sponges known from the end-Ordovician to early-Silurian strata all over the world, and no records of sponge fossils have been found yet in China during this interval. Here we report a unique sponge assemblage spanning the interval of the end-Ordovician mass extinction from the Kaochiapien Formation (Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian) in South China. This assemblage contains a variety of well-preserved siliceous sponges, including both Burgess Shale-type and modern type taxa. It is clear that this assemblage developed in deep water, low energy ecosystem with less competitors and more vacant niches. Its explosion may be related to the euxinic and anoxic condition as well as the noticeable transgression during the end-Ordovician mass extinction. The excellent preservation of this assemblage is probably due to the rapid burial by mud turbidites. This unusual sponge assemblage provides a link between the Burgess Shale-type deep water sponges and the modern forms. It gives an excellent insight into the deep sea palaeoecology and the macroevolution of Phanerozoic sponges, and opens a new window to investigate the marine ecosystem before and after the end-Ordovician mass extinction. It also offers potential to search for exceptional fossil biota across the Ordovician-Silurian boundary interval in China.

Unusual Deep Water sponge assemblage in South China—Witness of the end-Ordovician mass extinction

PubMed Central

Li, Lixia; Feng, Hongzhen; Janussen, Dorte; Reitner, Joachim

2015-01-01

There are few sponges known from the end-Ordovician to early-Silurian strata all over the world, and no records of sponge fossils have been found yet in China during this interval. Here we report a unique sponge assemblage spanning the interval of the end-Ordovician mass extinction from the Kaochiapien Formation (Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian) in South China. This assemblage contains a variety of well-preserved siliceous sponges, including both Burgess Shale-type and modern type taxa. It is clear that this assemblage developed in deep water, low energy ecosystem with less competitors and more vacant niches. Its explosion may be related to the euxinic and anoxic condition as well as the noticeable transgression during the end-Ordovician mass extinction. The excellent preservation of this assemblage is probably due to the rapid burial by mud turbidites. This unusual sponge assemblage provides a link between the Burgess Shale-type deep water sponges and the modern forms. It gives an excellent insight into the deep sea palaeoecology and the macroevolution of Phanerozoic sponges, and opens a new window to investigate the marine ecosystem before and after the end-Ordovician mass extinction. It also offers potential to search for exceptional fossil biota across the Ordovician-Silurian boundary interval in China. PMID:26538179

Unusual Deep Water sponge assemblage in South China-Witness of the end-Ordovician mass extinction.

PubMed

Li, Lixia; Feng, Hongzhen; Janussen, Dorte; Reitner, Joachim

2015-11-05

There are few sponges known from the end-Ordovician to early-Silurian strata all over the world, and no records of sponge fossils have been found yet in China during this interval. Here we report a unique sponge assemblage spanning the interval of the end-Ordovician mass extinction from the Kaochiapien Formation (Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian) in South China. This assemblage contains a variety of well-preserved siliceous sponges, including both Burgess Shale-type and modern type taxa. It is clear that this assemblage developed in deep water, low energy ecosystem with less competitors and more vacant niches. Its explosion may be related to the euxinic and anoxic condition as well as the noticeable transgression during the end-Ordovician mass extinction. The excellent preservation of this assemblage is probably due to the rapid burial by mud turbidites. This unusual sponge assemblage provides a link between the Burgess Shale-type deep water sponges and the modern forms. It gives an excellent insight into the deep sea palaeoecology and the macroevolution of Phanerozoic sponges, and opens a new window to investigate the marine ecosystem before and after the end-Ordovician mass extinction. It also offers potential to search for exceptional fossil biota across the Ordovician-Silurian boundary interval in China.

Impact Theory of Mass Extinctions and the Invertebrate Fossil Record

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alvarez, Walter; Kauffman, Erle G.; Surlyk, Finn; Alvarez, Luis W.; Asaro, Frank; Michel, Helen V.

1984-03-01

There is much evidence that the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary was marked by a massive meteorite impact. Theoretical consideration of the consequences of such an impact predicts sharp extinctions in many groups of animals precisely at the boundary. Paleontological data clearly show gradual declines in diversity over the last 1 to 10 million years in various invertebrate groups. Reexamination of data from careful studies of the best sections shows that, in addition to undergoing the decline, four groups (ammonites, cheilostomate bryozoans, brachiopods, and bivalves) were affected by sudden truncations precisely at the iridium anomaly that marks the boundary. The paleontological record thus bears witness to terminal-Cretaceous extinctions on two time scales: a slow decline unrelated to the impact and a sharp truncation synchronous with and probably caused by the impact.

Mammoth ecosystem: Climatic areal, animal's density and cause of extinctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zimov, S.; Zimov, N.; Zimova, G.; Chapin, S. F.

2008-12-01

During the last glaciations Mammoth Ecosystem (ME) occupied territory from present-day France to Canada and from the Arctic islands to China. This ecosystem played major role in global carbon cycle and human settling around the planet. Causes of extinction of this ecosystem are debatable. Analyses of hundreds of radiocarbon dates of ME animal fossil remains showed that warming and moistening of climate wasn't accompanied by animal extinction. On the opposite, on the north right after the warming rise of herbivore population was observed. Reconstruction of ME climatic areal showed that its climatic optimum lies within range of annual precipitation of 200-350 mm and average summer temperatures of +8-+12oC which corresponds with modern climate of Northern Siberia. Analyses of bones and skeletons concentrations in permafrost of Northern Siberia showed that animal density in ME was similar to African savannah. That was a high productive ecosystem that could sustain in wide variety of climates because numerous herbivores maintained there pastures themselves.

Rebuilding Biodiversity of Patagonian Marine Molluscs after the End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction

PubMed Central

Aberhan, Martin; Kiessling, Wolfgang

2014-01-01

We analysed field-collected quantitative data of benthic marine molluscs across the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary in Patagonia to identify patterns and processes of biodiversity reconstruction after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. We contrast diversity dynamics from nearshore environments with those from offshore environments. In both settings, Early Palaeogene (Danian) assemblages are strongly dominated by surviving lineages, many of which changed their relative abundance from being rare before the extinction event to becoming the new dominant forms. Only a few of the species in the Danian assemblages were newly evolved. In offshore environments, however, two newly evolved Danian bivalve species attained ecological dominance by replacing two ecologically equivalent species that disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous. In both settings, the total number of Danian genera at a locality remained below the total number of late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) genera at that locality. We suggest that biotic interactions, in particular incumbency effects, suppressed post-extinction diversity and prevented the compensation of diversity loss by originating and invading taxa. Contrary to the total number of genera at localities, diversity at the level of individual fossiliferous horizons before and after the boundary is indistinguishable in offshore environments. This indicates an evolutionary rapid rebound to pre-extinction values within less than ca 0.5 million years. In nearshore environments, by contrast, diversity of fossiliferous horizons was reduced in the Danian, and this lowered diversity lasted for the entire studied post-extinction interval. In this heterogeneous environment, low connectivity among populations may have retarded the recolonisation of nearshore habitats by survivors. PMID:25028930

Nature and Causes of the Immediate Extinction Deficit: A Brief Review

PubMed Central

Maren, Stephen

2013-01-01

Recent data in both rodents and humans suggests that the timing of extinction trials after conditioning influences the magnitude and duration of extinction. For example, administering extinction trials soon after Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats, mice, and humans results in minimal fear suppression--the so-called immediate extinction deficit. Here I review recent work examining the behavioral and neural substrates of the immediate extinction deficit. I suggest that extinction is most effective at some delay after conditioning, because brain systems involved in encoding and retrieving extinction memories function sub-optimally under stress. PMID:24176924

Limitations on K-T mass extinction theories based upon the vertebrate record

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Archibald, J. David; Bryant, Laurie J.

1988-01-01

Theories of extinction are only as good as the patterns of extinction that they purport to explain. Often such patterns are ignored. For the terminal Cretaceous events, different groups of organisms in different environments show different patterns of extinction that to date cannot be explained by a single causal mechanism. Several patterns of extinction (and/or preservational bias) can be observed for the various groups of vertebrates from the uppermost Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation and lower Paleocene Tullock Formation in eastern Montana. The taxonomic level at which the percentage of survivals (or extinctions) is calculated will have an effect upon the perception of faunal turnover. In addition to the better known mammals and better publicized dinosaurs, there are almost 60 additional species of reptiles, birds, amphibians, and fish in the HELL Creek Formation. Simple arithmetic suggests only 33 percent survival of these vertebrates from the Hell Creek Fm. into the Tullock Fm. A more critical examination of the data shows that almost all Hell Creek species not found in the Tullock are represented in one of the following categories; extremely rare forms, elasmobranch fish that underwent rapid speciation taxa that although not known or rare in the Tullock, are found elsewhere. Each of the categories is largely the result of the following biases: taphonomy, ecological differences, taxonomic artifact paleogeography. The two most important factors appear to be the possible taphonomic biases and the taxonomic artifacts. The extinction patterns among the vertebrates do not appear to be attributable to any single cause, catastrophic or otherwise.

Biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines.

PubMed

Ceballos, Gerardo; Ehrlich, Paul R; Dirzo, Rodolfo

2017-07-25

The population extinction pulse we describe here shows, from a quantitative viewpoint, that Earth's sixth mass extinction is more severe than perceived when looking exclusively at species extinctions. Therefore, humanity needs to address anthropogenic population extirpation and decimation immediately. That conclusion is based on analyses of the numbers and degrees of range contraction (indicative of population shrinkage and/or population extinctions according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature) using a sample of 27,600 vertebrate species, and on a more detailed analysis documenting the population extinctions between 1900 and 2015 in 177 mammal species. We find that the rate of population loss in terrestrial vertebrates is extremely high-even in "species of low concern." In our sample, comprising nearly half of known vertebrate species, 32% (8,851/27,600) are decreasing; that is, they have decreased in population size and range. In the 177 mammals for which we have detailed data, all have lost 30% or more of their geographic ranges and more than 40% of the species have experienced severe population declines (>80% range shrinkage). Our data indicate that beyond global species extinctions Earth is experiencing a huge episode of population declines and extirpations, which will have negative cascading consequences on ecosystem functioning and services vital to sustaining civilization. We describe this as a "biological annihilation" to highlight the current magnitude of Earth's ongoing sixth major extinction event.

Nature and causes of the immediate extinction deficit: a brief review.

PubMed

Maren, Stephen

2014-09-01

Recent data in both rodents and humans suggests that the timing of extinction trials after conditioning influences the magnitude and duration of extinction. For example, administering extinction trials soon after Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats, mice, and humans results in minimal fear suppression - the so-called immediate extinction deficit. Here I review recent work examining the behavioral and neural substrates of the immediate extinction deficit. I suggest that extinction is most effective at some delay after conditioning, because brain systems involved in encoding and retrieving extinction memories function sub-optimally under stress. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Magma-salt interactions and degassing from the Tunguska Basin, Siberia: Towards a new killer model for the P-Tr mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Svensen, H.; Planke, S.; Polozov, A.; Schmidbauer, N.

2006-12-01

Life on Earth was severely affected during the Permo-Triasic mass extinction. A 5-10º C global warming and oceanic anoxia accompanied the mass extinction. There is a consensus that massive volcanic eruptions from the Siberian Traps Large igneous province 251 million years ago played a key role in the environmental catastrophe. However, the actual mechanisms are strongly debated. We present new field, geochemical and experimental data that links both the mass extinction and the global warming to processes in the Tunguska Basin in Siberia. The basin is composed of dominantly Cambrian evaporates and Ordovician to Permian marine to terrestrial carbonates, sandstones, shales and coals. During the formation of the Siberian Traps, these sediments were intruded by magmatic sills and dykes. The emplacement resulted in heating of the sedimentary host rocks, gas generation and formation of hundreds of explosion pipes. The pipes are rooted in a 1-2 km thick evaporate sequence (halite, anhydrate, dolostone) and contain brecciated and altered sedimentary and magmatic rocks. Borehole data show intense alteration in the contact aureoles around sill intrusions and around the pipes. Heating experiments of hydrocarbon-bearing evaporates show that gases generated during metamorphism include CO2, SO2 and a range of halocarbons and sulfur-bearing hydrocarbon gases. Furthermore, chloride isotope data from the contact aureoles support a removal of Cl during metamorphism. Our results demonstrate that metamorphism and degassing from the Tunguska Basin provided the necessary components to cause an environmental disaster, including destruction of the Late Permian ozone layer.

Immediate Extinction Causes a Less Durable Loss of Performance than Delayed Extinction following Either Fear or Appetitive Conditioning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woods, Amanda M.; Bouton, Mark E.

2008-01-01

Five experiments with rat subjects compared the effects of immediate and delayed extinction on the durability of extinction learning. Three experiments examined extinction of fear conditioning (using the conditioned emotional response method), and two experiments examined extinction of appetitive conditioning (using the food-cup entry method). In…

Adaptive radiation of multituberculate mammals before the extinction of dinosaurs.

PubMed

Wilson, Gregory P; Evans, Alistair R; Corfe, Ian J; Smits, Peter D; Fortelius, Mikael; Jernvall, Jukka

2012-03-14

The Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction approximately 66 million years ago is conventionally thought to have been a turning point in mammalian evolution. Prior to that event and for the first two-thirds of their evolutionary history, mammals were mostly confined to roles as generalized, small-bodied, nocturnal insectivores, presumably under selection pressures from dinosaurs. Release from these pressures, by extinction of non-avian dinosaurs at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, triggered ecological diversification of mammals. Although recent individual fossil discoveries have shown that some mammalian lineages diversified ecologically during the Mesozoic era, comprehensive ecological analyses of mammalian groups crossing the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary are lacking. Such analyses are needed because diversification analyses of living taxa allow only indirect inferences of past ecosystems. Here we show that in arguably the most evolutionarily successful clade of Mesozoic mammals, the Multituberculata, an adaptive radiation began at least 20 million years before the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs and continued across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. Disparity in dental complexity, which relates to the range of diets, rose sharply in step with generic richness and disparity in body size. Moreover, maximum dental complexity and body size demonstrate an adaptive shift towards increased herbivory. This dietary expansion tracked the ecological rise of angiosperms and suggests that the resources that were available to multituberculates were relatively unaffected by the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. Taken together, our results indicate that mammals were able to take advantage of new ecological opportunities in the Mesozoic and that at least some of these opportunities persisted through the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. Similar broad-scale ecomorphological inventories of other radiations may help to constrain the possible causes of mass extinctions.

Determining the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMPS)'s Role in the Increased Flux of CO2 in the end-Triassic Mass Extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srinivasan, P. S.; Bachan, A.; Stanford School of Earth Sciences Department of Paleobiology

2011-12-01

The Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) is one of the largest flood basalt provinces known. Its empacement coincided with a period of major plant and animal extinctions-the end-Triassic mass extinction. It is postulated that the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the volcanics was one of the causes of this mass extinction. However,the magnitude of impact on ocean chemistry, and timescales involved remain unclear. To determine CAMP's role in this increased flux of CO2, we studied the geochemistry of samples of rock from the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, in northern Italy. Specifically, by observing the ratios of carbon isotopes 12 and 13 in the organic carbon found in these limestone sedimentary rocks, we could determine the ratio of carbonate to organic burial fluxes globally. We drilled limestone rocks from two different sections in the Southern Alps-- Pozzo Glaciale and Val Adrara. Once they were drilled to a fine powder-like form, we acidified the CaCO3 with HCl to isolate the organic carbon. Then, the organic matter was cleaned to rid the acid, and eventually was placed into tin foil to be placed into the Elemental Analyzer, which determined the percent Carbon in each sample. We tested about 200 samples, and placed them into the Mass Spectrometer machine to determine the isotopic ratios of C12 and C13. According to the data, there was a positive excursion for both sample sets, which means that there was an increase in the amount of C13 in the organic matter. The duration of this excursion was at least a few hundred thousand years. This suggests a protracted increase in the burial flux of organic carbon globally, which is consistent with the hypothesized volcanically driven increase in CO2. This further bolsters the contention that CAMP was responsible, in part, for this mass extinction. By studying the earth's recovery from increased carbon fluxes in the past, we can predict the recovery path that our anthropogenically

Biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines

PubMed Central

Ceballos, Gerardo; Ehrlich, Paul R.; Dirzo, Rodolfo

2017-01-01

The population extinction pulse we describe here shows, from a quantitative viewpoint, that Earth’s sixth mass extinction is more severe than perceived when looking exclusively at species extinctions. Therefore, humanity needs to address anthropogenic population extirpation and decimation immediately. That conclusion is based on analyses of the numbers and degrees of range contraction (indicative of population shrinkage and/or population extinctions according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature) using a sample of 27,600 vertebrate species, and on a more detailed analysis documenting the population extinctions between 1900 and 2015 in 177 mammal species. We find that the rate of population loss in terrestrial vertebrates is extremely high—even in “species of low concern.” In our sample, comprising nearly half of known vertebrate species, 32% (8,851/27,600) are decreasing; that is, they have decreased in population size and range. In the 177 mammals for which we have detailed data, all have lost 30% or more of their geographic ranges and more than 40% of the species have experienced severe population declines (>80% range shrinkage). Our data indicate that beyond global species extinctions Earth is experiencing a huge episode of population declines and extirpations, which will have negative cascading consequences on ecosystem functioning and services vital to sustaining civilization. We describe this as a “biological annihilation” to highlight the current magnitude of Earth’s ongoing sixth major extinction event. PMID:28696295

High-precision geochronology confirms voluminous magmatism before, during, and after Earth’s most severe extinction

PubMed Central

Burgess, Seth D.; Bowring, Samuel A.

2015-01-01

The end-Permian mass extinction was the most severe in the Phanerozoic, extinguishing more than 90% of marine and 75% of terrestrial species in a maximum of 61 ± 48 ky. Because of broad temporal coincidence between the biotic crisis and one of the most voluminous continental volcanic eruptions since the origin of animals, the Siberian Traps large igneous province (LIP), a causal connection has long been suggested. Magmatism is hypothesized to have caused rapid injection of massive amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, driving climate change and subsequent destabilization of the biosphere. Establishing a causal connection between magmatism and mass extinction is critically dependent on accurately and precisely knowing the relative timing of the two events and the flux of magma. New U/Pb dates on Siberian Traps LIP lava flows, sills, and explosively erupted rocks indicate that (i) about two-thirds of the total lava/pyroclastic volume was erupted over ~300 ky, before and concurrent with the end-Permian mass extinction; (ii) eruption of the balance of lavas continued for at least 500 ky after extinction cessation; and (iii) massive emplacement of sills into the shallow crust began concomitant with the mass extinction and continued for at least 500 ky into the early Triassic. This age model is consistent with Siberian Traps LIP magmatism as a trigger for the end-Permian mass extinction and suggests a role for magmatism in suppression of post-extinction biotic recovery. PMID:26601239

First human-caused extinction of a cetacean species?

PubMed

Turvey, Samuel T; Pitman, Robert L; Taylor, Barbara L; Barlow, Jay; Akamatsu, Tomonari; Barrett, Leigh A; Zhao, Xiujiang; Reeves, Randall R; Stewart, Brent S; Wang, Kexiong; Wei, Zhuo; Zhang, Xianfeng; Pusser, L T; Richlen, Michael; Brandon, John R; Wang, Ding

2007-10-22

The Yangtze River dolphin or baiji (Lipotes vexillifer), an obligate freshwater odontocete known only from the middle-lower Yangtze River system and neighbouring Qiantang River in eastern China, has long been recognized as one of the world's rarest and most threatened mammal species. The status of the baiji has not been investigated since the late 1990s, when the surviving population was estimated to be as low as 13 individuals. An intensive six-week multi-vessel visual and acoustic survey carried out in November-December 2006, covering the entire historical range of the baiji in the main Yangtze channel, failed to find any evidence that the species survives. We are forced to conclude that the baiji is now likely to be extinct, probably due to unsustainable by-catch in local fisheries. This represents the first global extinction of a large vertebrate for over 50 years, only the fourth disappearance of an entire mammal family since AD 1500, and the first cetacean species to be driven to extinction by human activity. Immediate and extreme measures may be necessary to prevent the extinction of other endangered cetaceans, including the sympatric Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis).

The rise of the ruling reptiles and ecosystem recovery from the Permo-Triassic mass extinction.

PubMed

Ezcurra, Martín D; Butler, Richard J

2018-06-13

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. © 2018 The Author(s).

The Late Ordovician Extinction: How it became the best understood of the five major extinctions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheehan, P.

2003-04-01

The end Ordovician extinction has become arguably the best-understood major extinction event in Earth History. A plethora of workers have established the pattern of faunal change and causes of the extinction with remarkably little disagreement. The first indication of increased extinction at the end of the Ordovician was a graph of global diversity patterns by Norman Newell in 1967, although he did not recognize it as a major event. The presence of a major extinction event became clear as William Berry and Art Boucot assembled data for Silurian correlation charts in the late 1960s. The first reports of North African glaciation in the late 1960s provided a cause for the extinction and study of the event snowballed. It was no accident that recognition of the extinction began in North America, because it was there that the extinction completely overturned faunas in the epicontinental seas. Glacio-eustatic regression of shallow seaway coincided with the disappearance of endemic Laurentian faunas and replacement by a highly cosmopolitan fauna in the Silurian. Once the event was established in North America, paleontologists soon found evidence of the event around the globe. The well-documented Hirnantia Fauna was found to correspond to the glacial interval, and Pat Brenchley soon recognized that there were two pulses of extinction, at the beginning and end of the glaciation. At the same time that the faunal changes were being documented geologic studies of the glaciation provided information on the environmental changes associated with the extinction. The timing of the glacial maximum was established in Africa and by the presence of dropstones in high latitude marine rocks. The 1990s saw geochemical techniques employed that allowed examination of atmospheric CO2 and temperature changes. In many places carbonate deposition declined. Glacio-eustatic regression was obvious in many areas, and a sea-level decline in the range of 50-100 m was established. Shallow

Selectivity of end-Cretaceous marine bivalve extinctions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jablonski, D.; Raup, D. M.

1995-01-01

Analyses of the end-Cretaceous or Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction show no selectivity of marine bivalve genera by life position (burrowing versus exposed), body size, bathymetric position on the continental shelf, or relative breadth of bathymetric range. Deposit-feeders as a group have significantly lower extinction intensities than suspension-feeders, but this pattern is due entirely to low extinction in two groups (Nuculoida and Lucinoidea), which suggests that survivorship was not simply linked to feeding mode. Geographically widespread genera have significantly lower extinction intensities than narrowly distributed genera. These results corroborate earlier work suggesting that some biotic factors that enhance survivorship during times of lesser extinction intensities are ineffectual during mass extinctions.

Biospheric Effects of the Chicxulub Impact and Their Role in the Cretaceous/Tertiary Mass Extinction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pope, Kevin O.

1997-01-01

A comprehensive analysis of volatiles in the Chicxulub impact strongly supports the hypothesis that impact-generated sulfate aerosols caused over a decade of global cooling, acid rain, and disruption of ocean circulation, which contributed to the mass extinction at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary. The crater size, meteoritic content of the K/T boundary clay, and impact models indicate that the Chicxulub crater was formed by a short period comet or an asteroid impact that released 0.7-3.4 x 10(exp 31) ergs of energy. Impact models and experiments combined with estimates of volatiles in the projectile and target rocks predict that over 200 gigatons (Gt) each of SO2 and water vapor, and over 500 Gt of CO2, were globally distributed in the stratosphere by the impact.

Investigating A Unique Open Ocean Geochemical Record Of the End Triassic Mass Extinction from Panthalassa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marroquín, S. M.; Gill, B. C.; Them, T. R., II; Trabucho-Alexandre, J. P.; Aberhan, M.; Owens, J. D.; Gröcke, D. R.; Caruthers, A. H.

2017-12-01

The end-Triassic mass extinction ( 201 Ma) was a time of intense disturbance for marine communities. This event is estimated to have produced as much as a loss of 80% of known marine species. The protracted interval of elevated extinction rates is also characterized by a major carbon cycle perturbation and potentially widespread oxygen deficiency within the oceans. While the causes of extinction and environmental feedbacks are still debated it is hypothesized to have been triggered by massive volcanism associated with the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province flood basalts. However, our understanding of the Latest Triassic-Earliest Jurassic interval is limited due to the lack of well-preserved stratigraphic successions outside of the Tethys Ocean (present day Europe), with most of the records from epicontinental and marginal marine settings. To expand our understanding of this critical interval, our study seeks to document biological and environmental changes elsewhere. Specifically, we document and reconstruct these changes in the equatorial Panthalassan Ocean. We will present new data from a sedimentary succession preserved in the Wrangell Mountains of Alaska that spans the Late Triassic through Early Jurassic. The sedimentary succession represents a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic ramp that was deposited at tropical latitudes, adjacent to an island arc in the open Panthalassan Ocean. This succession affords a unique view of open marine conditions, and also holds the potential for excellent temporal control as it contains abundant ash layers throughout, as well as, key ammonite and bivalve fossil occurrences that provide biostratigraphic control. We will present an integrated geochemical and paleontological record from this site using several geochemical proxies (carbon, δ13Ccarb and % total organic carbon, sulfur, δ34S, as well as pyrite contents and iron speciation) along with ammonite and bivalve occurrence data to reconstruct the record of environmental and

Multiple sulfur-isotopic evidence for a shallowly stratified ocean following the Triassic-Jurassic boundary mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Genming; Richoz, Sylvain; van de Schootbrugge, Bas; Algeo, Thomas J.; Xie, Shucheng; Ono, Shuhei; Summons, Roger E.

2018-06-01

The cause of the Triassic-Jurassic (Tr-J) boundary biotic crisis, one of the 'Big Five' mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic, remains controversial. In this study, we analyzed multiple sulfur-isotope compositions (δ33S, δ34S and δ36S) of pyrite and Spy/TOC ratios in two Tr-J successions (Mariental, Mingolsheim) from the European Epicontinental Seaway (EES) in order to better document ocean-redox variations during the Tr-J transition. Our results show that upper Rhaetian strata are characterized by 34S-enriched pyrite, low Spy/TOC ratios, and values of Δ33Spy (i.e., the deviation from the mass-dependent array) lower than that estimated for contemporaneous seawater sulfate, suggesting an oxic-suboxic depositional environment punctuated by brief anoxic events. The overlying Hettangian strata exhibit relatively 34S-depleted pyrite, high Δ33Spy, and Spy/TOC values, and the presence of green sulfur bacterial biomarkers indicate a shift toward to euxinic conditions. The local development of intense marine anoxia thus postdated the Tr-J mass extinction, which does not provide support for the hypothesis that euxinia was the main killing agent at the Tr-J transition. Sulfur and organic carbon isotopic records that reveal a water-depth gradient (i.e., more 34S-, 13C-depleted with depth) in combination with Spy/TOC data suggest that the earliest Jurassic EES was strongly stratified, with a chemocline located at shallow depths just below storm wave base. Shallow oceanic stratification may have been a factor for widespread deposition of black shales, a large positive shift in carbonate δ13C values, and a delay in the recovery of marine ecosystems following the Tr-J boundary crisis.

Fossil Worm Burrows Reveal Very Early Terrestrial Animal Activity and Shed Light on Trophic Resources after the End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction

PubMed Central

Chin, Karen; Pearson, Dean; Ekdale, A. A.

2013-01-01

The widespread mass extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous caused world-wide disruption of ecosystems, and faunal responses to the one-two punch of severe environmental perturbation and ecosystem collapse are still unclear. Here we report the discovery of in situ terrestrial fossil burrows from just above the impact-defined Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary in southwestern North Dakota. The crisscrossing networks of horizontal burrows occur at the interface of a lignitic coal and silty sandstone, and reveal intense faunal activity within centimeters of the boundary clay. Estimated rates of sedimentation and coal formation suggest that the burrows were made less than ten thousand years after the end-Cretaceous impact. The burrow characteristics are most consistent with burrows of extant earthworms. Moreover, the burrowing and detritivorous habits of these annelids fit models that predict the trophic and sheltering lifestyles of terrestrial animals that survived the K/Pg extinction event. In turn, such detritus-eaters would have played a critical role in supporting secondary consumers. Thus, some of the carnivorous vertebrates that radiated after the K/Pg extinction may owe their evolutionary success to thriving populations of earthworms. PMID:23951041

Flood-Basalt Eruptions and Extraterrestrial Impacts Linked to Mass-Extinction Events and Times of Ocean Anoxia of the Past 260 Myr

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rampino, M. R.

2017-12-01

Correlations among impacts, flood-basalt episodes, extinctions and ocean anoxic events have been proposed. A closer look at the data, shows 13 documented extinction events over the last 260 Myr, 12 of which coincide, within errors, with the ages of flood-basalt eruptions (8 events) or large impacts (6 events) (Figure 1). The null hypothesis that this could occur by chance can be rejected with >99.99% confidence. Large impacts (craters >70 km in diameter) coincide with extinction events at 36 (two impacts), 66, 145, 168 (?) and 215 Myr ago. The ages of flood basalts coincide with extinctions at 66, 94, 118, 133 (?), 183, 201, 252, and 259 Myr ago (Figure 1). Only the age of the K-Pg boundary at 66 Myr is known to correlate with both a large impact and a flood-basalt province, which may help explain the severity of that mass extinction. The age of the North Atlantic Volcanic Province Basalts (56 Myr ago), while not marked by an extinction event, coincides with the PETM climatic episode. Furthermore, at least 7 periods with evidence of anoxia in the oceans in the last 260 Myr coincide with the ages of flood-basalt eruptions (with >99.99% confidence), and are also coeval with extinction events, suggesting a causal connection (Figure 1). These statistical relationships argue that most mass extinction events are related to environmental catastrophes produced by large-volume flood-basalt eruptions and large asteroid or comet impacts.

Recovery and diversification of marine communities following the late Permian mass extinction event in the western Palaeotethys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foster, William J.; Sebe, Krisztina

2017-08-01

The recovery of benthic invertebrates following the late Permian mass extinction event is often described as occurring in the Middle Triassic associated with the return of Early Triassic Lazarus taxa, increased body sizes, platform margin metazoan reefs, and increased tiering. Most quantitative palaeoecological studies, however, are limited to the Early Triassic and the timing of the final phase of recovery is rarely quantified. Here, quantitative abundance data of benthic invertebrates were collected from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) succession of the Mecsek Mountains (Hungary), and analysed with univariate and multivariate statistics to investigate the timing of recovery following the late Permian mass extinction. These communities lived in a mixed siliciclastic-carbonate ramp setting on the western margin of the Palaeotethys Ocean. The new data presented here is combined with the previously studied Lower Triassic succession of the Aggtelek Karst (Hungary), which records deposition of comparable facies and in the same region of the Palaeotethys Ocean. The Middle Triassic benthic fauna can be characterised by three distinct ecological states. The first state is recorded in the Viganvár Limestone Formation representing mollusc-dominated communities restricted to above wave base, which are comparable to the lower and mid-Spathian Szin Marl Formation faunas. The second state is recorded in the Lapis Limestone Formation and records extensive bioturbation that is not limited to wave base and is comparable to the upper Spathian Szinpetri Limestone Formation. The third ecological state occurs in the Zuhánya Limestone Formation which was deposited in the Pelsonian Binodosus Zone, and has a more 'Palaeozoic' structure with sessile brachiopods dominating assemblages for the first time in the Mesozoic. The return of community-level characteristics to pre-extinction levels and the diversification of invertebrates suggests that the final stages of recovery and the radiation

Uranium isotope evidence for the abrupt onset of oceanic anoxia during the end-Guadalupian mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, H.; Algeo, T. J.; Romaniello, S. J.; Tong, J.; Du, Y.; Wei, H.; Shen, S.; Anbar, A. D.

2016-12-01

The end-Guadalupian (Middle/Late Permian) mass extinction was one of the major crises of the Phanerozoic, resulting in the disappearance of numerous shallow-marine taxa. Several hypotheses have been proposed for this catastrophe but are still under debate. Here, we undertook a high-resolution carbonate U isotopic (δ238/235U) study of the Guadalupian-Lopingian boundary (GLB) at the Penglaitan section (Guadalupian/ Lopingian GSSP) to explore the causal relationship between ocean redox changes and the mass extinction event. The Penglaitan δ238U profile shows two abrupt negative excursions, one in the uppermost Guadalupian (Beds 6j-6k) and the other in the lowermost Lopingian (lower Bed 7). The first excursion (from ‒0.30 ‰ to ‒0.50 ‰) coincided with the main extinction event, suggesting that rapid expansion of oceanic anoxia may have been a contributor to the biotic crisis. The second, larger excursion (from ‒0.25 ‰ to ‒0.65 ‰) demonstrates that the crisis interval was marked by multiple phases of expanded oceanic anoxia. A U-isotope mass balance model shows that, during these excursions, the anoxic/euxinic sink flux increased to 40 % of the total sink flux of seawater U, which is three times of the modern ocean value of 13 %. This study thus provides circumstantial evidence for a causal relationship between expansion of oceanic anoxia and the end-Guadalupian biotic crisis.

