0000000001163967
AUTHOR
Hugo Bucher
Permian-Triassic Osteichthyes (bony fishes): diversity dynamics and body size evolution
The Permian and Triassic were key time intervals in the history of life on Earth. Both periods are marked by a series of biotic crises including the most catastrophic of such events, the end-Permian mass extinction, which eventually led to a major turnover from typical Palaeozoic faunas and floras to those that are emblematic for the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Here we review patterns in Permian-Triassic bony fishes, a group whose evolutionary dynamics are understudied. Based on data from primary literature, we analyse changes in their taxonomic diversity and body size (as a proxy for trophic position) and explore their response to Permian-Triassic events. Diversity and body size are investigate…
Ammonoids and quantitative biochronology - A unitary association perspective
Ammonoid evolutionary changes have long been recognized to be excellent time markers. They are the major macrofossil group to date and correlate Paleozoic and Mesozoic marine strata. Originations and extinctions of ammonoid species are commonly used to define GSSPs and build high resolution biozonations. Biochronology is now an advanced field with the recent development of computerized, quantitative methods yielding robust biochronological schemes. It has been demonstrated that such quantitative biochronological methods are very efficient to resolve (often complex) biostratigraphic contradictions and produce accurate and high resolution biozonations, thus enabling precise dating and correla…
Griesbachian and Dienerian (Early Triassic) ammonoid faunas from Northwestern Guangxi and Southern Guizhou (South China).
30 pages; International audience; Intensive sampling of the Luolou (northwestern Guangxi) and the Daye (southern Guizhou) Formations in South China leads to the recognition of a regional Griesbachian and Dienerian ammonoid succession for this key palaeobiogeographical area. The new biostratigraphical sequence comprises the upper Griesbachian ‘Ophiceras beds' and the lower Dienerian ‘Proptychites candidus beds', which are separated from the uppermost Dienerian ‘Clypites beds' by an unfossiliferous interval. These faunas contain some taxa with wide geographic distribution (e.g. Ambites, Pleurambites, Pleurogyronites, Proptychites candidus), thus facilitating correlation with faunal succession…
Mode and Rate of Growth in Ammonoids
In this chapter we discuss the mode and rate of growth in ammonoids, focusing primarily on postembryonic growth. We first discuss the general mode of growth and then describe the ontogenetic sequence of growth stages. These stages are recognized on the basis of changes in morphology. For example, a graph of the increase in size of whorl width versus shell diameter in an individual reveals changes through ontogeny that pinpoint the end of one growth stage and the beginning of another. We next discuss the overall rate of growth through ontogeny and establish a generalized growth curve. In this discussion, we refer to other cephalopods whose rate of growth is known. Fluctuations in the rate of…
Globacrochordiceras gen. nov. (Acrochordiceratidae, late Early Triassic) and its significance for stress-induced evolutionary jumps in ammonoid lineages (cephalopods)
<i>Globacrochordiceras transpacificum</i> gen. et sp. nov. is an ammonoid (Ammonoidea, Cephalopoda) with a shell characterized by plicate ribbing (rounded and undulating ribs strengthening on the venter without interruption), increasing involution through ontogeny, overhanging and deep umbilical wall, absence of tuberculation, subtriangular whorl section, globose adult shape with a closed umbilicus followed by an abrupt egressive coiling, and a subammonitic adult suture line. This new taxon occurs in Nevada (USA) and in Guangxi (South China). It has its typical occurrence within the <i>Neopopanoceras haugi</i> Zone of late Spathian age (Early Triassic). The plicate r…
Comment on "Lethally hot temperatures during the Early Triassic greenhouse".
Sun et al . (Reports, 19 October 2012, p. 366) reconstructed Permian to Middle Triassic equatorial seawater temperatures. After correct temporal positioning of their data points, their presumed trends of temperature changes, and hence their assumption of a one-to-one relationship between putative "lethally hot" seawater temperatures and a disputable equatorial "eclipse" of some organisms, are no longer supported by their data.
Early Triassic conodont clusters from South China: revision of the architecture of the 15 element apparatuses of the superfamily Gondolelloidea
Several fused clusters of conodont elements of the genera Neospathodus and Novispathodus were recovered from limestone beds at the Dienerian-Smithian and Smithi- an-Spathian boundaries, respectively, from several localities in Guangxi province, South China. Conodont clusters are otherwise extremely rare in the Triassic, and these are first described for the Early Triassic. The exceptional specimens partially preserve the relative three-dimensional position and orientation of ramiform elements and are therefore extremely important for testing hypotheses on the architecture of appa- ratuses. These specimens partly confirm the previous recon- struction of the Novispathodus apparatus by Orchard…
Guodunites, a low-palaeolatitude and trans-panthalassic Smithian (Early Triassic) ammonoid genus
11 pages; International audience; Based on new, bed-rock controlled material from Oman and Utah, USA, the Early Triassic genus Guodunites, which was recently erected on the basis of scarce specimens from northwestern Guangxi, South China, is now shown to be a representative of Proptychitidae. This solves the question of the previously unknown phylogenetic affinity of this genus. The genus is restricted to the late middle Smithian, and to date, its biogeographical distribution comprises Oman, South China and Utah, thus indicating an essentially low palaeolatitudinal distribution during the Early Triassic. Its palaeobiogeographical distribution further strengthens the existence of significant…
Transient metazoan reefs in the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction
5 pages; International audience; Recovery from the devastating Permian-Triassic mass extinction about 252 million years ago is usually assumed to have spanned the entire 5 million years of the Early Triassic epoch1,2. The post-crisis interval was characterized by large-scale fluctuations of the global carbon cycle and harsh marine conditions, including a combination of ocean acidification, euxinia, and fluctuating productivity3. During this interval, metazoan-dominated reefs are thought to have been replaced by microbial deposits that are considered the hallmark of the Early Triassic4-7. Here we use field and microscopic investigations to document Early Triassic bioaccumulations and reefs f…
Revision of the genus Anasibirites Mojsisovics (Ammonoidea): An iconic and cosmopolitan taxon of the late Smithian (Early Triassic) extinction
34 pages; International audience; The family Prionitidae Hyatt represents a major component of ammonoid faunas during the Smithian (Early