Press/Pulse: Explaining selective terrestrial extinctions at the Cretaceous/Palaeogene boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arens, Nan Crystal

2010-05-01

Single-cause mass extinction scenarios require extreme conditions to generate sufficiently strong kill mechanisms. Such dire effects are commonly at odds with the taxonomic selectivity that characterizes most extinction events. In response, some researchers have proposed that the interaction of a variety of factors typify episodes of elevated extinction. Previous work (Arens & West 2008 Paleobiology 34:456-471) has shown that a combination of press and pulse disturbances increases the probability of elevated extinction. The press/pulse contrast is borrowed from community ecology, where researchers have long recognized that the ecological response to long-term stress differs from that of an instantaneous catastrophe. Scaled to the macroevolutionary level, press disturbances alter community composition by placing multigenerational stress on populations. Press disturbances do not necessarily cause mortality, but reduce population size by a variety of mechanisms such as curtailed reproduction. Pulse disturbances are sudden catastrophic events that cause extensive mortality. Either press or pulse disturbances of sufficient magnitude can cause extinction, however elevated extinction occurs more commonly during the coincidence of lower-magnitude press and pulse events. The Cretaceous/Palaeogene (K/P) extinction is one of the best examples of a press/pulse extinction. Deccan Trap volcanism, which straddled the K/P boundary, altered atmospheric composition and climate. This episodic volcanism likely contributed to the climate instability observed in terrestrial ecosystems and exerted press stress. Pulse disturbance was produced by bolide impact, which punctuated the end of the Cretaceous. The press/pulse mechanism also more effectively explains selectivity in terrestrial vertebrate and plant extinctions at the K/P boundary than do single-mechanisms scenarios. For example, why do environmentally sensitive vertebrates such as amphibians experience no extinction? And why do

Is IR going extinct?

PubMed

Mitchell, Audra

2017-03-01

A global extinction crisis may threaten the survival of most existing life forms. Influential discourses of 'existential risk' suggest that human extinction is a real possibility, while several decades of evidence from conservation biology suggests that the Earth may be entering a 'sixth mass extinction event'. These conditions threaten the possibilities of survival and security that are central to most branches of International Relations. However, this discipline lacks a framework for addressing (mass) extinction. From notions of 'nuclear winter' and 'omnicide' to contemporary discourses on catastrophe, International Relations thinking has treated extinction as a superlative of death. This is a profound category mistake: extinction needs to be understood not in the ontic terms of life and death, but rather in the ontological context of be(com)ing and negation. Drawing on the work of theorists of the 'inhuman' such as Quentin Meillassoux, Claire Colebrook, Ray Brassier, Jean-Francois Lyotard and Nigel Clark, this article provides a pathway for thinking beyond existing horizons of survival and imagines a profound transformation of International Relations. Specifically, it outlines a mode of cosmopolitics that responds to the element of the inhuman and the forces of extinction. Rather than capitulating to narratives of tragedy, this cosmopolitics would make it possible to think beyond the restrictions of existing norms of 'humanity' to embrace an ethics of gratitude and to welcome the possibility of new worlds, even in the face of finitude.

Is IR going extinct?

PubMed Central

Mitchell, Audra

2016-01-01

A global extinction crisis may threaten the survival of most existing life forms. Influential discourses of ‘existential risk’ suggest that human extinction is a real possibility, while several decades of evidence from conservation biology suggests that the Earth may be entering a ‘sixth mass extinction event’. These conditions threaten the possibilities of survival and security that are central to most branches of International Relations. However, this discipline lacks a framework for addressing (mass) extinction. From notions of ‘nuclear winter’ and ‘omnicide’ to contemporary discourses on catastrophe, International Relations thinking has treated extinction as a superlative of death. This is a profound category mistake: extinction needs to be understood not in the ontic terms of life and death, but rather in the ontological context of be(com)ing and negation. Drawing on the work of theorists of the ‘inhuman’ such as Quentin Meillassoux, Claire Colebrook, Ray Brassier, Jean-Francois Lyotard and Nigel Clark, this article provides a pathway for thinking beyond existing horizons of survival and imagines a profound transformation of International Relations. Specifically, it outlines a mode of cosmopolitics that responds to the element of the inhuman and the forces of extinction. Rather than capitulating to narratives of tragedy, this cosmopolitics would make it possible to think beyond the restrictions of existing norms of ‘humanity’ to embrace an ethics of gratitude and to welcome the possibility of new worlds, even in the face of finitude. PMID:29708126

The Effect of Size and Ecology on Extinction Susceptibility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huynh, C.; Yuan, A.; Heim, N.; Payne, J.

2015-12-01

Although life on Earth first emerged as prokaryotic organisms, it eventually evolved into billions of different species. However, extinctions on Earth, especially the five mass extinctions, have decimated species. So what leads to a species survival or demise during a mass extinction? Are certain species more susceptible to extinctions based on their size and ecology? For this project, we focused on the data of marine animals. To examine the impact of size and ecology on a species's likelihood of survival, we compared the sizes and ecologies of the survivors and victims of the five mass extinctions. The ecology, or life mode, of a genus consists of the combination of tiering, motility, and feeding mechanism. Tiering refers to the animal's typical location in the water column and sediments, motility refers to its ability to move, and feeding mechanism describes the way the organism eats; together, they describe the animal's behavior. We analyzed the effect of ecology on survival using logistic regression, which compares life mode to the success or failure of a genus during each mass extinction interval. For organism size, we found the extinct organisms' mean size (both volume and length) and compared it with the average size of survivors on a graph. Our results show that while surviving genera of mass extinctions tended to be slightly larger than those that went extinct, there was no significant difference. Even though the Permian (Changhsingian) and Triassic (Rhaetian) extinctions had larger surviving species, likewise the difference was small. Ecology had a more obvious impact on the likelihood of survival; fast-moving, predatory pelagic organisms were the most likely to go extinct, while sedentary, infaunal suspension feeders had the greatest chances of survival. Overall, ecology played a greater role than size in determining the survival of a species. With this information, we can use ecology to predict which species would survive future extinctions.

Stellar orbits in the Galaxy and mass extinctions on the Earth: a connection?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porto de Mello, G. F.; Dias, W. S.; Lepine, J.; Lorenzo-Oliveira, D.; Kazu, R. S.

2014-03-01

The orbits of the stars in the disk of the Galaxy, and their passages through the Galactic spiral arms, are a rarely mentioned factor of biosphere stability which might be important for long-term planetary climate evolution, with a possible bearing on mass extinctions. The Sun lies very near the co-rotation radius, where stars revolve around the Galaxy in the same period as the density wave perturbations of the spiral arms (Dias & Lepine 2005). Conventional wisdom generally considers that this status makes for few passages through the spiral arms. Controversy still surrounds whether time spent inside or around spiral arms is dangerous to biospheres and conducive to mass extinctions (Bailer-Jones 2009). Possible threats include giant molecular clouds disturbing the Oort comet cloud and provoking heavy bombardment (Clube & Napier 1982); a higher exposure to cosmic rays near star forming regions triggering increased cloudiness in Earth's atmosphere and ice ages (Gies & Helsel 2005); and the destruction of Earth's ozone layer posed by supernova explosions (Gehrels et al 2003). We present detailed calculations of the history of spiral arm passages for all 212 solartype stars nearer than 20 parsecs, including the total time spent inside the spiral arms in the last 500 million years, when the spiral arm position can be traced with good accuracy. There is a very large diversity of stellar orbits amongst solar neighborhood solar-type stars, and the time fraction spent inside spiral arms can vary from a few percent to nearly half the time. The Sun, despite its proximity to the galactic co-rotation radius, has exceptionally low eccentricity and a low vertical velocity component, and therefore spends 40% of its lifetime crossing the spiral arms, more than nearly all nearby stars. We discuss the possible implications of this fact to the long-term habitability of the Earth, and possible correlations of the Sun's passage through the spiral arms with the five great mass

Mass extinctions, galactic orbits in the solar neighborhood and the Sun: a connection?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porto de Mello, G. F.; Dias, W. S.; Lépine, J. R. D.; Lorenzo-Oliveira, D.; Siqueira, R. K.

2014-10-01

The orbits of the stars in the disk of the Galaxy, and their passages through the Galactic spiral arms, are a rarely mentioned factor of biosphere stability which might be important for long-term planetary climate evolution, with a possible bearing on mass extinctions. The Sun lies very near the co-rotation radius, where stars revolve around the Galaxy in the same period as the density wave perturbations of the spiral arms. Conventional wisdom generally considers that this status makes for few passages through the spiral arms. Controversy still surrounds whether time spent inside or around spiral arms is dangerous to biospheres and conducive to mass extinctions. Possible threats include giant molecular clouds disturbing the Oort comet cloud and provoking heavy bombardment; a higher exposure to cosmic rays near star forming regions triggering increased cloudiness in Earth's atmosphere and ice ages; and the destruction of Earth's ozone layer posed by supernova explosions. We present detailed calculations of the history of spiral arm passages for all 212 solar-type stars nearer than 20 parsecs, including the total time spent inside the spiral arms in the last 500 Myr, when the spiral arm position can be traced with good accuracy. We found that there is a large diversity of stellar orbits in the solar neighborhood, and the time fraction spent inside spiral arms can vary from a few percent to nearly half the time. The Sun, despite its proximity to the galactic co-rotation radius, has exceptionally low eccentricity and a low vertical velocity component, and therefore spends 30% of its lifetime crossing the spiral arms, more than most nearby stars. We discuss the possible implications of this fact to the long-term habitability of the Earth, and possible correlations of the Sun's passage through the spiral arms with the five great mass extinctions of the Earth's biosphere from the Late Ordovician to the Cretaceous-Tertiary.

Long-term oceanic changes prior the end-Triassic mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clémence, Marie-Emilie; Mette, Wolfgang; Thibault, Nicolas; Korte, Christoph

2014-05-01

A number of potential causes and kill mechanisms have been proposed for the end-Triassic mass extinction such as palaeoclimatic and sea-level variations, massive volcanism and ocean acidification. Recent analysis of the stomatal index and density of fossil leaves and geochemical research on pedogenic carbonate nodules are suggestive of rising atmospheric CO2 concentration and fluctuating climate in the Rhaetian. It seems therefore probable that the end-Triassic event was preceded by large climatic fluctuations and environmental perturbations in the Rhaetian which might have partly affected the composition and diversity of the terrestrial and marine biota prior to the end-Triassic interval. The Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA) has long been favored for the study of the Rhaetian, since the GSSP of the Triassic/Jurassic (T/J) boundary and other important T/J sections are situated in this region. However, the most famous Rhaetian sections in the NCA are composed of carbonates from the Koessen Formation and were situated in a large isolated intraplatform Basin (the Eiberg Basin), bordered to the south-east by a well-developed coral reef in the NW of the Tethys border. Several Rhaetian sections composed of marls and shales of the Zlambach Formation were deposited at the same time on the other side of this reef, in the oceanic Halstatt Basin, which was in direct connection to the Tethys. Here, we present new results on sedimentology, stable isotope and trace element analysis of both intraplatform and oceanic basin deposits in the NCA. Intraplatform Rhaetian sections from the Koessen Formation bear a few minor intervals of shales with enrichments in organic matter, some of which are associated to carbon isotopic excursions. Oceanic sections from the Hallstatt Basin are characterized at the base by very cyclic marl-limestone alternations. Higher up in the section, sediments progressively turn into pure shale deposits and the top of the Formation is characterized by organic

Giant comets and mass extinctions of life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Napier, W. M.

2015-03-01

I find evidence for clustering in age of well-dated impact craters over the last 500 Myr. At least nine impact episodes are identified, with durations whose upper limits are set by the dating accuracy of the craters. Their amplitudes and frequency are inconsistent with an origin in asteroid breakups or Oort cloud disturbances, but are consistent with the arrival and disintegration in near-Earth orbits of rare, giant comets, mainly in transit from the Centaur population into the Jupiter family and Encke regions. About 1 in 10 Centaurs in Chiron-like orbits enter Earth-crossing epochs, usually repeatedly, each such epoch being generally of a few thousand years' duration. On time-scales of geological interest, debris from their breakup may increase the mass of the near-Earth interplanetary environment by two or three orders of magnitude, yielding repeated episodes of bombardment and stratospheric dusting. I find a strong correlation between these bombardment episodes and major biostratigraphic and geological boundaries, and propose that episodes of extinction are most effectively driven by prolonged encounters with meteoroid streams during bombardment episodes. Possible mechanisms are discussed.

Bioessential element-depleted ocean following the euxinic maximum of the end-Permian mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, Satoshi; Yamasaki, Shin-ichi; Ogawa, Yasumasa; Kimura, Kazuhiko; Kaiho, Kunio; Yoshida, Takeyoshi; Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi

2014-05-01

We describe variations in trace element compositions that occurred on the deep seafloor of palaeo-superocean Panthalassa during the end-Permian mass extinction based on samples of sedimentary rock from one of the most continuous Permian-Triassic boundary sections of the pelagic deep sea exposed in north-eastern Japan. Our measurements revealed low manganese (Mn) enrichment factor (normalised by the composition of the average upper continental crust) and high cerium anomaly values throughout the section, suggesting that a reducing condition already existed in the depositional environment in the Changhsingian (Late Permian). Other redox-sensitive trace-element (vanadium [V], chromium [Cr], molybdenum [Mo], and uranium [U]) enrichment factors provide a detailed redox history ranging from the upper Permian to the end of the Permian. A single V increase (representing the first reduction state of a two-step V reduction process) detected in uppermost Changhsingian chert beds suggests development into a mildly reducing deep-sea condition less than 1 million years before the end-Permian mass extinction. Subsequently, a more reducing condition, inferred from increases in Cr, V, and Mo, developed in overlying Changhsingian grey siliceous claystone beds. The most reducing sulphidic condition is recognised by the highest peaks of Mo and V (second reduction state) in the uppermost siliceous claystone and overlying lowermost black claystone beds, in accordance with the end-Permian mass extinction event. This significant increase in Mo in the upper Changhsingian led to a high Mo/U ratio, much larger than that of modern sulphidic ocean regions. This trend suggests that sulphidic water conditions developed both at the sediment-water interface and in the water column. Above the end-Permian mass extinction horizon, Mo, V and Cr decrease significantly. On this trend, we provide an interpretation of drawdown of these elements in seawater after the massive element precipitation event

IODP-ICDP Expedition 364: Drilling the Chicxulub impact crater to understand planetary evolution and mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gulick, S. P. S.; Morgan, J. V.

2017-12-01

The most recent of Earth's five largest mass extinction events occurred 66 Ma, coeval with the impact of a 12 km asteroid, striking at 60 degrees into what is today the Yucatán Peninsula, México, producing the 200 km-wide Chicxulub crater. This impact, by some estimations, drove the extinction of 75% of life on Earth at the genus level. The mass extinction event marks the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene. Proposed kill mechanisms include thermal effects caused by the reentry of fast ejecta into Earth's atmosphere, dust and sulfate aerosols reducing Earth's solar insolation, ocean acidification, and metal toxicity due to the chemical make-up of the impactor. The magnitude and duration of these processes is still debated, and further evaluation of the proposed kill mechanisms requires an understanding of the mechanics of the Chicxulub impact as well as the resulting global environmental perturbations. In April and May 2016, the International Ocean Discovery Program, with co-funding from the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program, successfully cored into the Chicxulub impact crater with nearly 100% recovery. These cores include the first-ever samples of the transition from an intact peak ring through post-impact sediments. A peak ring is a discontinuous ring of mountains observed within the central basin of all large impact craters on rocky planets. Newly drilled cores include the uplifted target rocks, melt-rich impactites, hydrothermal deposits, a possible settling layer, and the resumption of carbonate sedimentation. The discovery that Chicxulub's peak ring consists of largely granitic crust uplifted by 10 km calibrates impact models and allows for observation of impact processes. At the top of the peak ring, the K-Pg boundary deposit includes a impactite sequence 130 m thick deposited by processes that range from minutes to likely years post-impact. This sequence is then overprinted by hydrothermal processes that lasted at least 100s

Series cell light extinction monitor

DOEpatents

Novick, Vincent J.

1990-01-01

A method and apparatus for using the light extinction measurements from two or more light cells positioned along a gasflow chamber in which the gas volumetric rate is known to determine particle number concentration and mass concentration of an aerosol independent of extinction coefficient and to determine estimates for particle size and mass concentrations. The invention is independent of particle size. This invention has application to measurements made during a severe nuclear reactor fuel damage test.

Biogeography of worm lizards (Amphisbaenia) driven by end-Cretaceous mass extinction

PubMed Central

Longrich, Nicholas R.; Vinther, Jakob; Pyron, R. Alexander; Pisani, Davide; Gauthier, Jacques A.

2015-01-01

Worm lizards (Amphisbaenia) are burrowing squamates that live as subterranean predators. Their underground existence should limit dispersal, yet they are widespread throughout the Americas, Europe and Africa. This pattern was traditionally explained by continental drift, but molecular clocks suggest a Cenozoic diversification, long after the break-up of Pangaea, implying dispersal. Here, we describe primitive amphisbaenians from the North American Palaeocene, including the oldest known amphisbaenian, and provide new and older molecular divergence estimates for the clade, showing that worm lizards originated in North America, then radiated and dispersed in the Palaeogene following the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) extinction. This scenario implies at least three trans-oceanic dispersals: from North America to Europe, from North America to Africa and from Africa to South America. Amphisbaenians provide a striking case study in biogeography, suggesting that the role of continental drift in biogeography may be overstated. Instead, these patterns support Darwin and Wallace's hypothesis that the geographical ranges of modern clades result from dispersal, including oceanic rafting. Mass extinctions may facilitate dispersal events by eliminating competitors and predators that would otherwise hinder establishment of dispersing populations, removing biotic barriers to dispersal. PMID:25833855

Structural changes of marine communities over the Permian-Triassic transition: Ecologically assessing the end-Permian mass extinction and its aftermath

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhong-Qiang; Tong, Jinnan; Liao, Zhuo-Ting; Chen, Jing

2010-08-01

The Permian/Triassic (P/Tr) transition is ecologically assessed based on examining 23 shelly communities from five shallow platform, ramp and shelf basin facies Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) sections in South China. The shelly communities have undergone two major collapses coinciding with the two episodes of the end-Permian mass extinction. The first P/Tr extinction event devastated shelly communities in all types of settings to some extent. The basin communities have been more severely impacted than both platform and ramp communities. The survival faunas have rebounded more rapidly in shallow niches than in relatively deep habitats. The second P/Tr crisis destroyed the survival communities in shallow setting and had little impact on the basin communities in terms of community structures. The early Griesbachian communities are overall low-diversity and high-dominance. The governorship switch from brachiopods to bivalves in marine communities has been facilitated by two pulses of the end-Permian mass extinction and the whole takeover process took about 200 ka across the P/Tr boundary. Bivalve ecologic takeover initially occurred immediately after the first P/Tr extinction in shallow water habitats and was eventually completed in all niches after the second P/Tr event. Some post-extinction communities have the irregular rarefaction curves due to the unusual community structures rather than sampling intensities.

Periodicity of extinction: A 1988 update

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepkowski, J. John, Jr.

1988-01-01

The hypothesis that events of mass extinction recur periodically at approximately 26 my intervals is an empirical claim based on analysis of data from the fossil record. The hypothesis has become closely linked with catastrophism because several events in the periodic series are associated with evidence of extraterrestrial impacts, and terrestrial forcing mechanisms with long, periodic recurrences are not easily conceived. Astronomical mechanisms that have been hypothesized include undetected solar companions and solar oscillation about the galactic plane, which induce comet showers and result in impacts on Earth at regular intervals. Because these mechanisms are speculative, they have been the subject of considerable controversy, as has the hypothesis of periodicity of extinction. In response to criticisms and uncertainties, a data base was developed on times of extinction of marine animal genera. A time series is given and analyzed with 49 sample points for the per-genus extinction rate from the Late Permian to the Recent. An unexpected pattern in the data is the uniformity of magnitude of many of the periodic extinction events. Observations suggest that the sequence of extinction events might be the result of two sets of mechanisms: a periodic forcing that normally induces only moderate amounts of extinction, and independent incidents or catastrophes that, when coincident with the periodic forcing, amplify its signal and produce major-mass extinctions.

Isotopic evidence for an anomalously low oceanic sulfate concentration following end-Permian mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Genming; Kump, Lee R.; Wang, Yongbiao; Tong, Jinnan; Arthur, Michael A.; Yang, Hao; Huang, Junhua; Yin, Hongfu; Xie, Shucheng

2010-11-01

The cataclysmic end-Permian mass extinction was immediately followed by a global expansion of microbial ecosystems, as demonstrated by widespread microbialite sequences (disaster facies) in shallow water settings. Here we present high-resolution carbonate carbon ( δ13C carb) and carbonate-associated sulfate-sulfur isotope ( δ34S CAS) records from the microbialite in the Cili Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) section in South China. A stepwise decline in δ13C carb begins in the underlying skeletal limestone, predating the main oceanic mass extinction and the first appearance of microbialite, and reaches its nadir in the upper part of the microbialite layer. The corresponding δ34S CAS, in the range of 17.4‰ to 27.4‰, is relatively stable in the underlying skeletal limestone, and increases gradually from 2 m below the microbialite rising to a peak at the base of the microbialite. Two episodes of positive and negative shifts occurred within the microbialite layer, and exhibit a remarkable co-variance of sulfur and carbon isotope composition. The large amplitude of the variation in δ34S CAS, as high as 7‰ per 100 kiloyears, suggests a small oceanic sulfate reservoir size at this time. Furthermore, the δ13C carb and δ34S CAS records co-vary without phase lag throughout the microbialite interval, implying a marine-driven C cycle in an anoxic ocean with anomalously low oceanic sulfate concentrations. On the basis of a non-steady-state box model, we argue that the oceanic sulfate concentration may have fallen to less than 15%, perhaps as low as 3%, of that in the modern oceans. Low oceanic sulfate concentration likely was the consequence of evaporite deposition and widespread anoxic/sulfidic conditions prior to the main mass extinction. By promoting methanogenesis and a build-up of atmospheric CH 4 and CO 2, low oceanic sulfate may have intensified global warming, exacerbating the inimical environmental conditions of the latest Permian.

The extinct, giant giraffid Sivatherium giganteum: skeletal reconstruction and body mass estimation

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Sivatherium giganteum is an extinct giraffid from the Plio–Pleistocene boundary of the Himalayan foothills. To date, there has been no rigorous skeletal reconstruction of this unusual mammal. Historical and contemporary accounts anecdotally state that Sivatherium rivalled the African elephant in terms of its body mass, but this statement has never been tested. Here, we present a three-dimensional composite skeletal reconstruction and calculate a representative body mass estimate for this species using a volumetric method. We find that the estimated adult body mass of 1246 kg (857—1812 kg range) does not approach that of an African elephant, but confirms that Sivatherium was certainly a large giraffid, and may have been the largest ruminant mammal that has ever existed. We contrast this volumetric estimate with a bivariate scaling estimate derived from Sivatherium's humeral circumference and find that there is a discrepancy between the two. The difference implies that the humeral circumference of Sivatherium is greater than expected for an animal of this size, and we speculate this may be linked to a cranial shift in centre of mass. PMID:26763212

The extinct, giant giraffid Sivatherium giganteum: skeletal reconstruction and body mass estimation.

PubMed

Basu, Christopher; Falkingham, Peter L; Hutchinson, John R

2016-01-01

Sivatherium giganteum is an extinct giraffid from the Plio-Pleistocene boundary of the Himalayan foothills. To date, there has been no rigorous skeletal reconstruction of this unusual mammal. Historical and contemporary accounts anecdotally state that Sivatherium rivalled the African elephant in terms of its body mass, but this statement has never been tested. Here, we present a three-dimensional composite skeletal reconstruction and calculate a representative body mass estimate for this species using a volumetric method. We find that the estimated adult body mass of 1246 kg (857-1812 kg range) does not approach that of an African elephant, but confirms that Sivatherium was certainly a large giraffid, and may have been the largest ruminant mammal that has ever existed. We contrast this volumetric estimate with a bivariate scaling estimate derived from Sivatherium's humeral circumference and find that there is a discrepancy between the two. The difference implies that the humeral circumference of Sivatherium is greater than expected for an animal of this size, and we speculate this may be linked to a cranial shift in centre of mass. © 2016 The Authors.

Local extinction of a coral reef fish explained by inflexible prey choice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brooker, R. M.; Munday, P. L.; Brandl, S. J.; Jones, G. P.

2014-12-01

While global extinctions of marine species are infrequent, local extinctions are becoming common. However, the role of habitat degradation and resource specialisation in explaining local extinction is unknown. On coral reefs, coral bleaching is an increasingly frequent cause of coral mortality that can result in dramatic changes to coral community composition. Coral-associated fishes are often specialised on a limited suite of coral species and are therefore sensitive to these changes. This study documents the local extinction of a corallivorous reef fish, Oxymonacanthus longirostris, following a mass bleaching event that altered the species composition of associated coral communities. Local extinction only occurred on reefs that also completely lost a key prey species, Acropora millepora, even though coral cover remained high. In an experimental test, fish continued to select bleached A. millepora over the healthy, but less-preferred prey species that resisted bleaching. These results suggest that behavioural inflexibility may limit the ability of specialists to cope with even subtle changes to resource availability.

Variation of haemoglobin extinction coefficients can cause errors in the determination of haemoglobin concentration measured by near-infrared spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, J. G.; Liu, H.

2007-10-01

Near-infrared spectroscopy or imaging has been extensively applied to various biomedical applications since it can detect the concentrations of oxyhaemoglobin (HbO2), deoxyhaemoglobin (Hb) and total haemoglobin (Hbtotal) from deep tissues. To quantify concentrations of these haemoglobin derivatives, the extinction coefficient values of HbO2 and Hb have to be employed. However, it was not well recognized among researchers that small differences in extinction coefficients could cause significant errors in quantifying the concentrations of haemoglobin derivatives. In this study, we derived equations to estimate errors of haemoglobin derivatives caused by the variation of haemoglobin extinction coefficients. To prove our error analysis, we performed experiments using liquid-tissue phantoms containing 1% Intralipid in a phosphate-buffered saline solution. The gas intervention of pure oxygen was given in the solution to examine the oxygenation changes in the phantom, and 3 mL of human blood was added twice to show the changes in [Hbtotal]. The error calculation has shown that even a small variation (0.01 cm-1 mM-1) in extinction coefficients can produce appreciable relative errors in quantification of Δ[HbO2], Δ[Hb] and Δ[Hbtotal]. We have also observed that the error of Δ[Hbtotal] is not always larger than those of Δ[HbO2] and Δ[Hb]. This study concludes that we need to be aware of any variation in haemoglobin extinction coefficients, which could result from changes in temperature, and to utilize corresponding animal's haemoglobin extinction coefficients for the animal experiments, in order to obtain more accurate values of Δ[HbO2], Δ[Hb] and Δ[Hbtotal] from in vivo tissue measurements.

Yesterday-Extinction, Today-Extermination, Tomorrow-What?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKenna, Harold J.

1976-01-01

This paper looks in detail at the "natural" causes of extinction as compared to the "technological" causes of extermination (abrupt niche-emptying), using examples of species that are both extinct and exterminated. Ways are suggested that can put a halt to extermination. (BT)

Humans rather than climate the primary cause of Pleistocene megafaunal extinction in Australia

PubMed Central

van der Kaars, Sander; Miller, Gifford H.; Turney, Chris S. M.; Cook, Ellyn J.; Nürnberg, Dirk; Schönfeld, Joachim; Kershaw, A. Peter; Lehman, Scott J.

2017-01-01

Environmental histories that span the last full glacial cycle and are representative of regional change in Australia are scarce, hampering assessment of environmental change preceding and concurrent with human dispersal on the continent ca. 47,000 years ago. Here we present a continuous 150,000-year record offshore south-western Australia and identify the timing of two critical late Pleistocene events: wide-scale ecosystem change and regional megafaunal population collapse. We establish that substantial changes in vegetation and fire regime occurred ∼70,000 years ago under a climate much drier than today. We record high levels of the dung fungus Sporormiella, a proxy for herbivore biomass, from 150,000 to 45,000 years ago, then a marked decline indicating megafaunal population collapse, from 45,000 to 43,100 years ago, placing the extinctions within 4,000 years of human dispersal across Australia. These findings rule out climate change, and implicate humans, as the primary extinction cause. PMID:28106043

Humans rather than climate the primary cause of Pleistocene megafaunal extinction in Australia.

PubMed

van der Kaars, Sander; Miller, Gifford H; Turney, Chris S M; Cook, Ellyn J; Nürnberg, Dirk; Schönfeld, Joachim; Kershaw, A Peter; Lehman, Scott J

2017-01-20

Environmental histories that span the last full glacial cycle and are representative of regional change in Australia are scarce, hampering assessment of environmental change preceding and concurrent with human dispersal on the continent ca. 47,000 years ago. Here we present a continuous 150,000-year record offshore south-western Australia and identify the timing of two critical late Pleistocene events: wide-scale ecosystem change and regional megafaunal population collapse. We establish that substantial changes in vegetation and fire regime occurred ∼70,000 years ago under a climate much drier than today. We record high levels of the dung fungus Sporormiella, a proxy for herbivore biomass, from 150,000 to 45,000 years ago, then a marked decline indicating megafaunal population collapse, from 45,000 to 43,100 years ago, placing the extinctions within 4,000 years of human dispersal across Australia. These findings rule out climate change, and implicate humans, as the primary extinction cause.

Biogeography of worm lizards (Amphisbaenia) driven by end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

PubMed

Longrich, Nicholas R; Vinther, Jakob; Pyron, R Alexander; Pisani, Davide; Gauthier, Jacques A

2015-05-07

Worm lizards (Amphisbaenia) are burrowing squamates that live as subterranean predators. Their underground existence should limit dispersal, yet they are widespread throughout the Americas, Europe and Africa. This pattern was traditionally explained by continental drift, but molecular clocks suggest a Cenozoic diversification, long after the break-up of Pangaea, implying dispersal. Here, we describe primitive amphisbaenians from the North American Palaeocene, including the oldest known amphisbaenian, and provide new and older molecular divergence estimates for the clade, showing that worm lizards originated in North America, then radiated and dispersed in the Palaeogene following the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) extinction. This scenario implies at least three trans-oceanic dispersals: from North America to Europe, from North America to Africa and from Africa to South America. Amphisbaenians provide a striking case study in biogeography, suggesting that the role of continental drift in biogeography may be overstated. Instead, these patterns support Darwin and Wallace's hypothesis that the geographical ranges of modern clades result from dispersal, including oceanic rafting. Mass extinctions may facilitate dispersal events by eliminating competitors and predators that would otherwise hinder establishment of dispersing populations, removing biotic barriers to dispersal. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

New Early Jurassic Tetrapod Assemblages Constrain Triassic-Jurassic Tetrapod Extinction Event

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olsen, P. E.; Shubin, N. H.; Anders, M. H.

1987-08-01

The discovery of the first definitively correlated earliest Jurassic (200 million years before present) tetrapod assemblage (Fundy basin, Newark Supergroup, Nova Scotia) allows reevaluation of the duration of the Triassic-Jurassic tetrapod extinction event. Present are tritheledont and mammal-like reptiles, prosauropod, theropod, and ornithischian dinosaurs, protosuchian and sphenosuchian crocodylomorphs, sphenodontids, and hybodont, semionotid, and palaeonisciform fishes. All of the families are known from Late Triassic and Jurassic strata from elsewhere; however, pollen and spore, radiometric, and geochemical correlation indicate an early Hettangian age for these assemblages. Because all ``typical Triassic'' forms are absent from these assemblages, most Triassic-Jurassic tetrapod extinctions occurred before this time and without the introduction of new families. As was previously suggested by studies of marine invertebrates, this pattern is consistent with a global extinction event at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. The Manicouagan impact structure of Quebec provides dates broadly compatible with the Triassic-Jurassic boundary and, following the impact theory of mass extinctions, may be implicated in the cause.

Adrenalectomy eliminates the extinction spike in autoshaping with rats.

PubMed

Thomas, B L; Papini, M R

2001-03-01

Experiment 1, using rats, investigated the effect of adrenalectomy (ADX) on the invigoration of lever-contact performance that occurs in the autoshaping situation after a shift from acquisition to extinction (called the extinction spike). Groups of rats with ADX or sham operations were trained under spaced and massed conditions [average intertrial intervals (ITI) of either 15 or 90 s] for 10 sessions and then shifted to extinction. ADX did not affect acquisition training but it eliminated the extinction spike. Plasma corticosterone levels during acquisition were shown in Experiment 2 to be similar in rats trained under spaced or massed conditions. Adrenal participation in the emotional arousal induced by conditions of surprising nonreward (e.g., extinction) is discussed.

The extinction context enables extinction performance after a change in context

PubMed Central

Nelson, James Byron; Gregory, Pamela; Sanjuan, Maria del Carmen

2012-01-01

One experiment with human participants determined the extent to which recovery of extinguished responding with a context switch was due to a failure to retrieve contextually-controlled learning, or some other process such as participants learning that context changes signal reversals in the meaning of stimulus – outcome relationships. In a video game, participants learned to suppress mouse clicking in the presence of a stimulus that predicted an attack. Then, that stimulus underwent extinction in a different context (environment within the game). Following extinction, suppression was recovered and then extinguished again during testing in the conditioning context. In a final test, participants that were tested in the context where extinction first took place showed less of a recovery than those tested in a neutral context, but they showed a recovery of suppression nevertheless. A change in context tended to cause a change in the meaning of the stimulus, leading to recovery in both the neutral and extinction contexts. The extinction context attenuated that recovery, perhaps by enabling retrieval of the learning that took place in extinction. Recovery outside an extinction context is due to a failure of the context to enable the learning acquired during extinction, but only in part. PMID:22521549

Selecting for extinction: nonrandom disease-associated extinction homogenizes amphibian biotas.

PubMed

Smith, Kevin G; Lips, Karen R; Chase, Jonathan M

2009-10-01

Studying the patterns in which local extinctions occur is critical to understanding how extinctions affect biodiversity at local, regional and global spatial scales. To understand the importance of patterns of extinction at a regional spatial scale, we use data from extirpations associated with a widespread pathogenic agent of amphibian decline, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) as a model system. We apply novel null model analyses to these data to determine whether recent extirpations associated with Bd have resulted in selective extinction and homogenization of diverse tropical American amphibian biotas. We find that Bd-associated extinctions in this region were nonrandom and disproportionately, but not exclusively, affected low-occupancy and endemic species, resulting in homogenization of the remnant amphibian fauna. The pattern of extirpations also resulted in phylogenetic homogenization at the family level and ecological homogenization of reproductive mode and habitat association. Additionally, many more species were extirpated from the region than would be expected if extirpations occurred randomly. Our results indicate that amphibian declines in this region are an extinction filter, reducing regional amphibian biodiversity to highly similar relict assemblages and ultimately causing amplified biodiversity loss at regional and global scales.

Range contraction enables harvesting to extinction.

PubMed

Burgess, Matthew G; Costello, Christopher; Fredston-Hermann, Alexa; Pinsky, Malin L; Gaines, Steven D; Tilman, David; Polasky, Stephen

2017-04-11

Economic incentives to harvest a species usually diminish as its abundance declines, because harvest costs increase. This prevents harvesting to extinction. A known exception can occur if consumer demand causes a declining species' harvest price to rise faster than costs. This threat may affect rare and valuable species, such as large land mammals, sturgeons, and bluefin tunas. We analyze a similar but underappreciated threat, which arises when the geographic area (range) occupied by a species contracts as its abundance declines. Range contractions maintain the local densities of declining populations, which facilitates harvesting to extinction by preventing abundance declines from causing harvest costs to rise. Factors causing such range contractions include schooling, herding, or flocking behaviors-which, ironically, can be predator-avoidance adaptations; patchy environments; habitat loss; and climate change. We use a simple model to identify combinations of range contractions and price increases capable of causing extinction from profitable overharvesting, and we compare these to an empirical review. We find that some aquatic species that school or forage in patchy environments experience sufficiently severe range contractions as they decline to allow profitable harvesting to extinction even with little or no price increase; and some high-value declining aquatic species experience severe price increases. For terrestrial species, the data needed to evaluate our theory are scarce, but available evidence suggests that extinction-enabling range contractions may be common among declining mammals and birds. Thus, factors causing range contraction as abundance declines may pose unexpectedly large extinction risks to harvested species.

Range contraction enables harvesting to extinction

PubMed Central

Burgess, Matthew G.; Costello, Christopher; Gaines, Steven D.; Tilman, David; Polasky, Stephen

2017-01-01

Economic incentives to harvest a species usually diminish as its abundance declines, because harvest costs increase. This prevents harvesting to extinction. A known exception can occur if consumer demand causes a declining species’ harvest price to rise faster than costs. This threat may affect rare and valuable species, such as large land mammals, sturgeons, and bluefin tunas. We analyze a similar but underappreciated threat, which arises when the geographic area (range) occupied by a species contracts as its abundance declines. Range contractions maintain the local densities of declining populations, which facilitates harvesting to extinction by preventing abundance declines from causing harvest costs to rise. Factors causing such range contractions include schooling, herding, or flocking behaviors—which, ironically, can be predator-avoidance adaptations; patchy environments; habitat loss; and climate change. We use a simple model to identify combinations of range contractions and price increases capable of causing extinction from profitable overharvesting, and we compare these to an empirical review. We find that some aquatic species that school or forage in patchy environments experience sufficiently severe range contractions as they decline to allow profitable harvesting to extinction even with little or no price increase; and some high-value declining aquatic species experience severe price increases. For terrestrial species, the data needed to evaluate our theory are scarce, but available evidence suggests that extinction-enabling range contractions may be common among declining mammals and birds. Thus, factors causing range contraction as abundance declines may pose unexpectedly large extinction risks to harvested species. PMID:28351981

Magnesium and extinction of dinosaurs. Was magnesium deficit a major cause?

PubMed

Durlach, J

1991-01-01

Chinese researchers have recently demonstrated that, before the extinction of dinosaurs, there was an impressive lowering in the magnesium concentration of fossil dinosaur eggshell. The structural and functional importance of eggshell magnesium--mainly in the cone layer--for embryonic viability and hatchability of oviparous species supports the hypothesis that magnesium deficit may have had a direct role in dinosaur extinction. Conversely this low magnesium concentration seems a questionable marker of magnesium deficit. The natural forces involved in the extinction of dinosaurs are more likely to induce magnesium depletion than magnesium deficiency. These very interesting preliminary data call for further research.

Body Size Preference of Marine Animals in Relation to Extinction Selectivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sriram, A.; Idgunji, S.; Heim, N. A.; Payne, J.

2014-12-01

Our project encompasses an extremely specific aspect in relation to the five mass extinctions in geologic history. We asked ourselves whether larger or smaller body sizes would be better suited for surviving a mass extinction. To conduct research for our project, we used the body sizes of 17,172 marine animal genera as our primary data. These animals include echinoderms, arthropods, chordates, mollusks, and brachiopods. These creatures are perfect model organisms in terms of finding data on them because they have an excellent fossil record, and are well documented. We focused on the mean body size of these animals before and after each of the five mass extinctions (end-Ordovician, Late Devonian, end-Permian, end-Triassic, and end-Cretaceous). Our hypothesis was that the average biovolume of animals increased after each of the extinctions, with the mean size being greater after than it was before. Our size data is from the Ellis & Messina Catalogue of Ostracoda and the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. We obtained stratigraphic range data The Treatise and Sepkoski (2002). In our analyses, we compared the mean size of the different animal genera before and after each extinction event. We further partitioned size change across mass extinction boundaries into three categories: the surviving genera, the extinct genera, and the newly originating genera that came about after the extinction. According to our analyses, the mean sizes did not change significantly from the genera living during the stages before the extinctions and after the extinctions. From our results, we can assume that there were not enough major increases in the overall volume of the organisms to warrant a definite conclusion that extinctions lead to larger body sizes. Further support for our findings came from the T-tests in our R code. Only the Cretaceous period showed true evidence for size changing because of the extinction; in this case, the mean size decreased. T-tests for the Cretaceous

Dust extinction in the first galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaacks, Jason; Finkelstein, Steven L.; Bromm, Volker

2018-04-01

Using cosmological volume simulations and a custom built sub-grid model for Population III (Pop III) star formation, we examine the baseline dust extinction in the first galaxies due to Pop III metal enrichment in the first billion years of cosmic history. We find that although the most enriched, high-density lines of sight in primordial galaxies can experience a measurable amount of extinction from Pop III dust [E(B - V)max = 0.07, AV, max ≈ 0.28], the average extinction is very low with ≲ 10-3. We derive a power-law relationship between dark matter halo mass and extinction of E(B-V)∝ M_halo^{0.80}. Performing a Monte Carlo parameter study, we establish the baseline reddening of the ultraviolet spectra of dwarf galaxies at high redshift due to Pop III enrichment only. With this method, we find <βUV> - 2.51 ± 0.07, which is both nearly halo mass and redshift independent.

Carbonate "Clumped" Isotope Determination of Seawater Temperature During the End-Triassic Extinction Event

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gammariello, R. T., Jr.; Petryshyn, V. A.; Ibarra, Y.; Greene, S. E.; Corsetti, F. A.; Bottjer, D. J.; Tripati, A.

2014-12-01

Stromatolites are laminated sedimentary structures that are commonly thought to be created by cyanobacteria, either through the trapping and binding of sediment, or through metabolically-induced precipitation. However, stromatolite formation is poorly understood. In general, stromatolite abundance was higher in the Proterozoic than the Phanerozoic, but notable increases in stromatolite abundance occur in association with Phanerozoic mass extinction events. Here, we focus on stromatolites from the latest Triassic Cotham Marble (United Kingdom) that are associated with the extinction interval. The end-Triassic mass extinction is coincident with large-scale volcanism in the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) and the associated breakup of Pangea. Some hypothesize that CAMP-associated increases in atmospheric CO2 led to a rise in global temperatures and ocean acidification that caused or enhanced the extinction. In order to quantify the role of climate change with respect to the end-Triassic mass extinction, we applied the carbonate "clumped" isotope paleothermometer to the well-preserved Cotham Marble stromatolites. The stromatolites were deposited in the shallow Tethys Sea, and today occur in several localities across the southwestern UK. The stromatolites alternate on the cm scale between laminated and dendrolitic microstructures and each was microdrilled for clumped isotope analysis. The two microstructures display different temperatures of formation, where the dendrolitic portions apparently grew under cooler conditions than laminated layers, and younger layers grew in cooler conditions than older layers. Our results suggest that temperature fluctuated and potentially trended towards amelioration of the warm temperatures during the deposition of the Cotham Marble.

Geography of end-Cretaceous marine bivalve extinctions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raup, David M.; Jablonski, David

1993-01-01

Analysis of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, based on 3514 occurrences of 340 genera of marine bivalves (Mollusca), suggests that extinction intensities were uniformly global; no latitudinal gradients or other geographic patterns are detected. Elevated extinction intensities in some tropical areas are entirely a result of the distribution of one extinct group of highly specialized bivalves, the rudists. When rudists are omitted, intensities at those localities are statistically indistinguishable from those of both the rudist-free tropics and extratropical localities.

Evolutionary and Ecological Sequelae of Mass Extinctions: Examples From the Continental Triassic-Jurassic Boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olsen, P. E.; Whiteside, J. H.

2003-12-01

The Triassic-Jurassic boundary at ˜200 Ma marks one of the five major mass-extinctions of the Phanerozoic and, depending on the metrics used, was similar in magnitude to the K-T mass extinction. In continental environments about 50% of all tetrapod families are eliminated and although floral diversity change is difficult to gauge, a similar proportion of palynomorph taxa disappear at the boundary. The extinction event appears to have been very abrupt, followed by a roughly 900 ky super-greenhouse period characterized by increased precipitation. We hypothesize a series of biological consequences of the drop in diversity and associated super-greenhouse based on observations of the earliest Jurassic assemblages, largely from eastern North America. 1) The drop in diversity results in a collapse of ecological interactions that tend to stabilize the composition of regional biotas and buffer them from invading forms. Triassic assemblages show considerable biogeographic provinciality despite the existence of Pangea, but the earliest Jurassic assemblages were extraordinarily homogenous with many vertebrate genera being essentially global in distribution. 2) Initially the post-boundary terrestrial assemblages were comprised of eurytopic trophic generalists, with animal communities with few herbivores, but abundant carnivores and detritivores subsisting on aquatic-based food webs. The earliest Jurassic tetrapod footprint record is overwhelmingly dominated by the footprints of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs, the latter having skull characteristics usually associated at least in part with piscivory. 3) The dramatic size changes over very short periods of time were likely due to an absence of competition (i.e., ecological release). The maximum size of theropod dinosaur footprints increased by about 25% within 10 ky following the boundary, corresponding to a doubling of mass. 4) Representatives of clades with intrinsically high rates of speciation tend to form species flocks

Changhsingian conodont succession and the end-Permian mass extinction event at the Daijiagou section in Chongqing, Southwest China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Dong-xun; Chen, Jun; Zhang, Yi-chun; Zheng, Quan-feng; Shen, Shu-zhong

2015-06-01

Previous studies suggested rapid evolution of conodonts across the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB), and the end-Permian mass extinction pattern varies in different sections in South China. Here we document a high-resolution conodont succession from a carbonate facies of the Changhsingian Stage and across the PTB at the Daijiagou section, about 35 km north to Chongqing City, Southwest China. Two genera and twelve species are identified. Seven conodont zones are recognized from the uppermost part of the Lungtan Formation to the lowest Feixianguan Formation. They are the Clarkina liangshanensis, C. wangi, C. subcarinata, C. changxingensis, C. yini, C. meishanensis, and Hindeodus parvus zones in ascending order. Based on the high-resolution biostratigraphical framework at Daijiagou, the end-Permian mass extinction was rapid and it began in the base of the Clarkina meishanensis Zone. Associated with the extinction, a negative excursion of δ13Ccarb started in the middle part of Clarkina yini Zone with a progressive shift of 1.6‰ to the middle part of the Clarkina meishanensis, followed by a sharp shift of 3.51‰ from the Clarkina meishanensis Zone to the Hindeodus parvus Zone. Our study also suggests that the Triassic index species Hindeodus parvus co-occurred with Hindeodus changxingensis and Clarkina zhejiangensis and directly overlies the Clarkina meishanensis Zone at the Daijiagou section. All these data from the Daijiagou section and some previous studies of other sections in Sichuan, Guizhou provinces and Chongqing City suggest that the first occurrences of Hindeodus parvus are slightly earlier than the sharp negative excursion of δ13Ccarb and the FAD at the Meishan GSSP section. We consider that the slight difference of the end-Permian mass extinction, chemostratigraphy and conodont biostratigraphy at Daijiagou and its adjacent areas is most likely subject to different lithofacies, fossil preservation, and the constraint on the stratigraphic resolution rather

Periodicity in marine extinction events

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepkoski, J. John, Jr.; Raup, David M.

1986-01-01

The periodicity of extinction events is examined in detail. In particular, the temporal distribution of specific, identifiable extinction events is analyzed. The nature and limitations of the data base on the global fossil record is discussed in order to establish limits of resolution in statistical analyses. Peaks in extinction intensity which appear to differ significantly from background levels are considered, and new analyses of the temporal distribution of these peaks are presented. Finally, some possible causes of periodicity and of interdependence among extinction events over the last quarter billion years of earth history are examined.

Biostratigraphic case studies of six major extinctions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sloan, R. E.

1988-01-01

Biostratigraphic case studies of six major extinctions show all are gradual save one, which is a catastrophic extinction of terrestrial origin. These extinctions show a continuum of environmental insults from major to minor. The major causes of these extinctions are positive and negative eustatic sea level changes, temperature, or ecological competition. Extraterrestrial causes should not be posited without positive association with a stratigraphically sharp extinction. The Cretaceous-Tertiary terrestrial extinction is considerably smaller in percentage of extinction than the marine extinction and is spread over 10 my of the Cretaceous and 1 my of the Tertiary. Sixty percent of the 30 dinosaurs in the northern Great Plains of the U.S. and Canada had become extinct in the 9 my before the late Maastrichtian sea level drop. The best data on the Permo-Triassic terrestrial extinction are from the Karoo basin of South Africa. This is a series of 6 extinctions in some 8 my, recorded in some 2800 meters of sediment. Precision of dating is enhanced by the high rate of accumulation of these sediments. Few data are readily available on the timing of the marine Permo-Triassic extinction, due to the very restricted number of sequences of Tatarian marine rocks. The terminal Ordovician extinction at 438 my is relatively rapid, taking place over about 0.5 my. The most significant aspect of this extinction is a eustatic sea level lowering associated with a major episode of glaciation. New data on this extinction is the reduction from 61 genera of trilobites in North America to 14, for a 77 percent extinction. Another Ordovician extinction present over 10 percent of the North American craton occurs at 454 my in the form of a catastrophic extinction due to a volcanic eruption which blanketed the U.S. east of the Transcontinental Arch. This is the only other sizeable extinction in the Ordovician.

Dynamics of origination and extinction in the marine fossil record

PubMed Central

Alroy, John

2008-01-01

The discipline-wide effort to database the fossil record at the occurrence level has made it possible to estimate marine invertebrate extinction and origination rates with much greater accuracy. The new data show that two biotic mechanisms have hastened recoveries from mass extinctions and confined diversity to a relatively narrow range over the past 500 million years (Myr). First, a drop in diversity of any size correlates with low extinction rates immediately afterward, so much so that extinction would almost come to a halt if diversity dropped by 90%. Second, very high extinction rates are followed by equally high origination rates. The two relationships predict that the rebound from the current mass extinction will take at least 10 Myr, and perhaps 40 Myr if it rivals the Permo-Triassic catastrophe. Regardless, any large event will result in a dramatic ecological and taxonomic restructuring of the biosphere. The data also confirm that extinction and origination rates both declined through the Phanerozoic and that several extinctions in addition to the Permo-Triassic event were particularly severe. However, the trend may be driven by taxonomic biases and the rates vary in accord with a simple log normal distribution, so there is no sharp distinction between background and mass extinctions. Furthermore, the lack of any significant autocorrelation in the data is inconsistent with macroevolutionary theories of periodicity or self-organized criticality. PMID:18695240

Star counts and visual extinctions in dark nebulae

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dickman, R. L.

1978-01-01

Application of star count techniques to the determination of visual extinctions in compact, fairly high-extinction dark nebulae is discussed. Particular attention is devoted to the determination of visual extinctions for a cloud having a possibly anomalous ratio of total to selective extinction. The techniques discussed are illustrated in application at two colors to four well-known compact dust clouds or Bok globules: Barnard 92, B 133, B 134, and B 335. Minimum masses and lower limits to the central extinction of these objects are presented.

Physiological advantages of dwarfing in surviving extinctions in high-CO2 oceans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garilli, Vittorio; Rodolfo-Metalpa, Riccardo; Scuderi, Danilo; Brusca, Lorenzo; Parrinello, Daniela; Rastrick, Samuel P. S.; Foggo, Andy; Twitchett, Richard J.; Hall-Spencer, Jason M.; Milazzo, Marco

2015-07-01

Excessive CO2 in the present-day ocean-atmosphere system is causing ocean acidification, and is likely to cause a severe biodiversity decline in the future, mirroring effects in many past mass extinctions. Fossil records demonstrate that organisms surviving such events were often smaller than those before, a phenomenon called the Lilliput effect. Here, we show that two gastropod species adapted to acidified seawater at shallow-water CO2 seeps were smaller than those found in normal pH conditions and had higher mass-specific energy consumption but significantly lower whole-animal metabolic energy demand. These physiological changes allowed the animals to maintain calcification and to partially repair shell dissolution. These observations of the long-term chronic effects of increased CO2 levels forewarn of changes we can expect in marine ecosystems as CO2 emissions continue to rise unchecked, and support the hypothesis that ocean acidification contributed to past extinction events. The ability to adapt through dwarfing can confer physiological advantages as the rate of CO2 emissions continues to increase.

Extinction of Harrington's mountain goat

PubMed Central

Mead, Jim I.; Martin, Paul S.; Euler, Robert C.; Long, Austin; Jull, A. J. T.; Toolin, Laurence J.; Donahue, Douglas J.; Linick, T. W.

1986-01-01

Keratinous horn sheaths of the extinct Harrington's mountain goat, Oreamnos harringtoni, were recovered at or near the surface of dry caves of the Grand Canyon, Arizona. Twenty-three separate specimens from two caves were dated nondestructively by the tandem accelerator mass spectrometer (TAMS). Both the TAMS and the conventional dates indicate that Harrington's mountain goat occupied the Grand Canyon for at least 19,000 years prior to becoming extinct by 11,160 ± 125 radiocarbon years before present. The youngest average radiocarbon dates on Shasta ground sloths, Nothrotheriops shastensis, from the region are not significantly younger than those on extinct mountain goats. Rather than sequential extinction with Harrington's mountain goat disappearing from the Grand Canyon before the ground sloths, as one might predict in view of evidence of climatic warming at the time, the losses were concurrent. Both extinctions coincide with the regional arrival of Clovis hunters. Images PMID:16593655

δ 13C evidence that high primary productivity delayed recovery from end-Permian mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meyer, K. M.; Yu, M.; Jost, A. B.; Kelley, B. M.; Payne, J. L.

2011-02-01

Euxinia was widespread during and after the end-Permian mass extinction and is commonly cited as an explanation for delayed biotic recovery during Early Triassic time. This anoxic, sulfidic episode has been ascribed to both low- and high-productivity states in the marine water column, leaving the causes of euxinia and the mechanisms underlying delayed recovery poorly understood. Here we use isotopic analysis to examine the changing chemical structure of the water column through the recovery interval and thereby better constrain paleoproductivity. The δ 13C of limestones from 5 stratigraphic sections in south China displays a negative gradient of approximately 4‰ from shallow-to-deep water facies within the Lower Triassic. This intense gradient declines within Spathian and lowermost Middle Triassic strata, coincident with accelerated biotic recovery and carbon cycle stabilization. Model simulations show that high nutrient levels and a vigorous biological pump are required to sustain such a large gradient in δ 13C, indicating that Early Triassic ocean anoxia and delayed recovery of benthic animal ecosystems resulted from too much productivity rather than too little.

Recovery after mass extinction: evolutionary assembly in large-scale biosphere dynamics.

PubMed Central

Solé, Ricard V; Montoya, José M; Erwin, Douglas H

2002-01-01

Biotic recoveries following mass extinctions are characterized by a process in which whole ecologies are reconstructed from low-diversity systems, often characterized by opportunistic groups. The recovery process provides an unexpected window to ecosystem dynamics. In many aspects, recovery is very similar to ecological succession, but important differences are also apparently linked to the innovative patterns of niche construction observed in the fossil record. In this paper, we analyse the similarities and differences between ecological succession and evolutionary recovery to provide a preliminary ecological theory of recoveries. A simple evolutionary model with three trophic levels is presented, and its properties (closely resembling those observed in the fossil record) are compared with characteristic patterns of ecological response to disturbances in continuous models of three-level ecosystems. PMID:12079530

The ethics of reviving long extinct species.

PubMed

Sandler, Ronald

2014-04-01

There now appears to be a plausible pathway for reviving species that have been extinct for several decades, centuries, or even millennia. I conducted an ethical analysis of de-extinction of long extinct species. I assessed several possible ethical considerations in favor of pursuing de-extinction: that it is a matter of justice; that it would reestablish lost value; that it would create new value; and that society needs it as a conservation last resort. I also assessed several possible ethical arguments against pursuing de-extinction: that it is unnatural; that it could cause animal suffering; that it could be ecologically problematic or detrimental to human health; and that it is hubristic. There are reasons in favor of reviving long extinct species, and it can be ethically acceptable to do so. However, the reasons in favor of pursuing de-extinction do not have to do with its usefulness in species conservation; rather, they concern the status of revived species as scientific and technological achievements, and it would be ethically problematic to promote de-extinction as a significant conservation strategy, because it does not prevent species extinctions, does not address the causes of extinction, and could be detrimental to some species conservation efforts. Moreover, humanity does not have a responsibility or obligation to pursue de-extinction of long extinct species, and reviving them does not address any urgent problem. Therefore, legitimate ecological, political, animal welfare, legal, or human health concerns associated with a de-extinction (and reintroduction) must be thoroughly addressed for it to be ethically acceptable. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Metapopulation extinction risk: dispersal's duplicity.

PubMed

Higgins, Kevin

2009-09-01

Metapopulation extinction risk is the probability that all local populations are simultaneously extinct during a fixed time frame. Dispersal may reduce a metapopulation's extinction risk by raising its average per-capita growth rate. By contrast, dispersal may raise a metapopulation's extinction risk by reducing its average population density. Which effect prevails is controlled by habitat fragmentation. Dispersal in mildly fragmented habitat reduces a metapopulation's extinction risk by raising its average per-capita growth rate without causing any appreciable drop in its average population density. By contrast, dispersal in severely fragmented habitat raises a metapopulation's extinction risk because the rise in its average per-capita growth rate is more than offset by the decline in its average population density. The metapopulation model used here shows several other interesting phenomena. Dispersal in sufficiently fragmented habitat reduces a metapopulation's extinction risk to that of a constant environment. Dispersal between habitat fragments reduces a metapopulation's extinction risk insofar as local environments are asynchronous. Grouped dispersal raises the effective habitat fragmentation level. Dispersal search barriers raise metapopulation extinction risk. Nonuniform dispersal may reduce the effective fraction of suitable habitat fragments below the extinction threshold. Nonuniform dispersal may make demographic stochasticity a more potent metapopulation extinction force than environmental stochasticity.

The silent mass extinction of insect herbivores in biodiversity hotspots.

PubMed

Fonseca, Carlos Roberto

2009-12-01

Habitat loss is silently leading numerous insects to extinction. Conservation efforts, however, have not been designed specifically to protect these organisms, despite their ecological and evolutionary significance. On the basis of species-host area equations, parameterized with data from the literature and interviews with botanical experts, I estimated the number of specialized plant-feeding insects (i.e., monophages) that live in 34 biodiversity hotspots and the number committed to extinction because of habitat loss. I estimated that 795,971-1,602,423 monophagous insect species live in biodiversity hotspots on 150,371 endemic plant species, which is 5.3-10.6 monophages per plant species. I calculated that 213,830-547,500 monophagous species are committed to extinction in biodiversity hotspots because of reduction of the geographic range size of their endemic hosts. I provided rankings of biodiversity hotspots on the basis of estimated richness of monophagous insects and on estimated number of extinctions of monophagous species. Extinction rates were predicted to be higher in biodiversity hotspots located along strong environmental gradients and on archipelagos, where high spatial turnover of monophagous species along the geographic distribution of their endemic plants is likely. The results strongly support the overall strategy of selecting priority conservation areas worldwide primarily on the basis of richness of endemic plants. To face the global decline of insect herbivores, one must expand the coverage of the network of protected areas and improve the richness of native plants on private lands.

Observations of particle extinction, PM2.5 mass concentration profile and flux in north China based on mobile lidar technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lv, Lihui; Liu, Wenqing; Zhang, Tianshu; Chen, Zhenyi; Dong, Yunsheng; Fan, Guangqiang; Xiang, Yan; Yao, Yawei; Yang, Nan; Chu, Baolin; Teng, Man; Shu, Xiaowen

2017-09-01

Fine particle with diameter <2.5 μm (PM2.5) have important direct and indirect effects on human life and activities. However, the studies of fine particle were limited by the lack of monitoring data obtained with multiple fixed site sampling strategies. Mobile monitoring has provided a means for broad measurement of fine particles. In this research, the potential use of mobile lidar to map the distribution and transport of fine particles was discussed. The spatial and temporal distributions of particle extinction, PM2.5 mass concentration and regional transport flux of fine particle in the planetary boundary layer were investigated with the use of vehicle-based mobile lidar and wind field data from north China. Case studies under different pollution levels in Beijing were presented to evaluate the contribution of regional transport. A vehicle-based mobile lidar system was used to obtain the spatial and temporal distributions of particle extinction in the measurement route. Fixed point lidar and a particulate matter sampler were operated next to each other at the University of Chinese Academy of Science (UCAS) in Beijing to determine the relationship between the particle extinction coefficient and PM2.5 mass concentration. The correlation coefficient (R2) between the particle extinction coefficient and PM2.5 mass concentration was found to be over 0.8 when relative humidity (RH) was less than 90%. A mesoscale meteorological model, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, was used to obtain profiles of the horizontal wind speed, wind direction and relative humidity. A vehicle-based mobile lidar technique was applied to estimate transport flux based on the PM2.5 profile and vertical profile of wind data. This method was applicable when hygroscopic growth can be neglected (relatively humidity<90%). Southwest was found to be the main pathway of Beijing during the experiments.

Late Maastrichtian pterosaurs from North Africa and mass extinction of Pterosauria at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary

PubMed Central

Martill, David M.; Andres, Brian

2018-01-01

Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight and the largest animals to ever take wing. The pterosaurs persisted for over 150 million years before disappearing at the end of the Cretaceous, but the patterns of and processes driving their extinction remain unclear. Only a single family, Azhdarchidae, is definitively known from the late Maastrichtian, suggesting a gradual decline in diversity in the Late Cretaceous, with the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction eliminating a few late-surviving species. However, this apparent pattern may simply reflect poor sampling of fossils. Here, we describe a diverse pterosaur assemblage from the late Maastrichtian of Morocco that includes not only Azhdarchidae but the youngest known Pteranodontidae and Nyctosauridae. With 3 families and at least 7 species present, the assemblage represents the most diverse known Late Cretaceous pterosaur assemblage and dramatically increases the diversity of Maastrichtian pterosaurs. At least 3 families—Pteranodontidae, Nyctosauridae, and Azhdarchidae—persisted into the late Maastrichtian. Late Maastrichtian pterosaurs show increased niche occupation relative to earlier, Santonian-Campanian faunas and successfully outcompeted birds at large sizes. These patterns suggest an abrupt mass extinction of pterosaurs at the K-Pg boundary. PMID:29534059

The Complex Refractive Index of Volcanic Ash Aerosol Retrieved From Spectral Mass Extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reed, Benjamin E.; Peters, Daniel M.; McPheat, Robert; Grainger, R. G.

2018-01-01

The complex refractive indices of eight volcanic ash samples, chosen to have a representative range of SiO2 contents, were retrieved from simultaneous measurements of their spectral mass extinction coefficient and size distribution. The mass extinction coefficients, at 0.33-19 μm, were measured using two optical systems: a Fourier transform spectrometer in the infrared and two diffraction grating spectrometers covering visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. The particle size distribution was measured using a scanning mobility particle sizer and an optical particle counter; values for the effective radius of ash particles measured in this study varied from 0.574 to 1.16 μm. Verification retrievals on high-purity silica aerosol demonstrated that the Rayleigh continuous distribution of ellipsoids (CDEs) scattering model significantly outperformed Mie theory in retrieving the complex refractive index, when compared to literature values. Assuming the silica particles provided a good analogue of volcanic ash, the CDE scattering model was applied to retrieve the complex refractive index of the eight ash samples. The Lorentz formulation of the complex refractive index was used within the retrievals as a convenient way to ensure consistency with the Kramers-Kronig relation. The short-wavelength limit of the electric susceptibility was constrained by using independently measured reference values of the complex refractive index of the ash samples at a visible wavelength. The retrieved values of the complex refractive indices of the ash samples showed considerable variation, highlighting the importance of using accurate refractive index data in ash cloud radiative transfer models.

Education as a tool for addressing the extinction crisis: moving students from understanding to action.

PubMed

Moyer-Horner, Lucas; Kirby, Rebecca; Vaughan, Christopher

2010-12-01

Human activity is leading to mass species extinctions worldwide. Conservation biology (CB) courses, taught worldwide at universities, typically focus on the proximal causes of extinction without teaching students how to respond to this crisis. The Extinction of Species 360 course has been taught yearly each fall semester to several hundred students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for over two decades. In 2007 the instructor and five teaching assistants combined principles driving extinctions, based on traditional lectures and discussion sections, with action-oriented education targeting individual consumer habits, to a group of 285 students. Students learn the science underpinning conservation efforts, as evidenced by highly significant learning (< .001) gains in a 22 question survey in every measured category, and also make direct and immediate changes in their lifestyle and consumption habits. This course succeeded in each of its three primary goals: a) informed students about the value of and threats to biodiversity, similar to traditional CB courses, b) emphasized our personal role (as consumers) in perpetuating the extinction crisis and c) facilitated activities to reduce our impact and help alleviate the crisis. The results suggested students learned CB concepts and understood biodiversity's value, increased their awareness of the connection between personal consumption and extinction, and reduced their collective ecological footprints. Furthermore, students complemented their learning and multiplied the potential for consumption reduction, by participating in action-based activities. Such academic courses can provide a rigorous treatment of the direct and indirect causes of extinction while developing a student's sense of personal empowerment to help slow the extinction crisis.

Early Evolution of Modern Birds Structured by Global Forest Collapse at the End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction.

PubMed

Field, Daniel J; Bercovici, Antoine; Berv, Jacob S; Dunn, Regan; Fastovsky, David E; Lyson, Tyler R; Vajda, Vivi; Gauthier, Jacques A

2018-06-04

The fossil record and recent molecular phylogenies support an extraordinary early-Cenozoic radiation of crown birds (Neornithes) after the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction [1-3]. However, questions remain regarding the mechanisms underlying the survival of the deepest lineages within crown birds across the K-Pg boundary, particularly since this global catastrophe eliminated even the closest stem-group relatives of Neornithes [4]. Here, ancestral state reconstructions of neornithine ecology reveal a strong bias toward taxa exhibiting predominantly non-arboreal lifestyles across the K-Pg, with multiple convergent transitions toward predominantly arboreal ecologies later in the Paleocene and Eocene. By contrast, ecomorphological inferences indicate predominantly arboreal lifestyles among enantiornithines, the most diverse and widespread Mesozoic avialans [5-7]. Global paleobotanical and palynological data show that the K-Pg Chicxulub impact triggered widespread destruction of forests [8, 9]. We suggest that ecological filtering due to the temporary loss of significant plant cover across the K-Pg boundary selected against any flying dinosaurs (Avialae [10]) committed to arboreal ecologies, resulting in a predominantly non-arboreal post-extinction neornithine avifauna composed of total-clade Palaeognathae, Galloanserae, and terrestrial total-clade Neoaves that rapidly diversified into the broad range of avian ecologies familiar today. The explanation proposed here provides a unifying hypothesis for the K-Pg-associated mass extinction of arboreal stem birds, as well as for the post-K-Pg radiation of arboreal crown birds. It also provides a baseline hypothesis to be further refined pending the discovery of additional neornithine fossils from the Latest Cretaceous and earliest Paleogene. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mobility of iridium in terrestrial environments: Implications for the interpretation of impact-related mass-extinctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martín-Peinado, F. J.; Rodríguez-Tovar, F. J.

2010-08-01

Traditionally, iridium has been considered an element of low mobility, but its behavior is still debated. Ir concentration in a soil affected by a catastrophic mining spill in 1998 that covered the soil with a layer of tailings offers the opportunity to analyse an exceptional Ir-bearing horizon 10 years after deposition. This has enabled comparisons with the values of past Ir-bearing horizons associated to impact-related mass-extinction events. Iridium concentration in the tailings (0.349 ppm) was 5-fold higher than the anomaly in the K-Pg at The Moody Creek Mine section (the highest values obtained from terrestrial sections). The oxidative weathering of the tailings caused the release of Ir and infiltration into the soil. Iridium distribution in depth indicates redistribution throughout the profile in relation to the change in the physico-chemical properties of the soil. With regard to the background concentration in the soil (0.056 ppm), anomalous values of Ir (0.129 ppm) can be detected to 11 cm below the layer of tailings. The correlation analysis between the Ir concentration and the main properties and constituents of the soils indicated a significant correlation with sulfur, iron, clay content, and pH. Selective extractions were made to study the forms in which Ir can be mobilized in the soil. The residual/insoluble fraction was >90% of the total Ir concentration in soil. Soluble-in-water concentration of Ir (1.5% of total) was detected in the uppermost 2-3 cm of the soil, which were directly affected by the leaching of acidic waters coming from the oxidation of the pyrite tailings. Iridium retention in the affected part of the soil reached 9% of the total Ir concentration; this retention could be related to the amorphous iron forms dissolved by the oxalic-oxalate extraction. However, according to our research, original Ir abundance could be secondarily modified, and then a direct analysis of the iridium values recorded in sediments could induce

Mapping of the extinction in giant molecular clouds using optical star counts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cambrésy, L.

1999-05-01

This paper presents large scale extinction maps of most nearby Giant Molecular Clouds of the Galaxy (Lupus, rho Ophiuchus, Scorpius, Coalsack, Taurus, Chamaeleon, Musca, Corona Australis, Serpens, IC 5146, Vela, Orion, Monoceros R1 and R2, Rosette, Carina) derived from a star count method using an adaptive grid and a wavelet decomposition applied to the optical data provided by the USNO-Precision Measuring Machine. The distribution of the extinction in the clouds leads to estimate their total individual masses M and their maximum of extinction. I show that the relation between the mass contained within an iso-extinction contour and the extinction is similar from cloud to cloud and allows the extrapolation of the maximum of extinction in the range 5.7 to 25.5 magnitudes. I found that about half of the mass is contained in regions where the visual extinction is smaller than 1 magnitude. The star count method used on large scale ( ~ 250 square degrees) is a powerful and relatively straightforward method to estimate the mass of molecular complexes. A systematic study of the all sky would lead to discover new clouds as I did in the Lupus complex for which I found a sixth cloud of about 10(4) M_⊙.

The role of extinction in evolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raup, D. M.

1994-01-01

The extinction of species is not normally considered an important element of neodarwinian theory, in contrast to the opposite phenomenon, speciation. This is surprising in view of the special importance Darwin attached to extinction, and because the number of species extinctions in the history of life is almost the same as the number of originations; present-day biodiversity is the result of a trivial surplus of originations, cumulated over millions of years. For an evolutionary biologist to ignore extinction is probably as foolhardy as for a demographer to ignore mortality. The past decade has seen a resurgence of interest in extinction, yet research on the topic is still at a reconnaissance level, and our present understanding of its role in evolution is weak. Despite uncertainties, extinction probably contains three important elements. (i) For geographically widespread species, extinction is likely only if the killing stress is one so rare as to be beyond the experience of the species, and thus outside the reach of natural selection. (ii) The largest mass extinctions produce major restructuring of the biosphere wherein some successful groups are eliminated, allowing previously minor groups to expand and diversify. (iii) Except for a few cases, there is little evidence that extinction is selective in the positive sense argued by Darwin. It has generally been impossible to predict, before the fact, which species will be victims of an extinction event.

PM2.5 mass, chemical composition, and light extinction before and during the 2008 Beijing Olympics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xinghua; He, Kebin; Li, Chengcai; Yang, Fumo; Zhao, Qing; Ma, Yongliang; Cheng, Yuan; Ouyang, Wenjuan; Chen, Gangcai

2013-11-01

contrast of air quality and visibility before and during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games provides a rare opportunity to investigate the links between PM2.5 mass, chemical composition, and light extinction in this megacity. Twenty-four hour integrated PM2.5 samples were collected, and light scattering coefficients and the concentrations of black carbon were measured at urban Beijing for this purpose during a measurement campaign from 1 July to 20 September 2008, which was classed into four stages according to the levels of emission control measures. Daily PM2.5 concentrations ranged from 15.9 to 156.7 µg m-3 with an average of 66.0 ± 35.1 µg m-3. The average PM2.5 mass during the Olympics decreased by 49% from the second stage (20 July to 7 August), mainly due to the reduction of secondary inorganic aerosols (i.e., sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium (SNA)). The counterintuitive increase of PM2.5 mass (by 27% on average) during the second stage with two most serious haze episodes, although more rigorous emission control measures were in place, compared to the first stage (1-19 July), was mainly explained by the unfavorable meteorology and input of sulfate aerosols. A daily PM2.5 mass threshold of 50 µg m-3 was extracted for frequent haze occurrence. The extinction fractions of SNA and organic material were each approximately 30% during the 20% best visibility days but changed to 81.7% and 8.4%, respectively, during the 20% worst visibility days. The results indicated that the role of SNA was magnified in haze formation during the 2008 summer in Beijing.

Extinction Risk of Phytoplankton Species to Potential Killing Mechanisms at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bralower, T. J.; Schueth, J.; Jiang, S.

2013-05-01

The impact at Chicxulub caused catastrophic changes in marine habitats including extended darkness, ocean acidification and eutrophication. These changes were devastating to some groups of phytoplankton at the base of the marine food chain while others escaped virtually unscathed. For example, diatoms had ~85% survival across the boundary and dinoflagellates actually increased in diversity. These non-calcareous plankton most likely survived due to their adaptation to high-stress environments and their ability to form spores and resting cysts. The calcareous nannoplankton, however, were decimated with approximately 85% of genera and 93% of species going extinct. Nannoplankton generally lack the ability to encyst and thus, as a group, would have been susceptible to darkness, ocean acidification and eutrophication. However, we still do not fully understand why certain nannofossil taxa survived while others went extinct. Extinction risk, the projected susceptibility of a taxon to extinction based on its ecology and ability to adapt, is a concept that is widely applied to extant species and higher order fossil groups, but not to phytoplankton. This concept is a useful for probing the selectivity of ancient species to mass extinction. Determining the extinction risk of latest Maastrichtian nannoplankton species would be a step towards understanding the selection of survivors. The deep-sea record contains a remarkable archive of nannoplankton extinction and recovery across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. The recovery was geologically extended, enabling detailed comparisons between the ocean basins. A large, global database of assemblages had led to the discovery that the Northern Hemisphere oceans suffered higher nannoplankton extinction rates than the Southern Hemisphere with an ecological "crisis" that lasted for approximately 350 thousand years after the impact. In addition, incumbency played a major role in the origination of new species. Since extinction almost

Rescuing Ecosystems from Extinction Cascades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahasrabudhe, Sagar; Motter, Adilson

2010-03-01

Food web perturbations stemming from climate change, overexploitation, invasive species, and natural disasters often cause an initial loss of species that results in a cascade of secondary extinctions. Using a predictive modeling framework, here we will present a systematic network-based approach to reduce the number of secondary extinctions. We will show that the extinction of one species can often be compensated by the concurrent removal of a second specific species, which is a counter-intuitive effect not previously tested in complex food webs. These compensatory perturbations frequently involve long-range interactions that are not a priori evident from local predator-prey relationships. Strikingly, in numerous cases even the early removal of a species that would eventually be extinct by the cascade is found to significantly reduce the number of cascading extinctions. Other nondestructive interventions based on partial removals and growth suppression and/or mortality increase are shown to sometimes prevent all secondary extinctions.

Experimental evidence that an asteroid impact LED to the extinction of many species 65 million years ago

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alvarez, L. W.

1982-09-01

The development of the theory that the mass extinction of the dinosaurs at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary was caused by as asteroid impact is reviewed. The scientists involved, the objections to the theory, and the evidence refuting those objections are presented chronologically.

Experimental evidence that an asteroid impact led to the extinction of many species 65 million years ago

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alvarez, L.W.

1982-09-01

The development of the theory that the mass extinction of the dinosaurs at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary was caused by an asteroid impact is reviewed. The personnel involved, the objections to the theory, and the evidence refuting those objections are presented chronologically. (ACR)

Subsequent biotic crises delayed marine recovery following the late Permian mass extinction event in northern Italy

PubMed Central

Danise, Silvia; Price, Gregory D.; Twitchett, Richard J.

2017-01-01

The late Permian mass extinction event was the largest biotic crisis of the Phanerozoic and has the longest recovery interval of any extinction event. It has been hypothesised that subsequent carbon isotope perturbations during the Early Triassic are associated with biotic crises that impeded benthic recovery. We test this hypothesis by undertaking the highest-resolution study yet made of the rock and fossil records of the entire Werfen Formation, Italy. Here, we show that elevated extinction rates were recorded not only in the Dienerian, as previously recognised, but also around the Smithian/Spathian boundary. Functional richness increases across the Smithian/Spathian boundary associated with elevated origination rates in the lower Spathian. The taxonomic and functional composition of benthic faunas only recorded two significant changes: (1) reduced heterogeneity in the Dienerian, and (2) and a faunal turnover across the Smithian/Spathian boundary. The elevated extinctions and compositional shifts in the Dienerian and across the Smithian/Spathian boundary are associated with a negative and positive isotope excursion, respectively, which supports the hypothesis that subsequent biotic crises are associated with carbon isotope shifts. The Spathian fauna represents a more advanced ecological state, not recognised in the previous members of the Werfen Formation, with increased habitat differentiation, a shift in the dominant modes of life, appearance of stenohaline taxa and the occupation of the erect and infaunal tiers. In addition to subsequent biotic crises delaying the recovery, therefore, persistent environmental stress limited the ecological complexity of benthic recovery prior to the Spathian. PMID:28296886

Assessing the Role of Anhydrite in the KT Mass Extinction: Hints from Shock-loading Experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Skala, R.; Lnagenhorst, F.; Hoerz, F.

2004-01-01

Various killing mechanisms have been suggested to contribute to the mass extinctions at the KT boundary, including severe, global deterioration of the atmosphere and hydrosphere due to SO(x) released from heavily shocked, sulfate-bearing target rocks. The devolatilization of anhydrite is predominantly inferred from thermodynamic considerations and lacks experimental confirmation. To date, the experimentally determined shock behavior of anhydrite is limited to solid-state effects employing X-ray diffraction methods. The present report employs additional methods to characterize experimentally shocked anhydrite.

Constraining the cause of the end-Guadalupian extinction with coupled records of carbon and calcium isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jost, A. B.; Mundil, R.; He, B.; Brown, S. T.; Altiner, D.; Sun, Y.; DePaolo, D. J.; Payne, J.

2013-12-01

A negative δ13C excursion in carbonate sediments from Guadalupian (Middle Permian) and Lopingian (Late Permian) stratigraphic sections has been interpreted to result from a large carbon cycle disturbance during end-Guadalupian extinction event (ca. 260 Ma). However, the carbon isotope data alone are insufficient to uniquely determine the type and magnitude of perturbations to the global carbon cycle. The carbon and calcium cycles are coupled via CaCO3 burial, so changes in calcium isotopes can be used to constrain the cause of a carbon isotope excursion. In this study, we present coupled carbon and calcium isotope records from three Guadalupian-Lopingian (G/L) sections in China and Turkey. Isotope records among our studied sections are inconsistent in both their δ13C and δ44/40Ca records. Similar inconsistencies in δ13C among sections occur across previously published datasets. Sections with large (>3‰) changes in δ13C either show evidence for diagenetic alteration or do not show δ13C and δ44/40Ca changes consistent with severe volcanic degassing from Emeishan or methane clathrate destabilization. We conclude that the large isotopic changes are more likely the result of local burial conditions or diagenetic effects, rather than a large carbon cycle disturbance. Perturbations to the global carbon and calcium cycles appear to have been much smaller across the G/L transition than across the subsequent Permian-Triassic boundary. This finding is consistent with recent paleobiological data showing that the end-Guadalupian extinction was much less severe than previously believed, and was indistinguishable in magnitude from background intervals. However, selective extinction of marine animals with passive respiratory physiology indicates that the G/L extinction cannot simply be due to background extinction or sampling failure, and that it was triggered by some environmental event. Therefore, any environmental event must have been small enough to not generate large

Meteoritic trace element toxification and the terminal Mesozoic mass extinction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dickson, S.M.; Erickson, D.J. III

1985-01-01

Calculations of trace element fluxes to the earth associated with 5 and 10 kilometer diameter Cl chondrites and iron meteorites are presented. The data indicate that the masses of certain trace elements contained in the bolide, such as Fe, Co, Ni, Cr, Pb, and Cu, are as large as or larger than the world ocean burden. The authors believe that this pulse of trace elements was of sufficient magnitude to perturb the biogeochemical cycles operative 65 million years ago, a probably time of meteorite impact. Geochemical anomalies in Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary sediments suggest that elevated concentrations of trace elements may havemore » persisted for thousands of years in the ocean. Through direct exposure and bioaccumulation, many trophic levels of the global food chain, including that of the dinosaurs, would have been adversely affected by these meteoritic trace elements. The trace element toxification hypothesis may account for the selective extinction of both marine and terrestrial species in the enigmatic terminal Mesozoic event.« less

Trophic redundancy reduces vulnerability to extinction cascades

PubMed Central

Sanders, Dirk; Thébault, Elisa; Kehoe, Rachel; Frank van Veen, F. J.

2018-01-01

Current species extinction rates are at unprecedentedly high levels. While human activities can be the direct cause of some extinctions, it is becoming increasingly clear that species extinctions themselves can be the cause of further extinctions, since species affect each other through the network of ecological interactions among them. There is concern that the simplification of ecosystems, due to the loss of species and ecological interactions, increases their vulnerability to such secondary extinctions. It is predicted that more complex food webs will be less vulnerable to secondary extinctions due to greater trophic redundancy that can buffer against the effects of species loss. Here, we demonstrate in a field experiment with replicated plant-insect communities, that the probability of secondary extinctions is indeed smaller in food webs that include trophic redundancy. Harvesting one species of parasitoid wasp led to secondary extinctions of other, indirectly linked, species at the same trophic level. This effect was markedly stronger in simple communities than for the same species within a more complex food web. We show that this is due to functional redundancy in the more complex food webs and confirm this mechanism with a food web simulation model by highlighting the importance of the presence and strength of trophic links providing redundancy to those links that were lost. Our results demonstrate that biodiversity loss, leading to a reduction in redundant interactions, can increase the vulnerability of ecosystems to secondary extinctions, which, when they occur, can then lead to further simplification and run-away extinction cascades. PMID:29467292

Rescaling of temporal expectations during extinction

PubMed Central

Drew, Michael R.; Walsh, Carolyn; Balsam, Peter D

2016-01-01

Previous research suggests that extinction learning is temporally specific. Changing the CS duration between training and extinction can facilitate the loss of the CR within the extinction session but impairs long-term retention of extinction. In two experiments using conditioned magazine approach with rats, we examined the relation between temporal specificity of extinction and CR timing. In Experiment 1 rats were trained on a 12-s, fixed CS-US interval and then extinguished with CS presentations that were 6, 12, or 24 s in duration. The design of Experiment 2 was the same except rats were trained using partial rather than continuous reinforcement. In both experiments, extending the CS duration in extinction facilitated the diminution of CRs during the extinction session, but shortening the CS duration failed to slow extinction. In addition, extending (but not shortening) the CS duration caused temporal rescaling of the CR, in that the peak CR rate migrated later into the trial over the course of extinction training. This migration partially accounted for the faster loss of the CR when the CS duration was extended. Results are incompatible with the hypothesis that extinction is driven by cumulative CS exposure and suggest that temporally extended nonreinforced CS exposure reduces conditioned responding via temporal displacement rather than through extinction per se. PMID:28045291

The End Pleistocene Extinction Event - What Caused It?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker, L.; Poreda, R.; Kennett, J.; West, A.; Wolbach, W.

2007-05-01

It is well established that the last catastrophic faunal extinction in the geologic past coincided with the end of the Pleistocene during the deglaciation between the last glacial episode and the present Holocene interglacial. The cause of this extinction has been debated for many years but remains highly controversial in part because of limitations of available data, but also because the two major hypotheses that have been long invoked, climate change and human overhunting, have continued to present significant problems. Recently, Firestone et al. [1] have reported strong evidence for an extraterrestrial (ET) impact including peak abundances of metallic microspherules and magnetic grains with elevated iridium, glass-like carbon, carbon microspherules, soot and charcoal in a carbon-rich black layer dating close to ~12.9 ka (referred to as Younger Dryas Black Layer or YDB) in numerous terminal Clovis-age sites across North America. To assess the YDB impact hypothesis and its potential effects on the megafauna and humans in North America [2-4], we have analyzed several well-dated suites of samples in search of fullerenes with ET noble gases and other impact debris (e.g. microspherules). These sites include Daisy Cave (DC) on California's San Miguel Island, Murray Springs (MS) in Arizona and Blackwater Draw (BWD) in New Mexico, all well known previously described archaeological and paleontological sites, with established chronologies spanning the YDB (~12.9 k) [5-7]. To further assess the environmental effects of the impact on the Pleistocene fauna and human activity, we examined the YDB layer at each of these locations for evidence of wildfires triggered by the ET event. If there were wildfires, a group of high molecular weight aromatic compounds or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) should be present in the associated soot and charcoal material within the YDB. By examining the distributions of the PAHs, the source of these compounds, wildfire or human activity

Behavioral tagging of extinction learning.

PubMed

de Carvalho Myskiw, Jociane; Benetti, Fernando; Izquierdo, Iván

2013-01-15

Extinction of contextual fear in rats is enhanced by exposure to a novel environment at 1-2 h before or 1 h after extinction training. This effect is antagonized by administration of protein synthesis inhibitors anisomycin and rapamycin into the hippocampus, but not into the amygdala, immediately after either novelty or extinction training, as well as by the gene expression blocker 5,6-dichloro-1-beta-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole administered after novelty training, but not after extinction training. Thus, this effect can be attributed to a mechanism similar to synaptic tagging, through which long-term potentiation can be enhanced by other long-term potentiations or by exposure to a novel environment in a protein synthesis-dependent fashion. Extinction learning produces a tag at the appropriate synapses, whereas novelty learning causes the synthesis of plasticity-related proteins that are captured by the tag, strengthening the synapses that generated this tag.

Retrieval and Reconsolidation Accounts of Fear Extinction

PubMed Central

Ponnusamy, Ravikumar; Zhuravka, Irina; Poulos, Andrew M.; Shobe, Justin; Merjanian, Michael; Huang, Jeannie; Wolvek, David; O’Neill, Pia-Kelsey; Fanselow, Michael S.

2016-01-01

Extinction is the primary mode for the treatment of anxiety disorders. However, extinction memories are prone to relapse. For example, fear is likely to return when a prolonged time period intervenes between extinction and a subsequent encounter with the fear-provoking stimulus (spontaneous recovery). Therefore there is considerable interest in the development of procedures that strengthen extinction and to prevent such recovery of fear. We contrasted two procedures in rats that have been reported to cause such deepened extinction. One where extinction begins before the initial consolidation of fear memory begins (immediate extinction) and another where extinction begins after a brief exposure to the consolidated fear stimulus. The latter is thought to open a period of memory vulnerability similar to that which occurs during initial consolidation (reconsolidation update). We also included a standard extinction treatment and a control procedure that reversed the brief exposure and extinction phases. Spontaneous recovery was only found with the standard extinction treatment. In a separate experiment we tested fear shortly after extinction (i.e., within 6 h). All extinction procedures, except reconsolidation update reduced fear at this short-term test. The findings suggest that strengthened extinction can result from alteration in both retrieval and consolidation processes. PMID:27242459

Source apportionment of PM2.5 light extinction in an urban atmosphere in China.

PubMed

Lan, Zijuan; Zhang, Bin; Huang, Xiaofeng; Zhu, Qiao; Yuan, Jinfeng; Zeng, Liwu; Hu, Min; He, Lingyan

2018-01-01

Haze in China is primarily caused by high pollution of atmospheric fine particulates (PM 2.5 ). However, the detailed source structures of PM 2.5 light extinction have not been well established, especially for the roles of various organic aerosols, which makes haze management lack specified targets. This study obtained the mass concentrations of the chemical compositions and the light extinction coefficients of fine particles in the winter in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, using high time resolution aerosol observation instruments. We combined the positive matrix factor (PMF) analysis model of organic aerosols and the multiple linear regression method to establish a quantitative relationship model between the main chemical components, in particular the different sources of organic aerosols and the extinction coefficients of fine particles with a high goodness of fit (R 2 =0.953). The results show that the contribution rates of ammonium sulphate, ammonium nitrate, biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA), secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and black carbon (BC) were 48.1%, 20.7%, 15.0%, 10.6%, and 5.6%, respectively. It can be seen that the contribution of the secondary aerosols is much higher than that of the primary aerosols (79.4% versus 20.6%) and are a major factor in the visibility decline. BBOA is found to have a high visibility destroying potential, with a high mass extinction coefficient, and was the largest contributor during some high pollution periods. A more detailed analysis indicates that the contribution of the enhanced absorption caused by BC mixing state was approximately 37.7% of the total particle absorption and should not be neglected. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Constraining the time of extinction of the South American fox Dusicyon avus (Carnivora, Canidae) during the late Holocene.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prevosti, Francisco; Santiago, Fernando; Prates, Luciano; Salemme, Mónica; Martin, Fabiana

2010-05-01

The mass extinction at the end of the Pleistocene affected South America during the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene, when megamammals and large mammals disappeared. Several carnivores became extinct, like the sabretooth Smilodon, the short face bear (Arctotherium) and some large canids (i.e. Protocyon, Canis dirus). After this mass event virtually no carnivores became extinct in South America. The only exception is the fox Dusicyon avus, a middle sized canid (estimated body mass between 10-15 kg) with a more carnivore diet than the living South American foxes (i.e. Lycalopex culpaeus). The last record of the species comes from middle-late Holocene archaeological sites in the Pampean Region (Argentina) and Patagonia (Argentina and Chile). During the Late Pleistocene D. avus had a wide distribution, that covered part of Uruguay, Argentina (Buenos Aires province) and the southernmost Chile. Albeit some remains from late Holocene sites have been published, these remains lack of isotopic dates that could (allow?) constraint (to determine) the date of extinction of this fox. In this contribution we present several new records from the Pampean Region and Patagonia, and several taxon dates. The new records indicate that D. avus disappeared in the late Holocene at least ≈ 3000 years BP in the island of Tierra del Fuego (Patagonia) and ≈ 1600 BP in the continent. Since at this time humans were occupying most of the Pampas and Patagonia a revision of the causes behind the extinction of this fox is required.

The timing and cause of megafauna mass deaths at Lancefield Swamp, south-eastern Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dortch, Joe; Cupper, Matt; Grün, Rainer; Harpley, Bernice; Lee, Kerrie; Field, Judith

2016-08-01

Lancefield Swamp, south-eastern Australia, was one of the earliest sites to provoke interest in Pleistocene faunal extinctions in Sahul (Pleistocene Australia-New Guinea). The systematic investigation of the deposit in the early 1970s identified megafaunal remains dominated by the 100-200 kg kangaroo Macropus giganteus titan. Associated radiocarbon ages indicated that the species was extant until c.30,000 BP, suggesting significant overlap with human settlement of Sahul. This evidence was inconsistent with contemporary models of rapid human-driven extinctions. Instead, researchers inferred ecological tethering of fauna at Lancefield Swamp due to intense drought precipitated localised mass deaths, consistent with Late Pleistocene climatic variability. Later investigations in another part of the swamp, the Mayne Site, remote to the initial investigations, concluded that mass flow disturbed this area, and Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) analyses on megafauna teeth returned wide-ranging ages. To clarify site formation processes and dating of Lancefield Swamp, we excavated new test-pits next to previous trenches in the Classic and Mayne Sites. We compared absolute chronologies for sediments and teeth, sedimentology, palaeo-topography, taphonomy, and macropod age at death across the swamp. Luminescence dating of sediments and ESR analysis of teeth returned ages between c.80,000 and 45,000 years ago. We found no archaeological remains in the bone beds, and evidence of carnivore activity and fluvial action, in the form of reactivated spring flow. The latter disturbed limited parts of the site and substantial areas of the bone beds remained intact. The faunal assemblage is dominated by megafaunal adult Macropus, consistent with mass die-offs due to severe drought. Such droughts appear to have recurred over millennia during the climatic variability of Marine Isotope Stages 4 and 3. These events began tens of millennia before the first appearance of Aboriginal people in Sahul

Variation in center of mass estimates for extant sauropsids and its importance for reconstructing inertial properties of extinct archosaurs.

PubMed

Allen, Vivian; Paxton, Heather; Hutchinson, John R

2009-09-01

Inertial properties of animal bodies and segments are critical input parameters for biomechanical analysis of standing and moving, and thus are important for paleobiological inquiries into the broader behaviors, ecology and evolution of extinct taxa such as dinosaurs. But how accurately can these be estimated? Computational modeling was used to estimate the inertial properties including mass, density, and center of mass (COM) for extant crocodiles (adult and juvenile Crocodylus johnstoni) and birds (Gallus gallus; junglefowl and broiler chickens), to identify the chief sources of variation and methodological errors, and their significance. High-resolution computed tomography scans were segmented into 3D objects and imported into inertial property estimation software that allowed for the examination of variable body segment densities (e.g., air spaces such as lungs, and deformable body outlines). Considerable biological variation of inertial properties was found within groups due to ontogenetic changes as well as evolutionary changes between chicken groups. COM positions shift in variable directions during ontogeny in different groups. Our method was repeatable and the resolution was sufficient for accurate estimations of mass and density in particular. However, we also found considerable potential methodological errors for COM related to (1) assumed body segment orientation, (2) what frames of reference are used to normalize COM for size-independent comparisons among animals, and (3) assumptions about tail shape. Methods and assumptions are suggested to minimize these errors in the future and thereby improve estimation of inertial properties for extant and extinct animals. In the best cases, 10%-15% errors in these estimates are unavoidable, but particularly for extinct taxa errors closer to 50% should be expected, and therefore, cautiously investigated. Nonetheless in the best cases these methods allow rigorous estimation of inertial properties. (c) 2009 Wiley

Evolution and extinction in the marine realm: some constraints imposed by phytoplankton

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knoll, A. H.

1989-01-01

The organic and mineralized remains of planktonic algae provide a rich record of microplankton evolution extending over nearly half of the preserved geological record. In general, Phanerozoic patterns of phytoplankton radiation and extinction parallel those documented for skeletonized marine invertebrates, both augmenting and constraining thought about evolution in the oceans. Rapidly increasing knowledge of Proterozoic plankton is making possible the recognition of additional episodes of diversification and extinction that antedate the Ediacaran radiation of macroscopic animals. In contrast to earlier phytoplankton history, the late Mesozoic and Cainozoic record is documented in sufficient detail to constrain theories of mass extinction in more than a general way. Broad patterns of diversity change in planktonic algae show similarities across the Cretaceous-Tertiary and Eocene-Oligocene boundaries, but detailed comparisons of origination and extinction rates in calcareous nannoplankton, as well as other algae and skeletonized protozoans, suggest that the two episodes were quite distinct. Common causation appears unlikely, casting doubt on monolithic theories of mass extinction, whether periodic or not. Studies of mass extinction highlight a broader class of insights that paleontologists can contribute to evolutionary biology: the evaluation of evolutionary change in the context of evolving Earth-surface environments.

Adrenergic Transmission Facilitates Extinction of Conditional Fear in Mice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barad, Mark; Cain, Christopher K.; Blouin, Ashley M.

2004-01-01

Extinction of classically conditioned fear, like its acquisition, is active learning, but little is known about its molecular mechanisms. We recently reported that temporal massing of conditional stimulus (CS) presentations improves extinction memory acquisition, and suggested that temporal spacing was less effective because individual CS…

Calcium Isotopic Evidence for Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem Structure Prior to the K/Pg Extinction.

PubMed

Martin, Jeremy E; Vincent, Peggy; Tacail, Théo; Khaldoune, Fatima; Jourani, Essaid; Bardet, Nathalie; Balter, Vincent

2017-06-05

The collapse of marine ecosystems during the end-Cretaceous mass extinction involved the base of the food chain [1] up to ubiquitous vertebrate apex predators [2-5]. Large marine reptiles became suddenly extinct at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary, whereas other contemporaneous groups such as bothremydid turtles or dyrosaurid crocodylomorphs, although affected at the familial, genus, or species level, survived into post-crisis environments of the Paleocene [5-9] and could have found refuge in freshwater habitats [10-12]. A recent hypothesis proposes that the extinction of plesiosaurians and mosasaurids could have been caused by an important drop in sea level [13]. Mosasaurids are unusually diverse and locally abundant in the Maastrichtian phosphatic deposits of Morocco, and with large sharks and one species of elasmosaurid plesiosaurian recognized so far, contribute to an overabundance of apex predators [3, 7, 14, 15]. For this reason, high local diversity of marine reptiles exhibiting different body masses and a wealth of tooth morphologies hints at complex trophic interactions within this latest Cretaceous marine ecosystem. Using calcium isotopes, we investigated the trophic structure of this extinct assemblage. Our results are consistent with a calcium isotope pattern observed in modern marine ecosystems and show that plesiosaurians and mosasaurids indiscriminately fall in the tertiary piscivore group. This suggests that marine reptile apex predators relied onto a single dietary calcium source, compatible with the vulnerable wasp-waist food webs of the modern world [16]. This inferred peculiar ecosystem structure may help explain plesiosaurian and mosasaurid extinction following the end-Cretaceous biological crisis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Star formation and extinct radioactivities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cameron, A. G. W.

1984-01-01

An assessment is made of the evidence for the existence of now-extinct radioactivities in primitive solar system material, giving attention to implications for the early stages of sun and solar system formation. The characteristics of possible disturbances in dense molecular clouds which can initiate the formation of cloud cores is discussed, with emphasis on these disturbances able to generate fresh radioactivities. A one-solar mass red giant star on the asymptotic giant branch appears to have been the best candidate to account for the short-lived extinct radioactivities in the early solar system.

StarHorse: a Bayesian tool for determining stellar masses, ages, distances, and extinctions for field stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Queiroz, A. B. A.; Anders, F.; Santiago, B. X.; Chiappini, C.; Steinmetz, M.; Dal Ponte, M.; Stassun, K. G.; da Costa, L. N.; Maia, M. A. G.; Crestani, J.; Beers, T. C.; Fernández-Trincado, J. G.; García-Hernández, D. A.; Roman-Lopes, A.; Zamora, O.

2018-05-01

Understanding the formation and evolution of our Galaxy requires accurate distances, ages, and chemistry for large populations of field stars. Here, we present several updates to our spectrophotometric distance code, which can now also be used to estimate ages, masses, and extinctions for individual stars. Given a set of measured spectrophotometric parameters, we calculate the posterior probability distribution over a given grid of stellar evolutionary models, using flexible Galactic stellar-population priors. The code (called StarHorse) can accommodate different observational data sets, prior options, partially missing data, and the inclusion of parallax information into the estimated probabilities. We validate the code using a variety of simulated stars as well as real stars with parameters determined from asteroseismology, eclipsing binaries, and isochrone fits to star clusters. Our main goal in this validation process is to test the applicability of the code to field stars with known Gaia-like parallaxes. The typical internal precisions (obtained from realistic simulations of an APOGEE+Gaia-like sample) are {˜eq } 8 {per cent} in distance, {˜eq } 20 {per cent} in age, {˜eq } 6 {per cent} in mass, and ≃ 0.04 mag in AV. The median external precision (derived from comparisons with earlier work for real stars) varies with the sample used, but lies in the range of {˜eq } [0,2] {per cent} for distances, {˜eq } [12,31] {per cent} for ages, {˜eq } [4,12] {per cent} for masses, and ≃ 0.07 mag for AV. We provide StarHorse distances and extinctions for the APOGEE DR14, RAVE DR5, GES DR3, and GALAH DR1 catalogues.

Getting the measure of extinction.

PubMed

Mace, G

1998-01-01

Like all species, plants, mammals, and birds have been subject to extinction as a fundamental part of evolution. Indeed, only about 2-4% of all the species that have ever lived during the 600 million years of the fossil record still survive today. Looking at the fossil record, it can be said that invertebrate species and mammals have had an average life span of 5-10 and 1-2 million years, respectively. More recent extinction records for birds and mammals lost over the last half of the century indicate that 1 out of 14,000 species becomes extinct each year, giving each species an average life span of 10,000 years--100 to 1000 times shorter than the lifetime of species in the fossil record. Drawing on the World's Conservation Union Red List of threatened animals (1996), species lifetimes of birds, mammals and reptiles are estimated at 300-500 years and 100-1000 years across broader groups. In general, these estimates show that extinction rates today are 1000 to 10,000 times higher than in the past, making current rates of species loss at least equivalent to the mass extinctions in the past. A major difference, however, is the fact that almost all extinctions that have transpired today are due to the impact of human activities.

Early Triassic alternative ecological states driven by anoxia, hyperthermals, and erosional pulses following the end-Permian mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pietsch, C.; Petsios, E.; Bottjer, D. J.

2015-12-01

The end-Permian mass extinction, 252 million years ago, was the most devastating loss of biodiversity in Earth's history. Massive volcanic eruptions of the Siberian Traps and the concurrent burning of coal, carbonate, and evaporite deposits emplaced greenhouse and toxic gasses. Hyperthermal events of the surface ocean, up to 40°C, led to reduced gradient-driven ocean circulation which yielded extensive equatorial oxygen minimum zones. Today, anthropogenic greenhouse gas production is outpacing carbon input modeled for the end-Permian mass extinction, which suggests that modern ecosystems may yet experience a severe biotic crisis. The Early Triassic records the 5 million year aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction and is often perceived as an interval of delayed recovery. We combined a new, high resolution carbon isotope record, sedimentological analysis, and paleoecological collections from the Italian Werfen Formation to fully integrate paleoenvironmental change with the benthic ecological response. We find that the marine ecosystem experienced additional community restructuring events due to subsequent hyperthermal events and pulses of erosion. The benthic microfauna and macrofauna both contributed to disaster communities that initially rebounded in the earliest Triassic. 'Disaster fauna' including microbialites, microconchids, foraminifera, and "flat clams" took advantage of anoxic conditions in the first ~500,000 years, dominating the benthic fauna. Later, in the re-oxygenated water column, opportunistic disaster groups were supplanted by a more diverse, mollusc-dominated benthic fauna and a complex ichnofauna. An extreme temperature run-up beginning in the Late Dienerian led to an additional hyperthermal event in the Late-Smithian which co-occurred with increased humidity and terrestrial run-off. Massive siliciclastic deposits replaced carbonate deposition which corresponds to the infaunalization of the benthic fauna. The disaster taxa dominated

End-Cretaceous extinction in Antarctica linked to both Deccan volcanism and meteorite impact via climate change

PubMed Central

Petersen, Sierra V.; Dutton, Andrea; Lohmann, Kyger C.

2016-01-01

The cause of the end-Cretaceous (KPg) mass extinction is still debated due to difficulty separating the influences of two closely timed potential causal events: eruption of the Deccan Traps volcanic province and impact of the Chicxulub meteorite. Here we combine published extinction patterns with a new clumped isotope temperature record from a hiatus-free, expanded KPg boundary section from Seymour Island, Antarctica. We document a 7.8±3.3 °C warming synchronous with the onset of Deccan Traps volcanism and a second, smaller warming at the time of meteorite impact. Local warming may have been amplified due to simultaneous disappearance of continental or sea ice. Intra-shell variability indicates a possible reduction in seasonality after Deccan eruptions began, continuing through the meteorite event. Species extinction at Seymour Island occurred in two pulses that coincide with the two observed warming events, directly linking the end-Cretaceous extinction at this site to both volcanic and meteorite events via climate change. PMID:27377632

End-Cretaceous extinction in Antarctica linked to both Deccan volcanism and meteorite impact via climate change.

PubMed

Petersen, Sierra V; Dutton, Andrea; Lohmann, Kyger C

2016-07-05

The cause of the end-Cretaceous (KPg) mass extinction is still debated due to difficulty separating the influences of two closely timed potential causal events: eruption of the Deccan Traps volcanic province and impact of the Chicxulub meteorite. Here we combine published extinction patterns with a new clumped isotope temperature record from a hiatus-free, expanded KPg boundary section from Seymour Island, Antarctica. We document a 7.8±3.3 °C warming synchronous with the onset of Deccan Traps volcanism and a second, smaller warming at the time of meteorite impact. Local warming may have been amplified due to simultaneous disappearance of continental or sea ice. Intra-shell variability indicates a possible reduction in seasonality after Deccan eruptions began, continuing through the meteorite event. Species extinction at Seymour Island occurred in two pulses that coincide with the two observed warming events, directly linking the end-Cretaceous extinction at this site to both volcanic and meteorite events via climate change.

End-Cretaceous extinction in Antarctica linked to both Deccan volcanism and meteorite impact via climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petersen, Sierra V.; Dutton, Andrea; Lohmann, Kyger C.

2016-07-01

The cause of the end-Cretaceous (KPg) mass extinction is still debated due to difficulty separating the influences of two closely timed potential causal events: eruption of the Deccan Traps volcanic province and impact of the Chicxulub meteorite. Here we combine published extinction patterns with a new clumped isotope temperature record from a hiatus-free, expanded KPg boundary section from Seymour Island, Antarctica. We document a 7.8+/-3.3 °C warming synchronous with the onset of Deccan Traps volcanism and a second, smaller warming at the time of meteorite impact. Local warming may have been amplified due to simultaneous disappearance of continental or sea ice. Intra-shell variability indicates a possible reduction in seasonality after Deccan eruptions began, continuing through the meteorite event. Species extinction at Seymour Island occurred in two pulses that coincide with the two observed warming events, directly linking the end-Cretaceous extinction at this site to both volcanic and meteorite events via climate change.

Extinction and the spatial dynamics of biodiversity

PubMed Central

Jablonski, David

2008-01-01

The fossil record amply shows that the spatial fabric of extinction has profoundly shaped the biosphere; this spatial dimension provides a powerful context for integration of paleontological and neontological approaches. Mass extinctions evidently alter extinction selectivity, with many factors losing effectiveness except for a positive relation between survivorship and geographic range at the clade level (confirmed in reanalyses of end-Cretaceous extinction data). This relation probably also holds during “normal” times, but changes both slope and intercept with increasing extinction. The strong geographical component to clade dynamics can obscure causation in the extinction of a feature or a clade, owing to hitchhiking effects on geographic range, so that multifactorial analyses are needed. Some extinctions are spatially complex, and regional extinctions might either reset a diversity ceiling or create a diversification debt open to further diversification or invasion. Evolutionary recoveries also exhibit spatial dynamics, including regional differences in invasibilty, and expansion of clades from the tropics fuels at least some recoveries, as well as biodiversity dynamics during normal times. Incumbency effects apparently correlate more closely with extinction intensities than with standing diversities, so that regions with higher local and global extinctions are more subject to invasion; the latest Cenozoic temperate zones evidently received more invaders than the tropics or poles, but this dynamic could shift dramatically if tropical diversity is strongly depleted. The fossil record can provide valuable insights, and their application to present-day issues will be enhanced by partitioning past and present-day extinctions by driving mechanism rather than emphasizing intensity. PMID:18695229

The extinction of the dinosaurs.

PubMed

Brusatte, Stephen L; Butler, Richard J; Barrett, Paul M; Carrano, Matthew T; Evans, David C; Lloyd, Graeme T; Mannion, Philip D; Norell, Mark A; Peppe, Daniel J; Upchurch, Paul; Williamson, Thomas E

2015-05-01

Non-avian dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago, geologically coincident with the impact of a large bolide (comet or asteroid) during an interval of massive volcanic eruptions and changes in temperature and sea level. There has long been fervent debate about how these events affected dinosaurs. We review a wealth of new data accumulated over the past two decades, provide updated and novel analyses of long-term dinosaur diversity trends during the latest Cretaceous, and discuss an emerging consensus on the extinction's tempo and causes. Little support exists for a global, long-term decline across non-avian dinosaur diversity prior to their extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. However, restructuring of latest Cretaceous dinosaur faunas in North America led to reduced diversity of large-bodied herbivores, perhaps making communities more susceptible to cascading extinctions. The abruptness of the dinosaur extinction suggests a key role for the bolide impact, although the coarseness of the fossil record makes testing the effects of Deccan volcanism difficult. © 2014 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2014 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Extinction and anti-extinction: the "attentional waiting" hypothesis.

PubMed

Watling, Rosamond; Danckert, James; Linnell, Karina J; Cocchini, Gianna

2013-03-01

Patients with visual extinction have difficulty detecting a single contralesional stimulus when a second stimulus is simultaneously presented on the ipsilesional side. The rarely reported phenomenon of visual anti-extinction describes the opposite behavior, in which patients show greater difficulty in reporting a stimulus presented in isolation than they do in reporting 2 simultaneously presented stimuli. S. J. Goodrich and R. Ward (1997, Anti-extinction following unilateral parietal damage, Cognitive Neuropsychology, Vol. 14, pp. 595-612) suggested that visual anti-extinction is the result of a task-specific mechanism in which processing of the ipsilesional stimulus facilitates responses to the contralesional stimulus; in contrast, G. W. Humphreys, M. J. Riddoch, G. Nys, and D. Heinke (2002, Transient binding by time: Neuropsychological evidence from anti-extinction, Cognitive Neuropsychology, Vol. 19, pp. 361-380) suggested that temporal binding groups contralesional and ipsilesional stimuli together at brief exposure durations. We investigated extinction and anti-extinction phenomena in 3 brain-damaged patients using an extinction paradigm in which the stimulus exposure duration was systematically manipulated. Two patients showed both extinction and anti-extinction depending on the exposure duration of stimuli. Data confirmed the crucial role of duration in modulating the effect of extinction and anti-extinction. However, contrary to Humphreys and colleagues' (2002) single case, our patients showed extinction for short and anti-extinction for long exposure durations, suggesting that different mechanisms might underlie our patients' pattern of data. We discuss a novel "attentional waiting" hypothesis, which proposes that anti-extinction may be observed in patients showing extinction if the exposure duration of stimuli is increased. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Impacts of a massive release of methane and hydrogen sulfide on oxygen and ozone during the late Permian mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaiho, Kunio; Koga, Seizi

2013-08-01

The largest mass extinction of animals and plants in both the ocean and on land occurred in the late Permian (252 Ma), largely coinciding with the largest flood basalt volcanism event in Siberia and an oceanic anoxic/euxinic event. We investigated the impacts of a massive release of methane (CH4) from the Siberian igneous province and the ocean and/or hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from the euxinic ocean on oxygen and ozone using photochemical model calculations. Our calculations indicated that an approximate of 14% decrease in atmospheric O2 levels would have occurred in the case of a large combined CH4 and H2S flux to the atmosphere, whereas an approximate of 8 to 10% decrease would have occurred from the CH4 flux and oxidation of all H2S in the ocean. The slight decrease in atmospheric O2 levels may have contributed to the extinction event. We demonstrate for the first time that a massive release of CH4 from the Siberian igneous province and a coincident massive release of CH4 and H2S did not cause ozone collapse. A collapse of stratospheric ozone leading to an increase in UV is not supported by the maximum model input levels for CH4 and H2S. These conclusions on O2 and O3 are correspondent to every H2S release percentages from the ocean to the atmosphere.

When and how did the terrestrial mid-Permian mass extinction occur? Evidence from the tetrapod record of the Karoo Basin, South Africa

PubMed Central

Day, Michael O.; Ramezani, Jahandar; Bowring, Samuel A.; Sadler, Peter M.; Erwin, Douglas H.; Abdala, Fernando; Rubidge, Bruce S.

2015-01-01

A mid-Permian (Guadalupian epoch) extinction event at approximately 260 Ma has been mooted for two decades. This is based primarily on invertebrate biostratigraphy of Guadalupian–Lopingian marine carbonate platforms in southern China, which are temporally constrained by correlation to the associated Emeishan Large Igneous Province (LIP). Despite attempts to identify a similar biodiversity crisis in the terrestrial realm, the low resolution of mid-Permian tetrapod biostratigraphy and a lack of robust geochronological constraints have until now hampered both the correlation and quantification of terrestrial extinctions. Here we present an extensive compilation of tetrapod-stratigraphic data analysed by the constrained optimization (CONOP) algorithm that reveals a significant extinction event among tetrapods within the lower Beaufort Group of the Karoo Basin, South Africa, in the latest Capitanian. Our fossil dataset reveals a 74–80% loss of generic richness between the upper Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone (AZ) and the mid-Pristerognathus AZ that is temporally constrained by a U–Pb zircon date (CA-TIMS method) of 260.259 ± 0.081 Ma from a tuff near the top of the Tapinocephalus AZ. This strengthens the biochronology of the Permian Beaufort Group and supports the existence of a mid-Permian mass extinction event on land near the end of the Guadalupian. Our results permit a temporal association between the extinction of dinocephalian therapsids and the LIP volcanism at Emeishan, as well as the marine end-Guadalupian extinctions. PMID:26156768

An evaluation of criteria that may be used to identify species surviving a mass extinction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Macleod, N.

1994-01-01

One of the most difficult obstacles to establishing a causal connection between mass extinctions and large body impacts is the existence of what appear to be many more KT survivor species than previously suspected. Though interpretations of 'Cretaceous' faunal elements in lowermost Danian sediments differ, this enigmatic fauna has not been recovered from every biozone-complete boundary section, including the El Kef stratotype. In terms of their potential for providing constraints on scenarios seeking to account for the KT extinction event, the significance of such observations cannot be overstated. Owing to the consistency with which these observations have been made over the last several years, the possibility of widespread trans-KT biotic survivorship can no longer be dismissed. Rather, the survivorship hypothesis must be tested alongside its alternative (the reworking hypothesis) to determine which explains the available data in the most complete yet parsimonious manner. Moreover, valid tests for survivorship cannot be based on negative evidence or on the assumption that only a small cohort of species could have survived the KT boundary event. Several authors have recently proposed various criteria that might be used to test alternative interpretations for this aspect lowermost Danian biotic record.

Boreal earliest Triassic biotas elucidate globally depauperate hard substrate communities after the end-Permian mass extinction.

PubMed

Zatoń, Michał; Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz; Blom, Henning; Kear, Benjamin P

2016-11-08

The end-Permian mass extinction constituted the most devastating biotic crisis of the Phanerozoic. Its aftermath was characterized by harsh marine conditions incorporating volcanically induced oceanic warming, widespread anoxia and acidification. Bio-productivity accordingly experienced marked fluctuations. In particular, low palaeolatitude hard substrate communities from shallow seas fringing Western Pangaea and the Tethyan Realm were extremely impoverished, being dominated by monogeneric colonies of filter-feeding microconchid tubeworms. Here we present the first equivalent field data for Boreal hard substrate assemblages from the earliest Triassic (Induan) of East Greenland. This region bordered a discrete bio-realm situated at mid-high palaeolatitude (>30°N). Nevertheless, hard substrate biotas were compositionally identical to those from elsewhere, with microconchids encrusting Claraia bivalves and algal buildups on the sea floor. Biostratigraphical correlation further shows that Boreal microconchids underwent progressive tube modification and unique taxic diversification concordant with changing habitats over time. We interpret this as a post-extinction recovery and adaptive radiation sequence that mirrored coeval subequatorial faunas, and thus confirms hard substrate ecosystem depletion as a hallmark of the earliest Triassic interval globally.

Boreal earliest Triassic biotas elucidate globally depauperate hard substrate communities after the end-Permian mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zatoń, Michał; Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz; Blom, Henning; Kear, Benjamin P.

2016-11-01

The end-Permian mass extinction constituted the most devastating biotic crisis of the Phanerozoic. Its aftermath was characterized by harsh marine conditions incorporating volcanically induced oceanic warming, widespread anoxia and acidification. Bio-productivity accordingly experienced marked fluctuations. In particular, low palaeolatitude hard substrate communities from shallow seas fringing Western Pangaea and the Tethyan Realm were extremely impoverished, being dominated by monogeneric colonies of filter-feeding microconchid tubeworms. Here we present the first equivalent field data for Boreal hard substrate assemblages from the earliest Triassic (Induan) of East Greenland. This region bordered a discrete bio-realm situated at mid-high palaeolatitude (>30°N). Nevertheless, hard substrate biotas were compositionally identical to those from elsewhere, with microconchids encrusting Claraia bivalves and algal buildups on the sea floor. Biostratigraphical correlation further shows that Boreal microconchids underwent progressive tube modification and unique taxic diversification concordant with changing habitats over time. We interpret this as a post-extinction recovery and adaptive radiation sequence that mirrored coeval subequatorial faunas, and thus confirms hard substrate ecosystem depletion as a hallmark of the earliest Triassic interval globally.

The fossil record of evolution: Data on diversification and extinction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepkoski, J. J., Jr.

1986-01-01

Synoptic studies of the fossil record of complex life on Earth indicate increasingly that extinction, and especially mass extinction, were extremely important driving forces in the history of life. Analysis of a new compilation of geologic ranges for 25,000 genera of marine animals suggests that extinction events were much more frequent in occurrence and variable in magnitude than previously suspected. At least 30 well documented and potential mass extinctions were identified in the dataset. The most recent event, distributed over 260 to 0 ma. exhibit a stationary periodicity of 26.1 + or - 1 ma, implicating a cosmological forcing mechanism. Earlier events, especially in the 575 to 450 ma interval, are more frequent, possibly indicating either a breakdown of periodicity in the more distant past; and as yet undemonstrated diminution of the period length; or frequent aperiodic terrestrial perturbations of a less stable biota superimposed upon the cosmological periodicity.

Big cat, small cat: reconstructing body size evolution in living and extinct Felidae.

PubMed

Cuff, A R; Randau, M; Head, J; Hutchinson, J R; Pierce, S E; Goswami, A

2015-08-01

The evolution of body mass is a fundamental topic in evolutionary biology, because it is closely linked to manifold life history and ecological traits and is readily estimable for many extinct taxa. In this study, we examine patterns of body mass evolution in Felidae (Placentalia, Carnivora) to assess the effects of phylogeny, mode of evolution, and the relationship between body mass and prey choice in this charismatic mammalian clade. Our data set includes 39 extant and 26 extinct taxa, with published body mass data supplemented by estimates based on condylobasal length. These data were run through 'SURFACE' and 'bayou' to test for patterns of body mass evolution and convergence between taxa. Body masses of felids are significantly different among prey choice groupings (small, mixed and large). We find that body mass evolution in cats is strongly influenced by phylogeny, but different patterns emerged depending on inclusion of extinct taxa and assumptions about branch lengths. A single Ornstein-Uhlenbeck optimum best explains the distribution of body masses when first-occurrence data were used for the fossil taxa. However, when mean occurrence dates or last known occurrence dates were used, two selective optima for felid body mass were recovered in most analyses: a small optimum around 5 kg and a large one around 100 kg. Across living and extinct cats, we infer repeated evolutionary convergences towards both of these optima, but, likely due to biased extinction of large taxa, our results shift to supporting a Brownian motion model when only extant taxa are included in analyses. © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Ecological response to collapse of the biological pump following the mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vellekoop, Johan; Woelders, Lineke; Açikalin, Sanem; Smit, Jan; van de Schootbrugge, Bas; Yilmaz, Ismail Ö.; Brinkhuis, Henk; Speijer, Robert P.

2017-02-01

It is commonly accepted that the mass extinction associated with the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary (˜ 66 Ma) is related to the environmental effects of a large extraterrestrial impact. The biological and oceanographic consequences of the mass extinction are, however, still poorly understood. According to the Living Ocean model, the biological crisis at the K-Pg boundary resulted in a long-term reduction of export productivity in the early Paleocene. Here, we combine organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst) and benthic foraminiferal analyses to provide new insights into changes in the coupling of pelagic and benthic ecosystems. To this end, we perform dinocyst and benthic foraminiferal analyses on the recently discovered Tethyan K-Pg boundary section at Okçular, Turkey, and compare the results with other K-Pg boundary sites in the Tethys. The post-impact dominance of epibenthic morphotypes and an increase of inferred heterotrophic dinocysts in the early Paleocene at Okçular are consistent with published records from other western Tethyan sites. Together, these records indicate that during the early Paleocene more nutrients remained available for the Tethyan planktonic community, whereas benthic communities were deprived of food. Hence, in the post-impact phase the reduction of export productivity likely resulted in enhanced recycling of nutrients in the upper part of the water column, all along the western Tethyan margins.

The Lilliput Effect in Colonial Organisms: Cheilostome Bryozoans at the Cretaceous–Paleogene Mass Extinction

PubMed Central

Sogot, Caroline E.; Harper, Elizabeth M.; Taylor, Paul D.

2014-01-01

Consistent trends towards decreasing body size in the aftermath of mass extinctions – Lilliput effects – imply a predictable response among unitary animals to these events. The occurrence of Lilliput effects has yet to be widely tested in colonial organisms, which are of particular interest as size change may potentially occur at the two hierarchical levels of the colony and the individual zooids. Bryozoans are particularly useful organisms in which to study colonial size response as they have well-defined zooids. Additionally, a number of analyses of present-day bryozoans have shown that zooid size reflects local environmental conditions, most notably seawater temperature and possibly also food supply. Following the hypothesised decline in primary productivity at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) mass extinction, it is predicted that bryozoan zooid size should decline in the early Paleogene, resulting in a Lilliput effect. To test this prediction, zooid size was compared across the K–Pg boundary at the assemblage level and also within 4 surviving genera. Analysis of 59 bryozoan species from assemblages on either side of the K–Pg boundary showed no significant change in zooid length. Zooid size was also measured in 98 Maastrichtian colonies and 162 Danian colonies belonging to four congeneric species. Only one of these genera showed a significant size decrease across the K–Pg boundary, the other three maintaining constant zooidal lengths, widths and areas. Additionally, the sizes of 210 Maastrichtian colonies and 163 Danian colonies did not show consistent size decrease across the K–Pg boundary in these same species, although maximum colony size did decline in three out of four genera. Furthermore, this lack of consistent size change is uniform between two distinct biogeographical regions, Denmark and the southeastern USA. PMID:24505275

The Triassic dicynodont Kombuisia (Synapsida, Anomodontia) from Antarctica, a refuge from the terrestrial Permian-Triassic mass extinction.

PubMed

Fröbisch, Jörg; Angielczyk, Kenneth D; Sidor, Christian A

2010-02-01

Fossils from the central Transantarctic Mountains in Antarctica are referred to a new species of the Triassic genus Kombuisia, one of four dicynodont lineages known to survive the end-Permian mass extinction. The specimens show a unique combination of characters only present in this genus, but the new species can be distinguished from the type species of the genus, Kombuisia frerensis, by the presence of a reduced but slit-like pineal foramen and the lack of contact between the postorbitals. Although incomplete, the Antarctic specimens are significant because Kombuisia was previously known only from the South African Karoo Basin and the new specimens extend the taxon's biogeographic range to a wider portion of southern Pangaea. In addition, the new finds extend the known stratigraphic range of Kombuisia from the Middle Triassic subzone B of the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone into rocks that are equivalent in age to the Lower Triassic Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone, shortening the proposed ghost lineage of this taxon. Most importantly, the occurrence of Kombuisia and Lystrosaurus mccaigi in the Lower Triassic of Antarctica suggests that this area served as a refuge from some of the effects of the end-Permian extinction. The composition of the lower Fremouw Formation fauna implies a community structure similar to that of the ecologically anomalous Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of South Africa, providing additional evidence for widespread ecological disturbance in the extinction's aftermath.

The FMOS-COSMOS survey of star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1.6. II. The mass-metallicity relation and the dependence on star formation rate and dust extinction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zahid, H. J.; Sanders, D. B.; Chu, J.

We investigate the relationships between stellar mass, gas-phase oxygen abundance (metallicity), star formation rate (SFR), and dust content of star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1.6 using Subaru/FMOS spectroscopy in the COSMOS field. The mass-metallicity (MZ) relation at z ∼ 1.6 is steeper than the relation observed in the local universe. The steeper MZ relation at z ∼ 1.6 is mainly due to evolution in the stellar mass where the MZ relation begins to turnover and flatten. This turnover mass is 1.2 dex larger at z ∼ 1.6. The most massive galaxies at z ∼ 1.6 (∼10{sup 11} M {sub ☉})more » are enriched to the level observed in massive galaxies in the local universe. The MZ relation we measure at z ∼ 1.6 supports the suggestion of an empirical upper metallicity limit that does not significantly evolve with redshift. We find an anti-correlation between metallicity and SFR for galaxies at a fixed stellar mass at z ∼ 1.6, which is similar to trends observed in the local universe. We do not find a relation between stellar mass, metallicity, and SFR that is independent of redshift; rather, our data suggest that there is redshift evolution in this relation. We examine the relation between stellar mass, metallicity, and dust extinction, and find that at a fixed stellar mass, dustier galaxies tend to be more metal rich. From examination of the stellar masses, metallicities, SFRs, and dust extinctions, we conclude that stellar mass is most closely related to dust extinction.« less

Current extinction rates of reptiles and amphibians.

PubMed

Alroy, John

2015-10-20

There is broad concern that a mass extinction of amphibians and reptiles is now underway. Here I apply an extremely conservative Bayesian method to estimate the number of recent amphibian and squamate extinctions in nine important tropical and subtropical regions. The data stem from a combination of museum collection databases and published site surveys. The method computes an extinction probability for each species by considering its sighting frequency and last sighting date. It infers hardly any extinction when collection dates are randomized and it provides underestimates when artificial extinction events are imposed. The method also appears to be insensitive to trends in sampling; therefore, the counts it provides are absolute minimums. Extinctions or severe population crashes have accumulated steadily since the 1970s and 1980s, and at least 3.1% of frog species have already disappeared. Based on these data and this conservative method, the best estimate of the global grand total is roughly 200 extinctions. Consistent with previous results, frog losses are heavy in Latin America, which has been greatly affected by the pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Extinction rates are now four orders-of-magnitude higher than background, and at least another 6.9% of all frog species may be lost within the next century, even if there is no acceleration in the growth of environmental threats.

Current extinction rates of reptiles and amphibians

PubMed Central

Alroy, John

2015-01-01

There is broad concern that a mass extinction of amphibians and reptiles is now underway. Here I apply an extremely conservative Bayesian method to estimate the number of recent amphibian and squamate extinctions in nine important tropical and subtropical regions. The data stem from a combination of museum collection databases and published site surveys. The method computes an extinction probability for each species by considering its sighting frequency and last sighting date. It infers hardly any extinction when collection dates are randomized and it provides underestimates when artificial extinction events are imposed. The method also appears to be insensitive to trends in sampling; therefore, the counts it provides are absolute minimums. Extinctions or severe population crashes have accumulated steadily since the 1970s and 1980s, and at least 3.1% of frog species have already disappeared. Based on these data and this conservative method, the best estimate of the global grand total is roughly 200 extinctions. Consistent with previous results, frog losses are heavy in Latin America, which has been greatly affected by the pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Extinction rates are now four orders-of-magnitude higher than background, and at least another 6.9% of all frog species may be lost within the next century, even if there is no acceleration in the growth of environmental threats. PMID:26438855

Geographic range did not confer resilience to extinction in terrestrial vertebrates at the end-Triassic crisis.

PubMed

Dunhill, Alexander M; Wills, Matthew A

2015-08-11

Rates of extinction vary greatly through geological time, with losses particularly concentrated in mass extinctions. Species duration at other times varies greatly, but the reasons for this are unclear. Geographical range correlates with lineage duration amongst marine invertebrates, but it is less clear how far this generality extends to other groups in other habitats. It is also unclear whether a wide geographical distribution makes groups more likely to survive mass extinctions. Here we test for extinction selectivity amongst terrestrial vertebrates across the end-Triassic event. We demonstrate that terrestrial vertebrate clades with larger geographical ranges were more resilient to extinction than those with smaller ranges throughout the Triassic and Jurassic. However, this relationship weakened with increasing proximity to the end-Triassic mass extinction, breaking down altogether across the event itself. We demonstrate that these findings are not a function of sampling biases; a perennial issue in studies of this kind.

High precision time calibration of the Permo-Triassic boundary mass extinction by U-Pb geochronology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baresel, Björn; Bucher, Hugo; Brosse, Morgane; Schaltegger, Urs

2014-05-01

U-Pb dating using Chemical Abrasion, Isotope Dilution Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) is the analytical method of choice for geochronologists, who are seeking highest temporal resolution and a high degree of accuracy for single grains of zircon. The use of double-isotope tracer solutions, cross-calibrated and assessed in different EARTHTIME labs, coinciding with the reassessment of the uranium decay constants and further improvements in ion counting technology led to unprecedented precision better than 0.1% for single grain, and 0.05% for population ages, respectively. These analytical innovations now allow calibrating magmatic and biological timescales at resolution adequate for both groups of processes. To construct a revised and high resolution calibrated time scale for the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) we use (i) high-precision U-Pb zircon age determinations of a unique succession of volcanic ash beds interbedded with shallow to deep water fossiliferous sediments in the Nanpanjiang Basin (South China) combined with (ii) accurate quantitative biochronology based on ammonoids and conodonts and (iii) carbon isotope excursions across the PTB. Using these alignments allows (i) positioning the PTB in different depositional environments and (ii) solving age/stratigraphic contradictions generated by the index, water depth-controlled conodont Hindeodus parvus, whose diachronous first occurrences are arbitrarily used for placing the base of the Triassic. This new age framework provides the basis for a combined calibration of chemostratigraphic records with high-resolution biochronozones of the Late Permian and Early Triassic. Besides the general improvement of the radio-isotopic calibration of the PTB at the ±100 ka level, this will also lead to a better understanding of cause and effect relations involved in this mass extinction.

Biological hierarchies and the nature of extinction.

PubMed

Congreve, Curtis R; Falk, Amanda R; Lamsdell, James C

2018-05-01

could be used to suggest that environmentally mediated patterns of extinction or slowed speciation across geological time are largely artefacts of poor preservation or a coarse temporal scale. We demonstrate how MALF fits into a hierarchical framework, showing that MALF can be a primary forcing mechanism at lower scales that still results in differential survivorship patterns at the species and clade level which vary depending upon the initial environmental forcing mechanism. Thus, even if MALF is the primary mechanism of extinction across all mass extinction events, the primary environmental cause of these events will still affect the system and result in differential responses. Therefore, patterns at both temporal scales are relevant. © 2017 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Multiple microtektite horizons in upper Eocene marine sediments: No evidence for mass extinctions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keller, G.; D'Hondt, Steven L.; Vallier, T.L.

1983-01-01

Microtektites have been recovered from three horizons in eight middle Eocene to middle Oligocene marine sediment sequences. Five of these occurrences are coeval and of latest Eocene age (37.5 to 38.0 million years ago); three are coeval and of early late Eocene age (38.5 to 39.5 million years ago); and three are of middle Oligocene age (31 to 32 million years ago). In addition, rare probable microtektites have been found in sediments with ages of about 36.0 to 36.5 million years. The microtektite horizon at 37.5 to 38.0 million years can be correlated with the North American tektite-strewn field, which has a fission track age (minimum) of 34 to 35 million years and a paleomagnetic age of 37.5 to 38.0 million years. There is no evidence for mass faunal extinctions at any of the microtektite horizons. Many of the distinct faunal changes that occurred in the middle Eocene to middle Oligocene can be related to the formation of the Antarctic ice sheet and the associated cooling phenomena and intensification of bottom currents that led to large-scale dissolution of calcium carbonate and erosion, which created areally extensive hiatuses in the deep-sea sediment records. The occurrence of microtektite horizons of several ages and the lack of evidence for faunal extinctions suggest that the effects of extraterrestrial bolide impacts may be unimportant in the biologic realm during middle Eocene to middle Oligocene time.

Late Pleistocene and Holocene mammal extinctions on continental Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faith, J. Tyler

2014-01-01

Understanding the cause of late Quaternary mammal extinctions is the subject of intense debate spanning the fields of archeology and paleontology. In the global context, the losses on continental Africa have received little attention and are poorly understood. This study aims to inspire new discussion of African extinctions through a review of the extinct species and the chronology and possible causes of those extinctions. There are at least 24 large mammal (> 5 kg) species known to have disappeared from continental Africa during the late Pleistocene or Holocene, indicating a much greater taxonomic breadth than previously recognized. Among the better sampled taxa, these losses are restricted to the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene, between 13,000 and 6000 yrs ago. The African extinctions preferentially affected species that are grazers or prefer grasslands. Where good terrestrial paleoenvironmental records are present, extinctions are associated with changes in the availability, productivity, or structure of grassland habitats, suggesting that environmental changes played a decisive role in the losses. In the broader evolutionary context, these extinctions represent recent examples of selective taxonomic winnowing characterized by the loss of grassland specialists and the establishment of large mammal communities composed of more ecologically flexible taxa over the last million years. There is little reason to believe that humans played an important role in African extinctions.

Enhanced methane emission during carbonaceous sediment-basalt interactions as a mechanism for mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kubo, A. I.; Day, J. M.; Ryabov, V. V.; Taylor, L. A.

2016-12-01

Precise dating techniques have established the contemporaneous eruption of the Siberian Traps at the beginning of the Permian faunal mass extinction at 248 ± 2 Ma. Within a relatively limited time-period ( 1 Ma), the Siberian Traps expelled approximately ninety percent of its total volume ( 1.5 Mkm3), each episode of volcanism adding substantial amounts of CO2, CH4, and SO2 to the atmosphere. The Permian-Triassic Boundary shows average organic carbon isotope excursions of -6.4 ± 4.4‰ (253 Ma), from a long-term average δ13Corg of -25‰. Retallack and Jahren [2008; Journal of Geology] suggested that eruption into C-rich sediments and resulting methane degassing would satisfy necessary conditions to cause such large, variable perturbations in the carbon isotope record. To test this hypothesis, we measured C isotope variations in upper crustal sediments and metalliferous basalts from the Khungtukun and Dzhatul Intrusions, of the Siberian Traps. We find that δ13C values for Siberian coal and sandstones are restricted at -23 to -25‰, with similar values measured in the metalliferous basalts. Anticipated thermogenic methane from disassociation of these sources would be considerably lighter and consistent with low δ13C isotopic values. We further test this mechanism by employing a zero dimensional energy balance model to examine three key parameters: eruption duration, amounts of CO2 and CH4 emission, and the frequency of eruptions. Greater methane emissions than previously estimated due to carbonaceous sediment-basalt interactions have a sustained temperature effect due to high global warming potential (GWP), between 28 and 36 over 100 years compared to the CO2 reference value. Our model predicts that a quick succession of massive effusive eruptions would cause a sustained and substantial temperature effect consistent with estimated equatorial levels of 40°C during the Permian-Triassic Boundary. This mechanism could explain the deficit between the amount of

Self-extinction through optimizing selection.

PubMed

Parvinen, Kalle; Dieckmann, Ulf

2013-09-21

Evolutionary suicide is a process in which selection drives a viable population to extinction. So far, such selection-driven self-extinction has been demonstrated in models with frequency-dependent selection. This is not surprising, since frequency-dependent selection can disconnect individual-level and population-level interests through environmental feedback. Hence it can lead to situations akin to the tragedy of the commons, with adaptations that serve the selfish interests of individuals ultimately ruining a population. For frequency-dependent selection to play such a role, it must not be optimizing. Together, all published studies of evolutionary suicide have created the impression that evolutionary suicide is not possible with optimizing selection. Here we disprove this misconception by presenting and analyzing an example in which optimizing selection causes self-extinction. We then take this line of argument one step further by showing, in a further example, that selection-driven self-extinction can occur even under frequency-independent selection. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Will a warmer and wetter future cause extinction of native Hawaiian forest birds?

PubMed

Liao, Wei; Elison Timm, Oliver; Zhang, Chunxi; Atkinson, Carter T; LaPointe, Dennis A; Samuel, Michael D

2015-12-01

Isolation of the Hawaiian archipelago produced a highly endemic and unique avifauna. Avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum), an introduced mosquito-borne pathogen, is a primary cause of extinctions and declines of these endemic honeycreepers. Our research assesses how global climate change will affect future malaria risk and native bird populations. We used an epidemiological model to evaluate future bird-mosquito-malaria dynamics in response to alternative climate projections from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. Climate changes during the second half of the century accelerate malaria transmission and cause a dramatic decline in bird abundance. Different temperature and precipitation patterns produce divergent trajectories where native birds persist with low malaria infection under a warmer and dryer projection (RCP4.5), but suffer high malaria infection and severe reductions under hot and dry (RCP8.5) or warm and wet (A1B) futures. We conclude that future global climate change will cause significant decreases in the abundance and diversity of remaining Hawaiian bird communities. Because these effects appear unlikely before mid-century, natural resource managers have time to implement conservation strategies to protect this unique avifauna from further decimation. Similar climatic drivers for avian and human malaria suggest that mitigation strategies for Hawai'i have broad application to human health. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Will a warmer and wetter future cause extinction of native Hawaiian forest birds?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Liao, Wei; Timm, Oliver Elison; Zhang, Chunxi; Atkinson, Carter T.; LaPointe, Dennis; Samuel, Michael D.

2015-01-01

Isolation of the Hawaiian archipelago produced a highly endemic and unique avifauna. Avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum), an introduced mosquito-borne pathogen, is a primary cause of extinctions and declines of these endemic honeycreepers. Our research assesses how global climate change will affect future malaria risk and native bird populations. We used an epidemiological model to evaluate future bird-mosquito-malaria dynamics in response to alternative climate projections from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP). Climate changes during the second half of the century accelerate malaria transmission and cause a dramatic decline in bird abundance. Different temperature and precipitation patterns produce divergent trajectories where native birds persist with low malaria infection under a warmer and dryer projection (RCP4.5), but suffer high malaria infection and severe reductions under hot and dry (RCP8.5) or warm and wet (A1B) futures. We conclude that future global climate change will cause significant decreases in the abundance and diversity of remaining Hawaiian bird communities. Because these effects appear unlikely before mid-century, natural resource managers have time to implement conservation strategies to protect this unique avifauna from further decimation. Similar climatic drivers for avian and human malaria suggest that mitigation strategies for Hawai'i have broad application to human health.

The impacts of aerosol loading, composition, and water uptake on aerosol extinction variability in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beyersdorf, A. J.; Ziemba, L. D.; Chen, G.; Corr, C. A.; Crawford, J. H.; Diskin, G. S.; Moore, R. H.; Thornhill, K. L.; Winstead, E. L.; Anderson, B. E.

2016-01-01

In order to utilize satellite-based aerosol measurements for the determination of air quality, the relationship between aerosol optical properties (wavelength-dependent, column-integrated extinction measured by satellites) and mass measurements of aerosol loading (PM2.5 used for air quality monitoring) must be understood. This connection varies with many factors including those specific to the aerosol type - such as composition, size, and hygroscopicity - and to the surrounding atmosphere, such as temperature, relative humidity (RH), and altitude, all of which can vary spatially and temporally. During the DISCOVER-AQ (Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality) project, extensive in situ atmospheric profiling in the Baltimore, MD-Washington, D.C. region was performed during 14 flights in July 2011. Identical flight plans and profile locations throughout the project provide meaningful statistics for determining the variability in and correlations between aerosol loading, composition, optical properties, and meteorological conditions. Measured water-soluble aerosol mass was composed primarily of ammonium sulfate (campaign average of 32 %) and organics (57 %). A distinct difference in composition was observed, with high-loading days having a proportionally larger percentage of sulfate due to transport from the Ohio River Valley. This composition shift caused a change in the aerosol water-uptake potential (hygroscopicity) such that higher relative contributions of inorganics increased the bulk aerosol hygroscopicity. These days also tended to have higher relative humidity, causing an increase in the water content of the aerosol. Conversely, low-aerosol-loading days had lower sulfate and higher black carbon contributions, causing lower single-scattering albedos (SSAs). The average black carbon concentrations were 240 ng m-3 in the lowest 1 km, decreasing to 35 ng m-3 in the free troposphere (above

Abrupt climate change and extinction events

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crowley, Thomas J.

1988-01-01

There is a growing body of theoretical and empirical support for the concept of instabilities in the climate system, and indications that abrupt climate change may in some cases contribute to abrupt extinctions. Theoretical indications of instabilities can be found in a broad spectrum of climate models (energy balance models, a thermohaline model of deep-water circulation, atmospheric general circulation models, and coupled ocean-atmosphere models). Abrupt transitions can be of several types and affect the environment in different ways. There is increasing evidence for abrupt climate change in the geologic record and involves both interglacial-glacial scale transitions and the longer-term evolution of climate over the last 100 million years. Records from the Cenozoic clearly show that the long-term trend is characterized by numerous abrupt steps where the system appears to be rapidly moving to a new equilibrium state. The long-term trend probably is due to changes associated with plate tectonic processes, but the abrupt steps most likely reflect instabilities in the climate system as the slowly changing boundary conditions caused the climate to reach some threshold critical point. A more detailed analysis of abrupt steps comes from high-resolution studies of glacial-interglacial fluctuations in the Pleistocene. Comparison of climate transitions with the extinction record indicates that many climate and biotic transitions coincide. The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction is not a candidate for an extinction event due to instabilities in the climate system. It is quite possible that more detailed comparisons and analysis will indicate some flaws in the climate instability-extinction hypothesis, but at present it appears to be a viable candidate as an alternate mechanism for causing abrupt environmental changes and extinctions.

Ca, Sr, Mo and U isotopes evidence ocean acidification and deoxygenation during the Late Permian mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva-Tamayo, Juan Carlos; Payne, Jon; Wignall, Paul; Newton, Rob; Eisenhauer, Anton; Weyer, Stenfan; Neubert, Nadja; Lau, Kim; Maher, Kate; Paytan, Adina; Lehrmann, Dan; Altiner, Demir; Yu, Meiyi

2014-05-01

The most catastrophic extinction event in the history of animal life occurred at the end of the Permian Period, ca. 252 Mya. Ocean acidification and global oceanic euxinia have each been proposed as causes of this biotic crisis, but the magnitude and timing of change in global ocean chemistry remains poorly constrained. Here we use multiple isotope systems - Ca, Sr, Mo and U - measured from well dated Upper Permian- Lower Triassic sedimentary sections to better constrain the magnitude and timing of change in ocean chemistry and the effects of ocean acidification and de-oxygenation through this interval. All the investigated carbonate successions (Turkey, Italy and China) exhibit decreasing δ44/40Ca compositions, from ~-1.4‰ to -2.0‰ in the interval preceding the main extinction. These values remain low during most of the Griesbachian, to finally return to -1.4‰ in the middle Dienerian. The limestone succession from southern Turkey also displays a major decrease in the δ88/86Sr values from 0.45‰ to 0.3‰ before the extinction. These values remain low during the Griesbachian and finally increase to 0.55‰ by the middle Dienerian. The paired negative anomalies on the carbonate δ44/40Ca and δ88/86Sr suggest a decrease in the carbonate precipitation and thus an episode of ocean acidification coincident with the major biotic crisis. The Mo and U isotope records also exhibit significant rapid negative anomalies at the onset of the main extinction interval, suggesting rapid expansion of anoxic and euxinic marine bottom waters during the extinction interval. The rapidity of the isotope excursions in Mo and U suggests substantially reduced residence times of these elements in seawater relative to the modern, consistent with expectations for a time of widespread anoxia. The large C-isotope variability within Lower Triassic rocks, which is similar to that of the Lower-Middle Cambrian, may reflect biologically controlled perturbations of the oceanic carbon cycle

VISION - Vienna Survey in Orion. II. Infrared extinction in Orion A

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meingast, Stefan; Alves, João; Lombardi, Marco

2018-06-01

We have investigated the shape of the extinction curve in the infrared up to 25μm for the Orion A star-forming complex. The basis of this work is near-infrared data acquired with the Visual and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, in combination with Pan-STARRS and mid-infrared Spitzer photometry. We obtain colour excess ratios for eight passbands by fitting a series of colour-colour diagrams. The fits are performed using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods, together with a linear model under a Bayesian formalism. The resulting colour excess ratios are directly interpreted as a measure of the extinction law. We show that the Orion A molecular cloud is characterized by flat mid-infrared extinction, similar to many other recently studied sightlines. Moreover, we find statistically significant evidence that the extinction law from 1μm to at least 6μm varies across the cloud. In particular, we find a gradient along galactic longitude, where regions near the Orion Nebula Cluster show a different extinction law compared to L1641 and L1647, the low-mass star-forming sites in the cloud complex. These variations are of the order of only 3% and are most likely caused by the influence of the massive stars on their surrounding medium. While the observed general trends in our measurements are in agreement with model predictions, both well-established and new dust grain models are not able to fully reproduce our infrared extinction curve. We also present a new extinction map featuring a resolution of 1' and revisit the correlation between extinction and dust optical depth. This analysis shows that cloud substructure, which is not sampled by background sources, affects the conversion factor between these two measures. In conclusion, we argue that specific characteristics of the infrared extinction law are still not well understood, but Orion A can serve as an unbiased template for future studies. The extinction map (FITS file) is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to

Extinction Mapping and Dust-to-Gas Ratios of Nearby Galaxies using LEGUS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kahre, Lauren; Walterbos, Rene; Kim, Hwihyun; Thilker, David; Lee, Janice; LEGUS Team

2018-01-01

Dust is commonly used as a tracer for cold dense gas, either through IR and NIR emission maps or through extinction mapping, and dust abundance and gas metallicity are critical constraints for chemical and galaxy evolution models. Extinction mapping has been used to trace dust column densities in the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds, and M31. The maps for M31 use IR and NIR photometry of red giant branch stars, which is more difficult to obtain for more distant galaxies. Work by Kahre et al. (in prep) uses the extinctions derived for individual massive stars using the isochrone-matching method described by Kim et al. (2012) to generate extinction maps for these more distant galaxies.Isochrones of massive stars lie in the same location on a color-color diagram with little dependence on metallicity and luminosity class, so the extinction can be directly derived from the observed photometry. We generate extinction maps using photometry of massive stars from the Hubble Space Telescope for several of the nearly 50 galaxies observed by the Legacy Extragalactic Ultraviolet Survey (LEGUS). The derived extinction maps will allow us to correct ground-based and HST Halpha maps for extinction, and will be used to constrain changes in the dust-to-gas ratio across the galaxy sample and in different star formation, metallicity and morphological environments. Previous studies have found links between galaxy metallicity and the dust-to-gas mass ratio. We present a study of LEGUS galaxies spanning a range of distances, metallicities, and galaxy morphologies, expanding on our previous study of metal-poor dwarfs Holmberg I and II and giant spirals NGC 6503 and NGC 628. We see clear evidence for changes in the dust-to-gas mass ratio with changing metallicity. We also examine changes in the dust-to-gas mass ratio with galactocentric radius. Ultimately, we will provide constraints on the dust-to-gas mass ratio across a wide range of galaxy environments.

Atmospheric extinction in simulation tools for solar tower plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanrieder, Natalie; Wilbert, Stefan; Schroedter-Homscheidt, Marion; Schnell, Franziska; Guevara, Diana Mancera; Buck, Reiner; Giuliano, Stefano; Pitz-Paal, Robert

2017-06-01

Atmospheric extinction causes significant radiation losses between the heliostat field and the receiver in a solar tower plants. These losses vary with site and time. State of the art is that in ray-tracing and plant optimization tools, atmospheric extinction is included by choosing between few constant standard atmospheric conditions. Even though some tools allow the consideration of site and time dependent extinction data, such data sets are nearly never available. This paper summarizes and compares the most common model equations implemented in several ray-tracing tools. There are already several methods developed and published to measure extinction on-site. An overview of the existing methods is also given here. Ray-tracing simulations of one exemplary tower plant at the Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) are presented to estimate the plant yield deviations between simulations using standard model equations instead of extinction time series. For PSA, the effect of atmospheric extinction accounts for losses between 1.6 and 7 %. This range is caused by considering overload dumping or not. Applying standard clear or hazy model equations instead of extinction time series lead to an underestimation of the annual plant yield at PSA. The discussion of the effect of extinction in tower plants has to include overload dumping. Situations in which overload dumping occurs are mostly connected to high radiation levels and low atmospheric extinction. Therefore it can be recommended that project developers should consider site and time dependent extinction data especially on hazy sites. A reduced uncertainty of the plant yield prediction can significantly reduce costs due to smaller risk margins for financing and EPCs. The generation of extinction data for several locations in form of representative yearly time series or geographical maps should be further elaborated.

Global Evidence for an End-Permian Mass Extinction Event

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker, L.; Nicholson, C.; Poreda, R.; Basu, A.; Acampo, A.

2003-04-01

We will present the global evidence for a Permian-Triassic impact event and re-examine some of the structural, seismic, gravity and well data for a proposed impact crater, the Bedout High, offshore northwestern Australia (Gorter, PESA News pp. 33--34, 1996). Gorter (1996) speculates that the Bedout High is the uplifted core (30 km) of a circular feature, some 220 km across, formed by the impact of a large bolide (comet or asteroid) with the earth near the end-Permian (K-Ar dating of volcanics ˜253 +/- 5 Ma). Accepting a possible impact origin for the Bedout structure, with the indicated dimensions, would have had profound effects on global climate and significant changes in lithotratigraphic, biostratigraphic and chemo-stratigraphic indicators as seen in several Permian-Triassic locations worldwide. Evidence for an impact of extraterrestrial origin is based upon several impact tracers including shocked metamorphosed grains, productivity collapse, helium-3, Mossbauer spectroscopy on nanophase Fe material, noble gases in magnetic fines and fullerenes with trapped noble gases from some end-Permian sites. These findings suggest that the Bedout structure and a possible newly discovered (˜100 km) secondary crater may be good candidates for an oceanic/continental impact(s) at the end Permian, triggering the most severe mass extinction in the history of life on the Earth.

Extinction risk is most acute for the world's largest and smallest vertebrates.

PubMed

Ripple, William J; Wolf, Christopher; Newsome, Thomas M; Hoffmann, Michael; Wirsing, Aaron J; McCauley, Douglas J

2017-10-03

Extinction risk in vertebrates has been linked to large body size, but this putative relationship has only been explored for select taxa, with variable results. Using a newly assembled and taxonomically expansive database, we analyzed the relationships between extinction risk and body mass (27,647 species) and between extinction risk and range size (21,294 species) for vertebrates across six main classes. We found that the probability of being threatened was positively and significantly related to body mass for birds, cartilaginous fishes, and mammals. Bimodal relationships were evident for amphibians, reptiles, and bony fishes. Most importantly, a bimodal relationship was found across all vertebrates such that extinction risk changes around a body mass breakpoint of 0.035 kg, indicating that the lightest and heaviest vertebrates have elevated extinction risk. We also found range size to be an important predictor of the probability of being threatened, with strong negative relationships across nearly all taxa. A review of the drivers of extinction risk revealed that the heaviest vertebrates are most threatened by direct killing by humans. By contrast, the lightest vertebrates are most threatened by habitat loss and modification stemming especially from pollution, agricultural cropping, and logging. Our results offer insight into halting the ongoing wave of vertebrate extinctions by revealing the vulnerability of large and small taxa, and identifying size-specific threats. Moreover, they indicate that, without intervention, anthropogenic activities will soon precipitate a double truncation of the size distribution of the world's vertebrates, fundamentally reordering the structure of life on our planet.

Recovery of Carbonate Ecosystems Following the End-Triassic Mass Extinction: Insights from Mercury Anomalies and Their Relationship to the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corsetti, F. A.; Thibodeau, A. M.; Ritterbush, K. A.; West, A. J.; Yager, J. A.; Ibarra, Y.; Bottjer, D. J.; Berelson, W.; Bergquist, B. A.

2015-12-01

Recent high-resolution age dating demonstrates that the end-Triassic mass extinction overlapped with the eruption of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), and the release of CO2 and other volatiles to the atmosphere has been implicated in the extinction. Given the potentially massive release of CO2, ocean acidification is commonly considered a factor in the extinction and the collapse of shallow marine carbonate ecosystems. However, the timing of global marine biotic recovery versus the CAMP eruptions is more uncertain. Here, we use Hg concentrations and Hg/TOC ratios as indicators of CAMP volcanism in continental shelf sediments, the primary archive of faunal data. In Triassic-Jurassic strata, Muller Canyon, Nevada, Hg and Hg/TOC levels are low prior to the extinction, rise sharply in the extinction interval, peak just prior to the appearance of the first Jurassic ammonite, and remain above background in association with a depauperate (low diversity) earliest Jurassic fauna. The return of Hg to pre-extinction levels is associated with a significant pelagic and benthic faunal recovery. We conclude that significant biotic recovery did not begin until CAMP eruptions ceased. Furthermore, the initial benthic recovery in the Muller Canyon section involves the expansion of a siliceous sponge-dominated ecosystem across shallow marine environments, a feature now known from other sections around the world (e.g., Peru, Morocco, Austria, etc.). Carbonate dominated benthic ecosystems (heralded by the return of abundant corals and other skeletal carbonates) did not recover for ~1 million years following the last eruption of CAMP, longer than the typical duration considered for ocean acidification events, implying other factors may have played a role in carbonate ecosystem dynamics after the extinction.

Opposite effects of fear conditioning and extinction on dendritic spine remodelling.

PubMed

Lai, Cora Sau Wan; Franke, Thomas F; Gan, Wen-Biao

2012-02-19

It is generally believed that fear extinction is a form of new learning that inhibits rather than erases previously acquired fear memories. Although this view has gained much support from behavioural and electrophysiological studies, the hypothesis that extinction causes the partial erasure of fear memories remains viable. Using transcranial two-photon microscopy, we investigated how neural circuits are modified by fear learning and extinction by examining the formation and elimination of postsynaptic dendritic spines of layer-V pyramidal neurons in the mouse frontal association cortex. Here we show that fear conditioning by pairing an auditory cue with a footshock increases the rate of spine elimination. By contrast, fear extinction by repeated presentation of the same auditory cue without a footshock increases the rate of spine formation. The degrees of spine remodelling induced by fear conditioning and extinction strongly correlate with the expression and extinction of conditioned fear responses, respectively. Notably, spine elimination and formation induced by fear conditioning and extinction occur on the same dendritic branches in a cue- and location-specific manner: cue-specific extinction causes formation of dendritic spines within a distance of two micrometres from spines that were eliminated after fear conditioning. Furthermore, reconditioning preferentially induces elimination of dendritic spines that were formed after extinction. Thus, within vastly complex neuronal networks, fear conditioning, extinction and reconditioning lead to opposing changes at the level of individual synapses. These findings also suggest that fear memory traces are partially erased after extinction.

Thermal erosion of cratonic lithosphere as a potential trigger for mass-extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pilet, S.; Müntener, O.; Jean, G.; Schoene, B.; Schaltegger, U.

2016-12-01

The temporal coincidence between LIPs and mass extinctions has led many to pose a causal relationship between the two. However, there is still no consensus on a mechanistic model that explains how magmatism leads to the turnover of terrestrial and marine plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. Here, we present a synthesis of stratigraphic constraints on the Triassic-Jurassic and Pliensbachian-Toarcian boundaries combined with geochronological data demonstrating that these biotic crises are both associated with rapid change from an initial cool period to greenhouse conditions. As current hypothesis for LIPs seems unable to produce these successive climatic changes, we evaluate an alternative suggesting that the initial cooling could be due to gas release during the initial thermal erosion of the cratonic lithosphere due to emplacement of the CAMP and Karoo-Ferrar volcanic provinces. Karoo and CAMP areas were underlain by thick lithosphere (>200 km) prior to continental break up. Even in presence of abnormal potential mantle temperature, the presence of thick lithosphere excludes significant melting of the asthenospheric mantle without initial stage of thermal erosion of the cratonic lithosphere. Various studies on Kaapvaal craton have shown that sulfide minerals are enclosed in the basal part of the cratonic lithosphere. We argue that initial gas emission was dominated by sulfur liberated from sulfide-bearing cratonic lithosphere causing global cooling and eustatic regression, which was followed by warming/transgression associated with the progressive increase of CO2 in the atmosphere associated to LIPs emission. We suggest that the nature of the underlying lithosphere during large LIP eruption exerts an important control on the consequences at the Earth's surface. This model offers an explanation for why LIPs erupted through oceanic lithosphere are not associated with climatic and biotic crises comparable to LIPs emitted through cratonic lithosphere.

Empty Niches after Extinctions Increase Population Sizes of Modern Corals.

PubMed

Prada, Carlos; Hanna, Bishoy; Budd, Ann F; Woodley, Cheryl M; Schmutz, Jeremy; Grimwood, Jane; Iglesias-Prieto, Roberto; Pandolfi, John M; Levitan, Don; Johnson, Kenneth G; Knowlton, Nancy; Kitano, Hiroaki; DeGiorgio, Michael; Medina, Mónica

2016-12-05

Large environmental fluctuations often cause mass extinctions, extirpating species and transforming communities [1, 2]. While the effects on community structure are evident in the fossil record, demographic consequences for populations of individual species are harder to evaluate because fossils reveal relative, but not absolute, abundances. However, genomic analyses of living species that have survived a mass extinction event offer the potential for understanding the demographic effects of such environmental fluctuations on extant species. Here, we show how environmental variation since the Pliocene has shaped demographic changes in extant corals of the genus Orbicella, major extant reef builders in the Caribbean that today are endangered. We use genomic approaches to estimate previously unknown current and past population sizes over the last 3 million years. Populations of all three Orbicella declined around 2-1 million years ago, coincident with the extinction of at least 50% of Caribbean coral species. The estimated changes in population size are consistent across the three species despite their ecological differences. Subsequently, two shallow-water specialists expanded their population sizes at least 2-fold, over a time that overlaps with the disappearance of their sister competitor species O. nancyi (the organ-pipe Orbicella). Our study suggests that populations of Orbicella species are capable of rebounding from reductions in population size under suitable conditions and that the effective population size of modern corals provides rich standing genetic variation for corals to adapt to climate change. For conservation genetics, our study suggests the need to evaluate genetic variation under appropriate demographic models. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Geomicrobiological perspective on the pattern and causes of the 5-million-year Permo/Triassic biotic crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Shucheng; Wang, Yongbiao

2011-03-01

The pattern and causes of Permo/Triassic biotic crisis were mainly documented by faunal and terrestrial plant records. We reviewed herein the geomicrobiological perspective on this issue based on the reported cyanobacterial record. Two episodic cyanobacterial blooms were observed to couple with carbon isotope excursions and faunal mass extinction at Meishan section, suggestive of the presence of at least two episodic biotic crises across the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB). The two episodes of cyanobacterial blooms, carbon isotope excursions and faunal mass extinction were, respectively, identified in several sections of the world, inferring the presence of two global changes across the PTB. Close associations among the three records (cyanobacterial bloom, shift in carbon isotope composition, and faunal extinction) were subsequently observed in three intervals in the Early Triassic, the protracted recovery period as previously thought, inferring the occurrence of more episodes of global changes. Spatiotemporal association of cyanobacterial blooms with volcanic materials in South China, and probably in South-east Asia, infers their causal relationship. Volcanism is believed to trigger the biotic crisis in several ways and to cause the close association among microbial blooms, the carbon isotope excursions and faunal mass extinctions in four intervals from the latest Permian to the Early Triassic. The major episodes of the well-known Siberian flood eruption are proposed to be responsible for the extinctions in the Early Triassic, but their synchronicity with the end-Permian extinction awaits more precise dating data to confirm. Geomicrobial records are thus suggestive of a long-term episodic biotic crisis (at least four episodes) lasting from the latest Permian to the end of the Early Triassic, induced by the global volcanic eruptions and sea level changes during Pangea formation.

Smoking cue reactivity across massed extinction trials: negative affect and gender effects.

PubMed

Collins, Bradley N; Nair, Uma S; Komaroff, Eugene

2011-04-01

Designing and implementing cue exposure procedures to treat nicotine dependence remains a challenge. This study tested the hypothesis that gender and negative affect (NA) influence changes in smoking urge over time using data from a pilot project testing the feasibility of massed extinction procedures. Forty-three smokers and ex-smokers completed the behavioral laboratory procedures. All participants were over 17 years old, smoked at least 10 cigarettes daily over the last year (or the year prior to quitting) and had expired CO below 10 ppm at the beginning of the ~4-hour session. After informed consent, participants completed 45 min of baseline assessments, and then completed a series of 12 identical, 5-minute exposure trials with inter-trial breaks. Smoking cues included visual, tactile, and olfactory cues with a lit cigarette, in addition to smoking-related motor behaviors without smoking. After each trial, participants reported urge and negative affect (NA). Logistic growth curve models supported the hypothesis that across trials, participants would demonstrate an initial linear increase followed by a decrease in smoking urge (quadratic effect). Data supported hypothesized gender, NA, and gender×NA effects. Significant linear increases in urge were observed among high and low NA males, but not among females in either NA subgroup. A differential quadratic effect showed a significant decrease in urge for the low NA subgroup, but a non-significant decrease in urge in the high NA group. This is the first study to demonstrate gender differences and the effects of NA on the extinction process using a smoking cue exposure paradigm. Results could guide future cue reactivity research and exposure interventions for nicotine dependence. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Diesel Soot Aggregates by Scattering and Extinction Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamimoto, Takeyuki

2006-07-01

Characteristics of diesel soot particles sampled from diesel exhaust of a common-rail turbo-charged diesel engine are quantified by scattering and extinction diagnostics using newly build two laser-based instruments. The radius of gyration representing the aggregates size is measured by the angular distribution of scattering intensity, while the soot mass concentration is measured by a two-wavelength extinction method. An approach to estimate the refractive index of diesel soot by an analysis of the extinction and scattering data using an aggregates scattering theory is proposed.

Postretrieval Extinction Attenuates Alcohol Cue Reactivity in Rats.

PubMed

Cofresí, Roberto U; Lewis, Suzanne M; Chaudhri, Nadia; Lee, Hongjoo J; Monfils, Marie-H; Gonzales, Rueben A

2017-03-01

Conditioned responses to alcohol-associated cues can hinder recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD). Cue exposure (extinction) therapy (CET) can reduce reactivity to alcohol cues, but its efficacy is limited by phenomena such as spontaneous recovery and reinstatement that can cause a return of conditioned responding after extinction. Using a preclinical model of alcohol cue reactivity in rats, we evaluated whether the efficacy of alcohol CET could be improved by conducting CET during the memory reconsolidation window after retrieval of cue-alcohol associations. Rats were provided with intermittent access to unsweetened alcohol. Rats were then trained to predict alcohol access based on a visual cue. Next, rats were treated with either standard extinction (n = 14) or postretrieval extinction (n = 13). Rats were then tested for long-term memory of extinction and susceptibility to spontaneous recovery and reinstatement. Despite equivalent extinction, rats treated with postretrieval extinction exhibited reduced spontaneous recovery and reinstatement relative to rats treated with standard extinction. Postretrieval CET shows promise for persistently attenuating the risk to relapse posed by alcohol cues in individuals with AUD. Copyright © 2017 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Mercury anomaly, Deccan volcanism and the end-Cretaceous mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Font, Eric; Adatte, Thierry; Nobrega Sial, Alcides; Drude de Lacerda, Luiz; Keller, Gerta; Punekar, Jahnavi

2016-04-01

The contribution of the Deccan Traps volcanism in the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (KPg) crisis is still a matter of debate. Particularly, the global geochemical effects of Deccan volcanism in the marine sedimentary record are still poorly resolved. Here, we investigate the mercury (Hg) content of the Bidart (France) section, where an interval of low magnetic susceptibility (MS) located just below the KPg boundary was hypothesized to result from paleoenvironmental perturbations linked to paroxysmal Deccan phase-2. Results show mercury concentrations over two orders of magnitude higher from ~80 cm below up to ~50 cm above the KPg boundary (max. 46.6 ppb) and coincident with the low MS interval. Increase in Hg contents shows no correlation with clay or total organic carbon contents, suggesting that the mercury anomalies resulted from higher input of atmospheric Hg species into the marine realm, rather than organic matter scavenging and/or increased run-off. The Hg anomalies correlate with high shell fragmentation and dissolution effects in planktic foraminifera suggesting correlative changes in marine biodiversity. This discovery represents an unprecedented piece of evidence of the nature and importance of the Deccan-related environmental changes at the onset of the KPg mass extinction. Funded by IDL (FCT UID/GEO/50019/2013)

Elevated Extinction Rates as a Trigger for Diversification Rate Shifts: Early Amniotes as a Case Study

PubMed Central

Brocklehurst, Neil; Ruta, Marcello; Müller, Johannes; Fröbisch, Jörg

2015-01-01

Tree shape analyses are frequently used to infer the location of shifts in diversification rate within the Tree of Life. Many studies have supported a causal relationship between shifts and temporally coincident events such as the evolution of “key innovations”. However, the evidence for such relationships is circumstantial. We investigated patterns of diversification during the early evolution of Amniota from the Carboniferous to the Triassic, subjecting a new supertree to analyses of tree balance in order to infer the timing and location of diversification shifts. We investigated how uneven origination and extinction rates drive diversification shifts, and use two case studies (herbivory and an aquatic lifestyle) to examine whether shifts tend to be contemporaneous with evolutionary novelties. Shifts within amniotes tend to occur during periods of elevated extinction, with mass extinctions coinciding with numerous and larger shifts. Diversification shifts occurring in clades that possess evolutionary innovations do not coincide temporally with the appearance of those innovations, but are instead deferred to periods of high extinction rate. We suggest such innovations did not cause increases in the rate of cladogenesis, but allowed clades to survive extinction events. We highlight the importance of examining general patterns of diversification before interpreting specific shifts. PMID:26592209

Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans sp. nov. causes lethal chytridiomycosis in amphibians.

PubMed

Martel, An; Spitzen-van der Sluijs, Annemarieke; Blooi, Mark; Bert, Wim; Ducatelle, Richard; Fisher, Matthew C; Woeltjes, Antonius; Bosman, Wilbert; Chiers, Koen; Bossuyt, Franky; Pasmans, Frank

2013-09-17

The current biodiversity crisis encompasses a sixth mass extinction event affecting the entire class of amphibians. The infectious disease chytridiomycosis is considered one of the major drivers of global amphibian population decline and extinction and is thought to be caused by a single species of aquatic fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. However, several amphibian population declines remain unexplained, among them a steep decrease in fire salamander populations (Salamandra salamandra) that has brought this species to the edge of local extinction. Here we isolated and characterized a unique chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans sp. nov., from this salamander population. This chytrid causes erosive skin disease and rapid mortality in experimentally infected fire salamanders and was present in skin lesions of salamanders found dead during the decline event. Together with the closely related B. dendrobatidis, this taxon forms a well-supported chytridiomycete clade, adapted to vertebrate hosts and highly pathogenic to amphibians. However, the lower thermal growth preference of B. salamandrivorans, compared with B. dendrobatidis, and resistance of midwife toads (Alytes obstetricans) to experimental infection with B. salamandrivorans suggest differential niche occupation of the two chytrid fungi.

Extinction risk is most acute for the world’s largest and smallest vertebrates

PubMed Central

Ripple, William J.; Wolf, Christopher; Newsome, Thomas M.; Hoffmann, Michael; Wirsing, Aaron J.; McCauley, Douglas J.

2017-01-01

Extinction risk in vertebrates has been linked to large body size, but this putative relationship has only been explored for select taxa, with variable results. Using a newly assembled and taxonomically expansive database, we analyzed the relationships between extinction risk and body mass (27,647 species) and between extinction risk and range size (21,294 species) for vertebrates across six main classes. We found that the probability of being threatened was positively and significantly related to body mass for birds, cartilaginous fishes, and mammals. Bimodal relationships were evident for amphibians, reptiles, and bony fishes. Most importantly, a bimodal relationship was found across all vertebrates such that extinction risk changes around a body mass breakpoint of 0.035 kg, indicating that the lightest and heaviest vertebrates have elevated extinction risk. We also found range size to be an important predictor of the probability of being threatened, with strong negative relationships across nearly all taxa. A review of the drivers of extinction risk revealed that the heaviest vertebrates are most threatened by direct killing by humans. By contrast, the lightest vertebrates are most threatened by habitat loss and modification stemming especially from pollution, agricultural cropping, and logging. Our results offer insight into halting the ongoing wave of vertebrate extinctions by revealing the vulnerability of large and small taxa, and identifying size-specific threats. Moreover, they indicate that, without intervention, anthropogenic activities will soon precipitate a double truncation of the size distribution of the world’s vertebrates, fundamentally reordering the structure of life on our planet. PMID:28923917

Europe's other debt crisis caused by the long legacy of future extinctions.

PubMed

Dullinger, Stefan; Essl, Franz; Rabitsch, Wolfgang; Erb, Karl-Heinz; Gingrich, Simone; Haberl, Helmut; Hülber, Karl; Jarosík, Vojtech; Krausmann, Fridolin; Kühn, Ingolf; Pergl, Jan; Pysek, Petr; Hulme, Philip E

2013-04-30

Rapid economic development in the past century has translated into severe pressures on species survival as a result of increasing land-use change, environmental pollution, and the spread of invasive alien species. However, though the impact of these pressures on biodiversity is substantial, it could be seriously underestimated if population declines of plants and animals lag behind contemporary environmental degradation. Here, we test for such a delay in impact by relating numbers of threatened species appearing on national red lists to historical and contemporary levels of socioeconomic pressures. Across 22 European countries, the proportions of vascular plants, bryophytes, mammals, reptiles, dragonflies, and grasshoppers facing medium-to-high extinction risks are more closely matched to indicators of socioeconomic pressures (i.e., human population density, per capita gross domestic product, and a measure of land use intensity) from the early or mid-, rather than the late, 20th century. We conclude that, irrespective of recent conservation actions, large-scale risks to biodiversity lag considerably behind contemporary levels of socioeconomic pressures. The negative impact of human activities on current biodiversity will not become fully realized until several decades into the future. Mitigating extinction risks might be an even greater challenge if temporal delays mean many threatened species might already be destined toward extinction.

Localized extinction of an arboreal desert lizard caused by habitat fragmentation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Munguia-Vega, Adrian; Rodriguez-Estrella, Ricardo; Shaw, William W.; Culver, Melanie

2013-01-01

We adopted a species’ perspective for predicting extinction risk in a small, endemic, and strictly scansorial lizard (Urosaurus nigricaudus), in an old (∼60 year) and highly fragmented (8% habitat remaining) agricultural landscape from the Sonoran Desert, Mexico. We genotyped 10 microsatellite loci in 280 individuals from 11 populations in fragmented and continuous habitat. Individual dispersal was restricted to less than 400 m, according to analyses of spatial autocorrelation and spatially explicit Bayesian assignment methods. Within this scale, continuous areas and narrow washes with native vegetation allowed high levels of gene flow over tens of kilometers. In the absence of the native vegetation, cleared areas and highways were identified as partial barriers. In contrast, outside the scale of dispersal, cleared areas behaved as complete barriers, and surveys corroborated the species went extinct after a few decades in all small (less than 45 ha), isolated habitat fragments. No evidence for significant loss of genetic diversity was found, but results suggested fragmentation increased the spatial scale of movements, relatedness, genetic structure, and potentially affected sex-biased dispersal. A plausible threshold of individual dispersal predicted only 23% of all fragments in the landscape were linked with migration from continuous habitat, while complete barriers isolated the majority of fragments. Our study suggested limited dispersal, coupled with an inability to use a homogeneous and hostile matrix without vegetation and shade, could result in frequent time-delayed extinctions of small ectotherms in highly fragmented desert landscapes, particularly considering an increase in the risk of overheating and a decrease in dispersal potential induced by global warming.

NEW EXTINCTION AND MASS ESTIMATES FROM OPTICAL PHOTOMETRY OF THE VERY LOW MASS BROWN DWARF COMPANION CT CHAMAELEONTIS B WITH THE MAGELLAN AO SYSTEM

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Ya-Lin; Close, Laird M.; Males, Jared R.

We used the Magellan adaptive optics system and its VisAO CCD camera to image the young low mass brown dwarf companion CT Chamaeleontis B for the first time at visible wavelengths. We detect it at r', i', z', and Y{sub S}. With our new photometry and T {sub eff} ∼ 2500 K derived from the shape of its K-band spectrum, we find that CT Cha B has A{sub V} = 3.4 ± 1.1 mag, and a mass of 14-24 M{sub J} according to the DUSTY evolutionary tracks and its 1-5 Myr age. The overluminosity of our r' detection indicates thatmore » the companion has significant Hα emission and a mass accretion rate ∼6 × 10{sup –10} M {sub ☉} yr{sup –1}, similar to some substellar companions. Proper motion analysis shows that another point source within 2'' of CT Cha A is not physical. This paper demonstrates how visible wavelength adaptive optics photometry (r', i', z', Y{sub S}) allows for a better estimate of extinction, luminosity, and mass accretion rate of young substellar companions.« less

New Extinction and Mass Estimates from Optical Photometry of the Very Low Mass Brown Dwarf Companion CT Chamaeleontis B with the Magellan AO System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Ya-Lin; Close, Laird M.; Males, Jared R.; Barman, Travis S.; Morzinski, Katie M.; Follette, Katherine B.; Bailey, Vanessa; Rodigas, Timothy J.; Hinz, Philip; Puglisi, Alfio; Xompero, Marco; Briguglio, Runa

2015-03-01

We used the Magellan adaptive optics system and its VisAO CCD camera to image the young low mass brown dwarf companion CT Chamaeleontis B for the first time at visible wavelengths. We detect it at r', i', z', and YS . With our new photometry and T eff ~ 2500 K derived from the shape of its K-band spectrum, we find that CT Cha B has AV = 3.4 ± 1.1 mag, and a mass of 14-24 MJ according to the DUSTY evolutionary tracks and its 1-5 Myr age. The overluminosity of our r' detection indicates that the companion has significant Hα emission and a mass accretion rate ~6 × 10-10 M ⊙ yr-1, similar to some substellar companions. Proper motion analysis shows that another point source within 2'' of CT Cha A is not physical. This paper demonstrates how visible wavelength adaptive optics photometry (r', i', z', YS ) allows for a better estimate of extinction, luminosity, and mass accretion rate of young substellar companions. This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Clay Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile.

An Experimental and Theoretical Study of Radiative Extinction of Diffusion Flames

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wichman, Indrek S.

1993-01-01

The objective of this work is to investigate the radiation-induced rich extinction limits for diffusion flames. Radiative extinction is caused by the formation of particulates (e.g., soot) that drain chemical energy from the flame. We examine (mu)g conditions because there is a strong reason to believe that radiation-induced rich-limit extinction is not possible under normal-gravity conditions. In normal- g, the hot particulates formed in the fuel-rich flames are swept upward by buoyancy, out of the flame to the region above it, where their influence on the flame is negligible. However, in (mu)g the particulates remain in the flame vicinity, creating a strong energy sink that can, under suitable conditions, cause flame extinction.

Amphibian decline and extinction: what we know and what we need to learn.

PubMed

Collins, James P

2010-11-01

For over 350 million yr, thousands of amphibian species have lived on Earth. Since the 1980s, amphibians have been disappearing at an alarming rate, in many cases quite suddenly. What is causing these declines and extinctions? In the modern era (post 1500) there are 6 leading causes of biodiversity loss in general, and all of these acting alone or together are responsible for modern amphibian declines: commercial use; introduced/exotic species that compete with, prey on, and parasitize native frogs and salamanders; land use change; contaminants; climate change; and infectious disease. The first 3 causes are historical in the sense that they have been operating for hundreds of years, although the rate of change due to each accelerated greatly after about the mid-20th century. Contaminants, climate change, and emerging infectious diseases are modern causes suspected of being responsible for the so-called 'enigmatic decline' of amphibians in protected areas. Introduced/exotic pathogens, land use change, and infectious disease are the 3 causes with a clear role in amphibian decline as well as extinction; thus far, the other 3 causes are only implicated in decline and not extinction. The present work is a review of the 6 causes with a focus on pathogens and suggested areas where new research is needed. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a chytrid fungus that is an emerging infectious disease causing amphibian population decline and species extinction. Historically, pathogens have not been seen as a major cause of extinction, but Bd is an exception, which is why it is such an interesting, important pathogen to understand. The late 20th and early 21st century global biodiversity loss is characterized as a sixth extinction event. Amphibians are a striking example of these losses as they disappear at a rate that greatly exceeds historical levels. Consequently, modern amphibian decline and extinction is a lens through which we can view the larger story of biodiversity

Evolution and Extinction Dynamics in Rugged Fitness Landscapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sibani, Paolo; Brandt, Michael; Alstrøm, Preben

After an introductory section summarizing the paleontological data and some of their theoretical descriptions, we describe the "reset" model and its (in part analytically soluble) mean field version, which have been briefly introduced in Letters.1,2 Macroevolution is considered as a problem of stochastic dynamics in a system with many competing agents. Evolutionary events (speciations and extinctions) are triggered by fitness records found by random exploration of the agents' fitness landscapes. As a consequence, the average fitness in the system increases logarithmically with time, while the rate of extinction steadily decreases. This non-stationary dynamics is studied by numerical simulations and, in a simpler mean field version, analytically. We also consider the effect of externally added "mass" extinctions. The predictions for various quantities of paleontological interest (life-time distribution, distribution of event sizes and behavior of the rate of extinction) are robust and in good agreement with available data.

Boron isotopes in brachiopods during the end-Permian mass extinction: constraints on pH evolution and seawater chemistry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jurikova, Hana; Gutjahr, Marcus; Liebetrau, Volker; Brand, Uwe; Posenato, Renato; Garbelli, Claudio; Angiolini, Lucia; Eisenhauer, Anton

2017-04-01

The global biogeochemical cycling of carbon is fundamental for life on Earth with the ocean playing a key role as the largest and dynamically evolving CO2 reservoir. The boron isotope composition (commonly expressed in δ11B) of marine calcium carbonate is considered to be one of the most reliable paleo-pH proxies, potentially enabling us to reconstruct past ocean pH changes and understand carbon cycle perturbations along Earth's geological record (e.g. Foster et al., 2008; Clarkson et al., 2015). Brachiopods present an advantageous and largely underutilised archive for Phanerozoic carbon cycle reconstructions considering their high abundance in the geological record and its origin dating back to the early Cambrian. Moreover, their shell made of low-magnesium calcite makes these marine calcifiers more resistant to post-depositional diagenetic alteration of primary chemical signals. We have investigated the δ11B using MC-ICP-MS (Neptune Plus) and B/Ca and other elemental ratios (Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, Al/Ca, Li/Ca, Ba/Ca, Na/Ca and Fe/Ca) using ICP-MS-Quadrupole (Agilent 7500cx) from the same specimens in pristine brachiopod shells from two sections from northern Italy during the Late Permian. These sections cover the δ13C excursion in excess of ˜4 ‰ (Brand et al., 2012) and are associated with major climate and environmental perturbations that lead to the mass extinction event at the Permian-Triassic boundary. Particular emphasis will be placed on the implications of our new paleo-pH estimates on the seawater chemistry during the Late Permian. Brand, U., Posenato, R., Came, R., Affek, H., Angiolini, L., Azmy, K. and Farabegoli, E.: The end-Permian mass extinction: A rapid volcanic CO2 and CH4-climatic catastrophe, Chemical Geology 323, 121-144, doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2012.06.015, 2012. Clarkson, M.O., Kasemann, S.A., Wood, R.A., Lenton, T.M., Daines, S.J., Richoz, S., Ohnemueller, F., Meixner, A., Poulton, S.W. and Tipper, E.T.: Ocean acidification and the Permo

Is an epigenetic switch the key to persistent extinction?

PubMed Central

Stafford, James M.; Lattal, K. Matthew

2011-01-01

Many studies of learning have demonstrated that conditioned behavior can be eliminated when previously established relations between stimuli are severed. This extinction process has been extremely important for the development of learning theories and, more recently, for delineating the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie memory. A key finding from behavioral studies of extinction is that extinction eliminates behavior without eliminating the original memory; extinguished behavior often returns with time or with a return to the context in which the original learning occurred. This persistence of the original memory after extinction creates a challenge for clinical applications that use extinction as part of a treatment intervention. Consequently, a goal of recent neurobiological research on extinction is to identify potential pharmacological targets that may result in persistent extinction. Drugs that promote epigenetic changes are particularly promising because they can result in a long-term molecular signal that, combined with the appropriate behavioral treatment, can cause persistent changes in behavior induced by extinction. We will review evidence demonstrating extinction enhancements by drugs that target epigenetic mechanisms and will describe some of the challenges that epigenetic approaches face in promoting persistent suppression of memories. PMID:21536141

Tetrapod distribution and temperature rise during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

The Permian–Triassic mass extinction (PTME) had an enormous impact on life in three ways: by substantially reducing diversity, by reshuffling the composition of ecosystems and by expelling life from the tropics following episodes of intense global warming. But was there really an ‘equatorial tetrapod gap', and how long did it last? Here, we consider both skeletal and footprint data, and find a more complex pattern: (i) tetrapods were distributed both at high and low latitudes during this time; (ii) there was a clear geographic disjunction through the PTME, with tetrapod distribution shifting 10–15° poleward; and (iii) there was a rapid expansion phase across the whole of Pangea following the PTME. These changes are consistent with a model of generalized migration of tetrapods to higher latitudinal, cooler regions, to escape from the superhot equatorial climate in the earliest Triassic, but the effect was shorter in time scale, and not as pronounced as had been proposed. In the recovery phase following the PTME, this episode of forced range expansion also appears to have promoted the emergence and radiation of entirely new groups, such as the archosaurs, including the dinosaurs. PMID:29321300

Tetrapod distribution and temperature rise during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction.

PubMed

Bernardi, Massimo; Petti, Fabio Massimo; Benton, Michael J

2018-01-10

The Permian-Triassic mass extinction (PTME) had an enormous impact on life in three ways: by substantially reducing diversity, by reshuffling the composition of ecosystems and by expelling life from the tropics following episodes of intense global warming. But was there really an 'equatorial tetrapod gap', and how long did it last? Here, we consider both skeletal and footprint data, and find a more complex pattern: (i) tetrapods were distributed both at high and low latitudes during this time; (ii) there was a clear geographic disjunction through the PTME, with tetrapod distribution shifting 10-15° poleward; and (iii) there was a rapid expansion phase across the whole of Pangea following the PTME. These changes are consistent with a model of generalized migration of tetrapods to higher latitudinal, cooler regions, to escape from the superhot equatorial climate in the earliest Triassic, but the effect was shorter in time scale, and not as pronounced as had been proposed. In the recovery phase following the PTME, this episode of forced range expansion also appears to have promoted the emergence and radiation of entirely new groups, such as the archosaurs, including the dinosaurs. © 2018 The Authors.

Climate change, species-area curves and the extinction crisis.

PubMed

Lewis, Owen T

2006-01-29

An article published in the journal Nature in January 2004-in which an international team of biologists predicted that climate change would, by 2050, doom 15-37% of the earth's species to extinction-attracted unprecedented, worldwide media attention. The predictions conflict with the conventional wisdom that habitat change and modification are the most important causes of current and future extinctions. The new extinction projections come from applying a well-known ecological pattern, the species-area relationship (SAR), to data on the current distributions and climatic requirements of 1103 species. Here, I examine the scientific basis to the claims made in the Nature article. I first highlight the potential and pitfalls of using the SAR to predict extinctions in general. I then consider the additional complications that arise when applying SAR methods specifically to climate change. I assess the extent to which these issues call into question predictions of extinctions from climate change relative to other human impacts, and highlight a danger that conservation resources will be directed away from attempts to slow and mitigate the continuing effects of habitat destruction and degradation, particularly in the tropics. I suggest that the most useful contributions of ecologists over the coming decades will be in partitioning likely extinctions among interacting causes and identifying the practical means to slow the rate of species loss.

Autopsie d'une extinction biologique. Un exemple: la crise de la limite frasnien-famennien (364 ma)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lethiers, Francis; Casier, Jean-Georges

1999-09-01

Without studying the causes of the F/F boundary mass extinction, the precise analysis of ostracod species shows evolutionary process only discernable at the global scale. About 75% of all neritic species disappeared in the Uppermost Frasnian in all studied regions of the world. Others survived, with some geographic changes, owing to littoral refuges (Lazarus eflect). Deep benthic ostracods seem almost untouched by this event. We show that new post-event species resulted from allopatric speciations by migration between neritic provinces or along continental slopes towards deeper environments. During the event surviving lineages show a continuous gradation from unscathed species to chronocline species, to phyletic subspeciations or speciations (= pseudo extinctions) and even to new genera. The durability of lineages is controlled by the migration of populations.

Testing the limits in a greenhouse ocean: Did low nitrogen availability limit marine productivity during the end-Triassic mass extinction?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schoepfer, Shane D.; Algeo, Thomas J.; Ward, Peter D.; Williford, Kenneth H.; Haggart, James W.

2016-10-01

The end-Triassic mass extinction has been characterized as a 'greenhouse extinction', related to rapid atmospheric warming and associated changes in ocean circulation and oxygenation. The response of the marine nitrogen cycle to these oceanographic changes, and the extent to which mass extinction intervals represent a deviation in nitrogen cycling from other ice-free 'greenhouse' periods of Earth history, remain poorly understood. The well-studied Kennecott Point section in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada, was deposited in the open Panthalassic Ocean, and is used here as a test case to better understand changes in the nitrogen cycle and marine productivity from the pre-crisis greenhouse of the Rhaetian to the latest-Rhaetian crisis interval. We estimated marine productivity from the late Norian to the early Hettangian using TOC- and P-based paleoproductivity transform equations, and then compared these estimates to records of sedimentary nitrogen isotopes, redox-sensitive trace elements, and biomarker data. Major negative excursions in δ15N (to ≤ 0 ‰) correspond to periods of depressed marine productivity. During these episodes, the development of a stable pycnocline below the base of the photic zone suppressed vertical mixing and limited N availability in surface waters, leading to low productivity and increased nitrogen fixation, as well as ecological stresses in the photic zone. The subsequent shoaling of euxinic waters into the ocean surface layer was fatal for most Triassic marine fauna, although the introduction of regenerated NH4+ into the photic zone may have allowed phytoplankton productivity to recover. These results indicate that the open-ocean nitrogen cycle was influenced by climatic changes during the latest Triassic, despite having existed in a greenhouse state for over 50 million years previously, and that low N availability limited marine productivity for hundreds of thousands of years during the end-Triassic crisis.

Macroecological analyses support an overkill scenario for late Pleistocene extinctions.

PubMed

Diniz-Filho, J A F

2004-08-01

The extinction of megafauna at the end of Pleistocene has been traditionally explained by environmental changes or overexploitation by human hunting (overkill). Despite difficulties in choosing between these alternative (and not mutually exclusive) scenarios, the plausibility of the overkill hypothesis can be established by ecological models of predator-prey interactions. In this paper, I have developed a macroecological model for the overkill hypothesis, in which prey population dynamic parameters, including abundance, geographic extent, and food supply for hunters, were derived from empirical allometric relationships with body mass. The last output correctly predicts the final destiny (survival or extinction) for 73% of the species considered, a value only slightly smaller than those obtained by more complex models based on detailed archaeological and ecological data for each species. This illustrates the high selectivity of Pleistocene extinction in relation to body mass and confers more plausibility on the overkill scenario.

Thermal erosion of cratonic lithosphere as a potential trigger for mass-extinction

PubMed Central

Guex, Jean; Pilet, Sebastien; Müntener, Othmar; Bartolini, Annachiara; Spangenberg, Jorge; Schoene, Blair; Sell, Bryan; Schaltegger, Urs

2016-01-01

The temporal coincidence between large igneous provinces (LIPs) and mass extinctions has led many to pose a causal relationship between the two. However, there is still no consensus on a mechanistic model that explains how magmatism leads to the turnover of terrestrial and marine plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. Here we present a synthesis of ammonite biostratigraphy, isotopic data and high precision U-Pb zircon dates from the Triassic-Jurassic (T-J) and Pliensbachian-Toarcian (Pl-To) boundaries demonstrating that these biotic crises are both associated with rapid change from an initial cool period to greenhouse conditions. We explain these transitions as a result of changing gas species emitted during the progressive thermal erosion of cratonic lithosphere by plume activity or internal heating of the lithosphere. Our petrological model for LIP magmatism argues that initial gas emission was dominated by sulfur liberated from sulfide-bearing cratonic lithosphere before CO2 became the dominant gas. This model offers an explanation of why LIPs erupted through oceanic lithosphere are not associated with climatic and biotic crises comparable to LIPs emitted through cratonic lithosphere. PMID:27009463

Environmental change preceded Caribbean extinction by 2 million years

PubMed Central

O'Dea, Aaron; Jackson, Jeremy B. C.; Fortunato, Helena; Smith, J. Travis; D'Croz, Luis; Johnson, Kenneth G.; Todd, Jonathan A.

2007-01-01

Paleontologists typically treat major episodes of extinction as single and distinct events in which a major environmental perturbation results in a synchronous evolutionary response. Alternatively, the causes of biotic change may be multifaceted and extinction may lag behind the changes ultimately responsible because of nonlinear ecological dynamics. We examined these alternatives for the major episode of Caribbean extinction 2 million years ago (Ma). Isolation of the Caribbean from the Eastern Pacific by uplift of the Panamanian Isthmus was associated with synchronous changes in Caribbean near shore environments and community composition between 4.25 and 3.45 Ma. Seasonal fluctuations in Caribbean seawater temperature decreased 3-fold, carbonate deposition increased, and there was a striking, albeit patchy, shift in dominance of benthic ecosystems from heterotrophic mollusks to mixotrophic reef corals and calcareous algae. All of these changes correspond well with a simple model of decreased upwelling and collapse in planktonic productivity associated with the final stages of the closure of the isthmian barrier. However, extinction rates of mollusks and corals did not increase until 3–2 Ma and sharply peaked between 2 and 1 Ma, even though extinction overwhelmingly affected taxa commonly associated with high productivity. This time lag suggests that something other than environmental change per se was involved in extinction that does not occur as a single event. Understanding cause and effect will require more taxonomically refined analysis of the changing abundance and distribution patterns of different ecological guilds in the 2 million years leading up to the relatively sudden peak in extinction. PMID:17369359

Compressive spinal epidural mass caused by Propionibacterium acnes.

PubMed

Ha, Austin Y; DePasse, J Mason; Piskorski, Anna; Treaba, Diana O; Kojic, Erna M; Daniels, Alan H

2016-05-01

Propionibacterium acnes is a gram-positive and facultative anaerobe bacillus that is found within sebaceous follicles of the human skin and recognized as a cause of infections after spinal surgery. To our knowledge, there has been no previously reported case of symptomatic compressive chronic inflammatory epidural mass caused by P. acnes in a patient with no prior spinal procedures. This study aimed to describe a case of primary spinal infection by P. acnes. This study is a case report of a condition not previously described in the literature. We present the history, physical examination, laboratory, radiographic, and histopathologic findings of a chronic inflammatory epidural mass caused by P. acnes in an immunocompetent adult male with no history of spinal surgery. A 51-year-old man presented to our clinic with sudden onset bilateral lower extremity weakness, inability to ambulate, and urinary retention. His past clinical history was remarkable only for hernia and left knee surgery but no spinal surgery. A year earlier, he had an infected draining abscess of the right axilla that was successfully managed medically. At presentation, his serum erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein were moderately elevated. Pan-spine magnetic resonance imaging was notable for a circumferential epidural mass from C5 to T6. He underwent emergent decompression; the mass was removed and sent for culture and pathologic evaluation. Cultures from all three specimens collected during surgery grew P. acnes, and the patient was successfully managed on intravenous ceftriaxone, while pathology revealed a chronic inflammatory reactive process. This is the first reported case of a primary spinal mass with chronic inflammatory features caused by P. acnes. In cases of epidural mass of unknown origin, both pathologic specimens and cultures should be obtained as slow-growing organisms may mimic oncologic processes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Cretaceous/Tertiary Extinction Controversy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCartney, Kevin

1984-01-01

The cause of the Cretaceous/Tertiary extinction has become a major geologic controversy. Current evidence for the two opposing views is reviewed to provide an introduction to the controversy and to form the basis for a seminar of discussion topic. (Author/JN)

The fossil record of evolution: Data on diversification and extinction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepkoski, J. John, Jr.

1990-01-01

The two principle efforts include: (1) a compilation of a synoptic, mesoscale data base on times of origination and extinction of animal genera in the oceans over the last 600 million years of geologic time; and (2) an analysis of statistical patterns in these data that relate to the diversification of complex life and to the occurrence of mass extinctions, especially those that might be associated with extraterrestrial phenomena. The data base is unique in its taxonomic scope and detail and in its temporal resolution. It is a valuable resource for investigating evolutionary expansions and extinctions of complex life.

Polarization extinction ratio of the polarization crosstalk caused by point pressure force in the polarization-maintaining fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukhtubayev, Azamat B.; Aksarin, Stanislav M.; Strigalev, Vladimir E.

2017-11-01

A study of the orthogonal polarization modes crosstalk changes in the point of different mechanical actions (pressure force) in the polarization-maintaining fiber with straining elliptical cladding is presented. It was found that by increasing of the pressure force the polarization extinction ratio increases nonlinearly. Also revealed the dependence of the extinction coefficient and the angle between vector of the mechanical action and polarization axes of the test fiber, which leads to change the extinction coefficient variable from -57 dB to -25 dB under the pressure force of 0.7 N. Also it was found that the cross angle of the fiber axes doesn't influence on the extinction ratio value of the mechanical induced polarization crosstalk.

POST-RETRIEVAL EXTINCTION ATTENUATES ALCOHOL CUE REACTIVITY IN RATS

PubMed Central

Cofresí, Roberto U.; Lewis, Suzanne M.; Chaudhri, Nadia; Lee, Hongjoo J.; Monfils, Marie-H.; Gonzales, Rueben A.

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND Conditioned responses to alcohol-associated cues can hinder recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD). Cue exposure (extinction) therapy (CET) can reduce reactivity to alcohol cues, but its efficacy is limited by phenomena such as spontaneous recovery and reinstatement that can cause a return of conditioned responding after extinction. Using a preclinical model of alcohol cue reactivity in rats, we evaluated whether the efficacy of alcohol CET could be improved by conducting CET during the memory reconsolidation window after retrieval of a cue-alcohol association. METHODS Rats were provided with intermittent access to unsweetened alcohol. Rats were then trained to predict alcohol access based on a visual cue. Next, rats were treated with either standard extinction (n=14) or post-retrieval extinction (n=13). Rats were then tested for long-term memory of extinction and susceptibility to spontaneous recovery and reinstatement. RESULTS Despite equivalent extinction, rats treated with post-retrieval extinction exhibited reduced spontaneous recovery and reinstatement relative to rats treated with standard extinction. CONCLUSIONS Post-retrieval CET shows promise for persistently attenuating the risk to relapse posed by alcohol cues in individuals with AUD. PMID:28169439

Spectroscopic Infrared Extinction Mapping as a Probe of Grain Growth in IRDCs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Wanggi; Carey, Sean J.; Tan, Jonathan C.

2015-11-01

We present spectroscopic tests of MIR to FIR extinction laws in IRDC G028.36+00.07, a potential site of massive star and star cluster formation. Lim & Tan developed methods of FIR extinction mapping of this source using Spitzer-MIPS 24 μm and Herschel-PACS 70 μm images, and by comparing to MIR Spitzer-IRAC 3-8 μm extinction maps, found tentative evidence for grain growth in the highest mass surface density regions. Here we present results of spectroscopic infrared extinction mapping using Spitzer-IRS (14-38 μm) data of the same Infrared dark cloud (IRDC). These methods allow us to first measure the SED of the diffuse Galactic interstellar medium that is in the foreground of the IRDC. We then carry out our primary investigation of measuring the MIR to FIR opacity law and searching for potential variations as a function of mass surface density within the IRDC. We find relatively flat, featureless MIR-FIR opacity laws that lack the ˜12 and ˜35 μm features associated with the thick water ice mantle models of Ossenkopf & Henning. Their thin ice mantle models and the coagulating aggregate dust models of Ormel et al. are a generally better match to the observed opacity laws. We also find evidence for generally flatter MIR to FIR extinction laws as mass surface density increases, strengthening the evidence for grain and ice mantle growth in higher density regions.

Infrared Extinction and Stellar Populations in the Milky Way Midplane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zasowski, Gail; Majewski, S. R.; Benjamin, R. A.; Nidever, D. L.; Skrutskie, M. F.; Indebetouw, R.; Patterson, R. J.; Meade, M. R.; Whitney, B. A.; Babler, B.; Churchwell, E.; Watson, C.

2012-01-01

The primary laboratory for developing and testing models of galaxy formation, structure, and evolution is our own Milky Way, the closest large galaxy and the only one in which we can resolve large numbers of individual stars. The recent availability of extensive stellar surveys, particularly infrared ones, has enabled precise, contiguous measurement of large-scale Galactic properties, a major improvement over inferences based on selected, but scattered, sightlines. However, our ability to fully exploit the Milky Way as a galactic laboratory is severely hampered by the fact that its midplane and central bulge -- where most of the Galactic stellar mass lies -- is heavily obscured by interstellar dust. Therefore, proper consideration of the interstellar extinction is crucial. This thesis describes a new extinction-correction method (the RJCE method) that measures the foreground extinction towards each star and, in many cases, enables recovery of its intrinsic stellar type. We have demonstrated the RJCE Method's validity and used it to produce new, reliable extinction maps of the heavily-reddened Galactic midplane. Taking advantage of the recovered stellar type information, we have generated maps probing the extinction at different heliocentric distances, thus yielding information on the elusive three-dimensional distribution of the interstellar dust. We also performed a study of the interstellar extinction law itself which revealed variations previously undetected in the diffuse ISM and established constraints on models of ISM grain formation and evolution. Furthermore, we undertook a study of large-scale stellar structure in the inner Galaxy -- the bar(s), bulge(s), and inner spiral arms. We used observed and extinction-corrected infrared photometry to map the coherent stellar features in these heavily-obscured parts of the Galaxy, placing constraints on models of the central stellar mass distribution.

The neck mass. 2. Inflammatory and neoplastic causes.

PubMed

Damion, J; Hybels, R L

1987-05-01

Several inflammatory processes can cause nodules or swelling in the neck. A complete physical examination and, usually, laboratory testing are required to establish the diagnosis. Common infections include cervical lymphadenitis and tuberculous lymphadenitis, cat-scratch disease, infection in the neck spaces, infectious mononucleosis, and syphilis. Primary or metastatic cancer may also be the cause. Cervical metastasis often presents as a neck mass. Although a primary tumor may not be found immediately when a neck mass is being evaluated, one is often discovered later. Other types of malignancy that may be present are histiocytic lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, rhabdomyosarcoma, thyroid cancer, and a salivary (most often parotid) gland tumor. Symptomatic treatment is sometimes adequate for infectious disease, but administration of antituberculous drugs or antibiotics may also be necessary. Incision and drainage are required for some nodes and abscesses. For neck masses caused by neoplasms, fine-needle aspiration cytology or biopsy is performed. Depending on the diagnosis, treatment consists of dissection, radiation therapy, and/or chemotherapy.

Possible climate effects of the CAMP intrusive and extrusive activity and its influence on the end-Triassic mass extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marzoli, A.; Davies, J.; Valeriani, L.; Preto, N.; Cirilli, S.; Panfili, G.; Dal Corso, J.; Vasconcellos, E.; Ernesto, M.; Youbi, N.; Callegaro, S.

2017-12-01

The end-Triassic global climate changes were probably triggered by the emplacement of the CAMP (Central Atlantic magmatic province). Here we explore the possibility that CAMP intrusions triggered global warming, while CAMP eruptions triggered short-lived cooling events. The main phase of the end-Triassic environmental changes and mass extinction was marked by two carbon isotopic excursions (CIEs). Based on stratigraphic and geochronologic data, we show that the earliest CAMP intrusions were emplaced at ca. 201.6 Ma prior to the first CIE (Davies et al., 2017). The main phase of CAMP magmatism started during the first CIE at ca. 201.5 Ma and continued until the second CIE and the Triassic-Jurassic boundary (at ca. 201.3 Ma). In particular, intrusion of the over 1 million cubic km of basaltic sills in Amazonia (Brazil) and of widespread sills from North America and Africa occurred within this interval. Multidisciplinary analyses show that organic matter rich sediments close to the sills from Brazil, Morocco, and the USA underwent contact metamorphism and organic carbon depletion. Such process may have released large amounts of thermogenic gases (CO2 and CH4) leading to global perturbation of the carbon cycle and to global warming. The timing of CAMP volcanic eruptions is well constrained by combined geochronologic, stratigraphic and palynologic data. In Morocco, newly observed palynological assemblages for sediments at the top of the lava piles are nearly identical to those found at the base of the volcanic sequences. These new data combined with carbon isotopic data indicate that over 95% of the CAMP lava flows in Morocco erupted during a short time interval at the very beginning of the end-Triassic extinction interval. A similar scenario applies possibly to the lava flows from North America. CAMP basalts are quite sulfur rich (up to 1800 ppm) suggesting that CAMP eruptions emitted large amounts of SO2. Such emissions lead possibly to short-lived cooling events

THE MID-INFRARED EXTINCTION LAW AND ITS VARIATION IN THE COALSACK NEBULA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang Shu; Gao Jian; Jiang, B. W.

In recent years, the wavelength dependence of interstellar extinction from the ultraviolet (UV) to the near- and mid-infrared (IR) has been studied extensively. Although it is well established that the UV/optical extinction law varies significantly among the different lines of sight, it is not clear how IR extinction varies among various environments. In this work, using the color-excess method and taking red giants as the extinction tracer, we determine interstellar extinction A{sub {lambda}} in the four Spitzer/IRAC bands in [3.6], [4.5], [5.8], [8.0] {mu}m (relative to A{sub K{sub s}}, extinction in the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) K{sub s}more » band at 2.16 {mu}m) of the Coalsack nebula, a nearby starless dark cloud, based on the data obtained from the 2MASS and Spitzer/GLIMPSE surveys. We select five individual regions across the nebula that span a wide variety of physical conditions ranging from diffuse and translucent to dense environments, as traced by the visual extinction, the Spitzer/MIPS 24 {mu}m emission, and CO emission. We find that A{sub {lambda}}/A{sub K{sub s}}, mid-IR extinction relative to A{sub K{sub s}}, decreases from diffuse to dense environments, which may be explained in terms of ineffective dust growth in dense regions. The mean extinction (relative to A{sub K{sub s}}) is calculated for the four IRAC bands as well and exhibits a flat mid-IR extinction law consistent with previous determinations for other regions. Extinction in the IRAC 4.5 {mu}m band is anomalously high, much higher than that of the other three IRAC bands, and cannot be explained in terms of CO and CO{sub 2} ice. Mid-IR extinction in the four IRAC bands has also been derived for four representative regions in the Coalsack Globule 2, which respectively exhibit strong ice absorption, moderate or weak ice absorption, and very weak or no ice absorption. The derived mid-IR extinction curves are all flat, with A{sub {lambda}}/A{sub K{sub s}} increasing with the decrease

Temporal Dynamics of Recovery from Extinction Shortly after Extinction Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Archbold, Georgina E.; Dobbek, Nick; Nader, Karim

2013-01-01

Evidence suggests that extinction is new learning. Memory acquisition involves both short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM) components; however, few studies have examined early phases of extinction retention. Retention of auditory fear extinction was examined at various time points. Shortly (1-4 h) after extinction acquisition…

Interstellar extinction from photometric surveys: application to four high-latitude areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malkov, Oleg; Karpov, Sergey; Kilpio, Elena; Sichevsky, Sergey; Chulkov, Dmitry; Dluzhnevskaya, Olga; Kovaleva, Dana; Kniazev, Alexei; Mickaelian, Areg; Mironov, Alexey; Murthy, Jayant; Sytov, Alexey; Zhao, Gang; Zhukov, Aleksandr

2018-04-01

Information on interstellar extinction and dust properties may be obtained from modern large photometric surveys data. Virtual Observatory facilities allow users to make a fast and correct cross-identification of objects from various surveys. It yields a multicolor photometry data on detected objects and makes it possible to estimate stellar parameters and calculate interstellar extinction. A 3D extinction map then can be constructed. The method was applied to 2MASS, SDSS, GALEX and UKIDSS surveys. Results for several high-latitude areas are obtained, compared with independent sources and discussed here.

Spectroscopic infrared extinction mapping as a probe of grain growth in IRDCs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Wanggi; Carey, Sean J.

2014-07-01

We present photometric and spectroscopic tests of MIR to FIR extinction laws toward IRDC G028.36+00.07, a potential site of massive star formation. Lim & Tan (2014, hereafter LT14) developed methods of FIR extinction mapping of this source using Spitzer-MIPS 24 micron and Herschel-PACS 70 micron images, and extending the MIR 8 micron mapping methods of (Butler & Tan 2012, hereafter BT12), finding evidence for grain growth in the highest mass surface density regions. Here we present initial results of spectroscopic infrared extinction (SIREX) mapping using Spitzer-IRS (14 to 38 micron) data of the same IRDC. These methods allow us to measure the SED of the diffuse Galactic ISM, which we compare to theoretical models of Draine & Li (2007), as well as to search for opacity law variations with mass surface density within the IRDC. By comparison with theoretical dust models, e.g., Ossenkopf & Henning (1994) and Ormel et al. (2011), we are able to search for compositional signatures of the grain ices, such as water and methanol. We find evidence for generally flatter MIR to FIR extinction laws as mass surface density increases, strengthening the evidence for grain and ice mantle growth in higher density regions.

Species Turnover through Time: Colonization and Extinction Dynamics across Metacommunities.

PubMed

Nuvoloni, Felipe Micali; Feres, Reinaldo José Fazzio; Gilbert, Benjamin

2016-06-01

Island biogeography and metacommunity theory often use equilibrium assumptions to predict local diversity, yet nonequilibrium dynamics are common in nature. In nonequilibrium communities, local diversity fluctuates through time as the relative importance of colonization and extinction change. Here, we test the prevalence and causes of nonequilibrium dynamics in metacommunities of mites associated with rubber trees distributed over large spatial (>1,000 km) and temporal (>30-60 generations) scales in Brazil. We measured colonization and extinction rates to test species turnover and nonequilibrium dynamics over a growing season. Mite metacommunities exhibited nonequilibrium dynamics for most months of the year, and these dynamics tracked climatic conditions. Monthly shifts in temperature of more than 1°C resulted in nonequilibrium dynamics, as did mean temperatures outside of two critical ranges. Nonequilibrium dynamics were caused by a change in colonization with temperature change and changes in both colonization and extinction with absolute temperature. Species turnover showed different trends; high relative humidity increased both colonization and extinction rates, increasing turnover but not nonequilibrium dynamics. Our study illustrates that testing nonequilibrium dynamics can provide new insights into the drivers of colonization, extinction, and diversity fluctuations in metacommunities.

Progress towards a universal family of UV-IR extinction laws

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maíz Apellániz, J.; Trigueros Páez, E.; Bostroem, A. K.; Barbá, R. H.; Evans, C. J.

2017-03-01

We present our progress on the study of extinction laws along three diferent lines. [a] We compare how well different families of extinction laws fit existing photometric data for Galactic sightlines and we find that the Maíz Apellániz et al. (2014) family provides better results than those of Cardelli et al. (1989) or Fitzpatrick (1999). [b] We describe the HST/STIS spectrophotometry in the 1700-10 200 Å range that we are obtaining for several tens of sightlines in 30 Doradus with the purpose of deriving an improved wavelength-detailed family of extinction laws. [c] We present the study we are conducting on the behavior of the extinction law in the infrared by combining 2MASS and WISE photometry with Spitzer and ISO spectrophotometry.

Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans sp. nov. causes lethal chytridiomycosis in amphibians

PubMed Central

Martel, An; Spitzen-van der Sluijs, Annemarieke; Blooi, Mark; Bert, Wim; Ducatelle, Richard; Fisher, Matthew C.; Woeltjes, Antonius; Bosman, Wilbert; Chiers, Koen; Bossuyt, Franky; Pasmans, Frank

2013-01-01

The current biodiversity crisis encompasses a sixth mass extinction event affecting the entire class of amphibians. The infectious disease chytridiomycosis is considered one of the major drivers of global amphibian population decline and extinction and is thought to be caused by a single species of aquatic fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. However, several amphibian population declines remain unexplained, among them a steep decrease in fire salamander populations (Salamandra salamandra) that has brought this species to the edge of local extinction. Here we isolated and characterized a unique chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans sp. nov., from this salamander population. This chytrid causes erosive skin disease and rapid mortality in experimentally infected fire salamanders and was present in skin lesions of salamanders found dead during the decline event. Together with the closely related B. dendrobatidis, this taxon forms a well-supported chytridiomycete clade, adapted to vertebrate hosts and highly pathogenic to amphibians. However, the lower thermal growth preference of B. salamandrivorans, compared with B. dendrobatidis, and resistance of midwife toads (Alytes obstetricans) to experimental infection with B. salamandrivorans suggest differential niche occupation of the two chytrid fungi. PMID:24003137

Proposed law of nature linking impacts, plume volcanism, and Milankovitch cycles to terrestrial vertebrate mass extinctions via greenhouse-embryo death coupling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mclean, D. M.

1994-01-01

A greenhouse-physiological coupling killing mechanism active among mammals, birds, and reptiles has been identified. Operating via environmental thermal effects upon the maternal core-skin blood flow critical to the survival and development of embryos, it reduces the flow of blood to the uterine tract. Today, during hot summers, this phenomena kills embryos on a vast, global scale. Because of sensitivity of many mammals to modern heat, a major modern greenhouse could reduce population numbers on a global scale, and potentially trigger population collapses in the more vulnerable parts of the world. In the geological past, the killing mechanism has likely been triggered into action by greenhouse warming via impact events, plume volcanism, and Earth orbital variations (Milankovitch cycles). Earth's biosphere is maintained and molded by the flow of energy from the solar energy source to Earth and on to the space energy sink (SES). This SES energy flow maintains Earth's biosphere and its living components, as open, intermediate, dissipative, nonequilibrium systems whose states are dependent upon the rate of energy flowing through them. Greenhouse gases such as CO2 in the atmosphere influence the SES energy flow rate. Steady-state flow is necessary for global ecological stability (autopoiesis). Natural fluctuations of the C cycle such as rapid releases of CO2 from the mantle, or oceans, disrupt steady-state SES flow. These fluctuations constantly challenge the biosphere; slowdown of SES energy flow drives it toward thermodynamical equilibrium and stagnation. Fluctuations induced by impact event, mantle plume volcanism, and Milankovitch cycles can grow into structure-breaking waves triggering major perturbations of Earth's C cycle and mass extinctions. A major C cycle perturbation involves readjustment of the outer physiochemical spheres of the Earth: the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere; and by necessity, the biosphere. A greenhouse, one manifestation of a major

Rethinking Extinction

PubMed Central

Dunsmoor, Joseph E.; Niv, Yael; Daw, Nathaniel; Phelps, Elizabeth A.

2015-01-01

Extinction serves as the leading theoretical framework and experimental model to describe how learned behaviors diminish through absence of anticipated reinforcement. In the past decade, extinction has moved beyond the realm of associative learning theory and behavioral experimentation in animals and has become a topic of considerable interest in the neuroscience of learning, memory, and emotion. Here, we review research and theories of extinction, both as a learning process and as a behavioral technique, and consider whether traditional understandings warrant a re-examination. We discuss the neurobiology, cognitive factors, and major computational theories, and revisit the predominant view that extinction results in new learning that interferes with expression of the original memory. Additionally, we reconsider the limitations of extinction as a technique to prevent the relapse of maladaptive behavior, and discuss novel approaches, informed by contemporary theoretical advances, that augment traditional extinction methods to target and potentially alter maladaptive memories. PMID:26447572

Greenhouse-icehouse transition in the Late Ordovician marks a step change in extinction regime in the marine plankton.

PubMed

Crampton, James S; Cooper, Roger A; Sadler, Peter M; Foote, Michael

2016-02-09

Two distinct regimes of extinction dynamic are present in the major marine zooplankton group, the graptolites, during the Ordovician and Silurian periods (486-418 Ma). In conditions of "background" extinction, which dominated in the Ordovician, taxonomic evolutionary rates were relatively low and the probability of extinction was highest among newly evolved species ("background extinction mode"). A sharp change in extinction regime in the Late Ordovician marked the onset of repeated severe spikes in the extinction rate curve; evolutionary turnover increased greatly in the Silurian, and the extinction mode changed to include extinction that was independent of species age ("high-extinction mode"). This change coincides with a change in global climate, from greenhouse to icehouse conditions. During the most extreme episode of extinction, the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction, old species were selectively removed ("mass extinction mode"). Our analysis indicates that selective regimes in the Paleozoic ocean plankton switched rapidly (generally in <0.5 My) from one mode to another in response to environmental change, even when restoration of the full ecosystem was much slower (several million years). The patterns observed are not a simple consequence of geographic range effects or of taxonomic changes from Ordovician to Silurian. Our results suggest that the dominant primary controls on extinction throughout the lifespan of this clade were abiotic (environmental), probably mediated by the microphytoplankton.

Greenhouse−icehouse transition in the Late Ordovician marks a step change in extinction regime in the marine plankton

PubMed Central

Crampton, James S.; Cooper, Roger A.; Sadler, Peter M.; Foote, Michael

2016-01-01

Two distinct regimes of extinction dynamic are present in the major marine zooplankton group, the graptolites, during the Ordovician and Silurian periods (486−418 Ma). In conditions of “background” extinction, which dominated in the Ordovician, taxonomic evolutionary rates were relatively low and the probability of extinction was highest among newly evolved species (“background extinction mode”). A sharp change in extinction regime in the Late Ordovician marked the onset of repeated severe spikes in the extinction rate curve; evolutionary turnover increased greatly in the Silurian, and the extinction mode changed to include extinction that was independent of species age (“high-extinction mode”). This change coincides with a change in global climate, from greenhouse to icehouse conditions. During the most extreme episode of extinction, the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction, old species were selectively removed (“mass extinction mode”). Our analysis indicates that selective regimes in the Paleozoic ocean plankton switched rapidly (generally in <0.5 My) from one mode to another in response to environmental change, even when restoration of the full ecosystem was much slower (several million years). The patterns observed are not a simple consequence of geographic range effects or of taxonomic changes from Ordovician to Silurian. Our results suggest that the dominant primary controls on extinction throughout the lifespan of this clade were abiotic (environmental), probably mediated by the microphytoplankton. PMID:26811471

Evolution and mass extinctions as lognormal stochastic processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maccone, Claudio

2014-10-01

-terrestrial civilizations existing in the Galaxy (as a consequence of the central limit theorem of statistics). (5) But the most striking new result is that the well-known `Molecular Clock of Evolution', namely the `constant rate of Evolution at the molecular level' as shown by Kimura's Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution, identifies with growth rate of the entropy of our Evo-SETI model, because they both grew linearly in time since the origin of life. (6) Furthermore, we apply our Evo-SETI model to lognormal stochastic processes other than GBMs. For instance, we provide two models for the mass extinctions that occurred in the past: (a) one based on GBMs and (b) the other based on a parabolic mean value capable of covering both the extinction and the subsequent recovery of life forms. (7) Finally, we show that the Markov & Korotayev (2007, 2008) model for Darwinian Evolution identifies with an Evo-SETI model for which the mean value of the underlying lognormal stochastic process is a cubic function of the time. In conclusion: we have provided a new mathematical model capable of embracing molecular evolution, SETI and entropy into a simple set of statistical equations based upon b-lognormals and lognormal stochastic processes with arbitrary mean, of which the GBMs are the particular case of exponential growth.

Can oncology recapitulate paleontology? Lessons from species extinctions

PubMed Central

Walther, Viola; Hiley, Crispin T.; Shibata, Darryl; Swanton, Charles; Turner, Paul E.; Maley, Carlo C.

2015-01-01

Although we can treat cancers with cytotoxic chemotherapies, target them with molecules that bind to oncogenic drivers, and induce substantial cell death with radiation, local and metastatic tumours recur, resulting in extensive morbidity and mortality. It is difficult to drive a tumour to extinction. Geographically dispersed species are perhaps equally resistant to extinction, but >99.9% of species that have ever existed have become extinct. By contrast, we are nowhere near that level of success in cancer therapy. The phenomena are broadly analogous. In both cases, a genetically diverse population mutates and evolves through natural selection. The goal of cancer therapy is to cause cancer cell population extinction or at least to limit any further increase in population size, so the tumour burden does not overwhelm the patient. However, despite available treatments, complete responses are rare, and partial responses are limited in duration. Many patients eventually relapse with tumours that evolve from cells that survive therapy. Similarly, species are remarkably resilient to environmental change. Paleontology can show us the conditions that lead to extinction and the characteristics of species that make them resistant to extinction. These lessons could be translated to improve cancer therapy and prognosis. PMID:25687908

Europe’s other debt crisis caused by the long legacy of future extinctions

PubMed Central

Dullinger, Stefan; Essl, Franz; Rabitsch, Wolfgang; Erb, Karl-Heinz; Gingrich, Simone; Haberl, Helmut; Hülber, Karl; Jarošík, Vojtech; Krausmann, Fridolin; Kühn, Ingolf; Pergl, Jan; Pyšek, Petr; Hulme, Philip E.

2013-01-01

Rapid economic development in the past century has translated into severe pressures on species survival as a result of increasing land-use change, environmental pollution, and the spread of invasive alien species. However, though the impact of these pressures on biodiversity is substantial, it could be seriously underestimated if population declines of plants and animals lag behind contemporary environmental degradation. Here, we test for such a delay in impact by relating numbers of threatened species appearing on national red lists to historical and contemporary levels of socioeconomic pressures. Across 22 European countries, the proportions of vascular plants, bryophytes, mammals, reptiles, dragonflies, and grasshoppers facing medium-to-high extinction risks are more closely matched to indicators of socioeconomic pressures (i.e., human population density, per capita gross domestic product, and a measure of land use intensity) from the early or mid-, rather than the late, 20th century. We conclude that, irrespective of recent conservation actions, large-scale risks to biodiversity lag considerably behind contemporary levels of socioeconomic pressures. The negative impact of human activities on current biodiversity will not become fully realized until several decades into the future. Mitigating extinction risks might be an even greater challenge if temporal delays mean many threatened species might already be destined toward extinction. PMID:23589873

Geography of cretaceous extinctions: Data base development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raup, D. M.

1991-01-01

Data bases built from the source literature are plagued by problems of data quality. Unless the data acquisition is done by experts, working slowly, the data base may contain so much garbage that true signals and patterns cannot be detected. On the other hand, high quality data bases develop so slowly that satisfactory statistical analysis may never be possible due to the small sample sizes. Results of a test are presented of the opposite strategy: rapid data acquisition by non-experts with minimal control on data quality. A published list of 186 species and genera of fossil invertibrates of the latest Cretaceous Age (Maestrichtian) were located through a random search of the paleobiological and geological literature. The geographic location for each faunal list was then transformed electronically to Maestrichtian latitude and longitude and the lists were further digested to identify the genera occurring in each ten-degree, latitude-longitude block. The geographical lists were clustered using the Otsuka similarity coefficient and a standard unweight-pair-group method. The resulting clusters are remarkably consistent geographically, indicating that a strong biogeographic signal is visible despite low-quality data. A further test evaluated the geographic pattern of end-Cretaceaous extinctions. All genera in the data base were compared with Sepkoski's compendium of time ranges of genera to determine which of the reported genera survived the Cretaceous mass extinction. In turn, extinction rates for the ten-degree, latitude-longitude blocks were mapped. The resulting distribution is readily interpretable as a robust pattern of the geography of the mass extinction. The study demonstrates that a low-quality data base, built rapidly, can provide a basis for meaningful analysis of past biotic events.

High frequency of functional extinctions in ecological networks.

PubMed

Säterberg, Torbjörn; Sellman, Stefan; Ebenman, Bo

2013-07-25

Intensified exploitation of natural populations and habitats has led to increased mortality rates and decreased abundances of many species. There is a growing concern that this might cause critical abundance thresholds of species to be crossed, with extinction cascades and state shifts in ecosystems as a consequence. When increased mortality rate and decreased abundance of a given species lead to extinction of other species, this species can be characterized as functionally extinct even though it still exists. Although such functional extinctions have been observed in some ecosystems, their frequency is largely unknown. Here we use a new modelling approach to explore the frequency and pattern of functional extinctions in ecological networks. Specifically, we analytically derive critical abundance thresholds of species by increasing their mortality rates until an extinction occurs in the network. Applying this approach on natural and theoretical food webs, we show that the species most likely to go extinct first is not the one whose mortality rate is increased but instead another species. Indeed, up to 80% of all first extinctions are of another species, suggesting that a species' ecological functionality is often lost before its own existence is threatened. Furthermore, we find that large-bodied species at the top of the food chains can only be exposed to small increases in mortality rate and small decreases in abundance before going functionally extinct compared to small-bodied species lower in the food chains. These results illustrate the potential importance of functional extinctions in ecological networks and lend strong support to arguments advocating a more community-oriented approach in conservation biology, with target levels for populations based on ecological functionality rather than on mere persistence.

SPECTROSCOPIC INFRARED EXTINCTION MAPPING AS A PROBE OF GRAIN GROWTH IN IRDCs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lim, Wanggi; Carey, Sean J.; Tan, Jonathan C.

We present spectroscopic tests of MIR to FIR extinction laws in IRDC G028.36+00.07, a potential site of massive star and star cluster formation. Lim and Tan developed methods of FIR extinction mapping of this source using Spitzer-MIPS 24 μm and Herschel-PACS 70 μm images, and by comparing to MIR Spitzer-IRAC 3–8 μm extinction maps, found tentative evidence for grain growth in the highest mass surface density regions. Here we present results of spectroscopic infrared extinction mapping using Spitzer-IRS (14–38 μm) data of the same Infrared dark cloud (IRDC). These methods allow us to first measure the SED of the diffusemore » Galactic interstellar medium that is in the foreground of the IRDC. We then carry out our primary investigation of measuring the MIR to FIR opacity law and searching for potential variations as a function of mass surface density within the IRDC. We find relatively flat, featureless MIR–FIR opacity laws that lack the ∼12 and ∼35 μm features associated with the thick water ice mantle models of Ossenkopf and Henning. Their thin ice mantle models and the coagulating aggregate dust models of Ormel et al. are a generally better match to the observed opacity laws. We also find evidence for generally flatter MIR to FIR extinction laws as mass surface density increases, strengthening the evidence for grain and ice mantle growth in higher density regions.« less

Ecological impacts of the late Quaternary megaherbivore extinctions.

PubMed

Gill, Jacquelyn L

2014-03-01

As a result of the late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions (50,000-10,000 before present (BP)), most continents today are depauperate of megaherbivores. These extinctions were time-transgressive, size- and taxonomically selective, and were caused by climate change, human hunting, or both. The surviving megaherbivores often act as ecological keystones, which was likely true in the past. In spite of this and extensive research on the causes of the Late Quaternary Extinctions, the long-term ecological consequences of the loss of the Pleistocene megafauna remained unknown until recently, due to difficulties in linking changes in flora and fauna in paleorecords. The quantification of Sporormiella and other dung fungi have recently allowed for explicit tests of the ecological consequences of megafaunal extirpations in the fossil pollen record. In this paper, I review the impacts of the loss of keystone megaherbivores on vegetation in several paleorecords. A growing number of studies support the hypothesis that the loss of the Pleistocene megafauna resulted in cascading effects on plant community composition, vegetation structure and ecosystem function, including increased fire activity, novel communities and shifts in biomes. Holocene biota thus exist outside the broader evolutionary context of the Cenozoic, and the Late Quaternary Extinctions represent a regime shift for surviving plant and animal species.

Explosive eruption of coal and basalt and the end-Permian mass extinction

PubMed Central

Ogden, Darcy E.; Sleep, Norman H.

2012-01-01

The end-Permian extinction decimated up to 95% of carbonate shell-bearing marine species and 80% of land animals. Isotopic excursions, dissolution of shallow marine carbonates, and the demise of carbonate shell-bearing organisms suggest global warming and ocean acidification. The temporal association of the extinction with the Siberia flood basalts at approximately 250 Ma is well known, and recent evidence suggests these flood basalts may have mobilized carbon in thick deposits of organic-rich sediments. Large isotopic excursions recorded in this period are potentially explained by rapid venting of coal-derived methane, which has primarily been attributed to metamorphism of coal by basaltic intrusion. However, recently discovered contemporaneous deposits of fly ash in northern Canada suggest large-scale combustion of coal as an additional mechanism for rapid release of carbon. This massive coal combustion may have resulted from explosive interaction with basalt sills of the Siberian Traps. Here we present physical analysis of explosive eruption of coal and basalt, demonstrating that it is a viable mechanism for global extinction. We describe and constrain the physics of this process including necessary magnitudes of basaltic intrusion, mixing and mobilization of coal and basalt, ascent to the surface, explosive combustion, and the atmospheric rise necessary for global distribution. PMID:22184229

Permo-Triassic vertebrate extinctions: A program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olson, E. C.

1988-01-01

Since the time of the Authors' study on this subject, a great deal of new information has become available. Concepts of the nature of extinctions have changed materially. The Authors' conclusion that a catastrophic event was not responsible for the extinction of vertebrates has modified to the extent that hypotheses involving either the impact of a massive extra-terrestrial body or volcanism provide plausible but not currently fully testable hypotheses. Stated changes resulted in a rapid decrease in organic diversity, as the ratio of origins of taxa to extinctions shifted from strongly positive to negative, with momentary equilibrium being reached at about the Permo-Triassic boundary. The proximate causes of the changes in the terrestrial biota appear to lie in two primary factors: (1) strong climatic changes (global mean temperatures, temperature ranges, humidity) and (2) susceptibility of the dominant vertebrates (large dicynodonts) and the glossopteris flora to disruption of the equlibrium of the world ecosystem. The following proximate causes have been proposed: (1) rhythmic fluctuations in solar radiation, (2) tectonic events as Pangea assembled, altering land-ocean relationships, patterns of wind and water circulation and continental physiography, (3) volcanism, and (4) changes subsequent to impacts of one or more massive extra terrestrial objects, bodies or comets. These hypotheses are discussed.

Dinasour extinction and volcanic activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gledhill, J. A.

There is at present some controversy about the reason for the mass extinction of dinosaurs and other forms of life at the end of the Cretaceous. A suggestion by Alvarez et al. [1980] that this was due to the collision of the earth with a meteorite 10 km or so in diameter has excited considerable interest [Silver and Schultz, 1982] and also some criticism [Stanley, 1984]. A recent publication [Wood, 1984] describing the catastrophic effects of a relatively minor lava flow in Iceland suggests that intense volcanic activity could have played a large part in the extinctions. In this letter it is pointed out that the Deccan lava flows in India took place in the appropriate time and may well have been of sufficient magnitude to be a major factor in the Cretaceous-Tertiary (C-T) boundary catastrophe.

Fossils reject climate change as the cause of extinction of Caribbean bats.

PubMed

Soto-Centeno, J Angel; Steadman, David W

2015-01-22

We combined novel radiocarbon dates of bat fossils with time-scaled ecological niche models (ENM) to study bat extinctions in the Caribbean. Radiocarbon-dated fossils show that late Quaternary losses of bat populations took place during the late Holocene (<4 ka) rather than late Pleistocene (>10 ka). All bat radiocarbon dates from Abaco (Bahamas) that represent extirpated populations are younger than 4 ka. We include data on six bat species, three of which are Caribbean endemics, and include nectarivores as well as insectivores. Climate-based ENMs from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present reflect overall stability in distributions, with suitable climatic habitat being present over time. In the absence of radiocarbon dates, bat extinctions had been presumed to take place during the last glacial-interglacial transition (ca. 10 ka). Now we see that extirpation of bats on these tropical islands is more complex than previously thought and primarily postdates the major climate changes that took place during the late Pleistocene-Holocene transition.

Chronic psychosocial stress causes delayed extinction and exacerbates reinstatement of ethanol-induced conditioned place preference in mice.

PubMed

Bahi, Amine; Dreyer, Jean-Luc

2014-01-01

We have shown previously, using an animal model of voluntary ethanol intake and ethanol-conditioned place preference (EtOH-CPP), that exposure to chronic psychosocial stress induces increased ethanol intake and EtOH-CPP acquisition in mice. Here, we examined the impact of chronic subordinate colony (CSC) exposure on EtOH-CPP extinction, as well as ethanol-induced reinstatement of CPP. Mice were conditioned with saline or 1.5 g/kg ethanol and were tested in the EtOH-CPP model. In the first experiment, the mice were subjected to 19 days of chronic stress, and EtOH-CPP extinction was assessed during seven daily trials without ethanol injection. In the second experiment and after the EtOH-CPP test, the mice were subjected to 7 days of extinction trials before the 19 days of chronic stress. Drug-induced EtOH-CPP reinstatement was induced by a priming injection of 0.5 g/kg ethanol. Compared to the single-housed colony mice, CSC mice exhibited increased anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze (EPM) and the open field tests. Interestingly, the CSC mice showed delayed EtOH-CPP extinction. More importantly, CSC mice showed increased alcohol-induced reinstatement of the EtOH-CPP behavior. Taken together, this study indicates that chronic psychosocial stress can have long-term effects on EtOH-CPP extinction as well as drug-induced reinstatement behavior and may provide a suitable model to study the latent effects of chronic psychosocial stress on extinction and relapse to drug abuse.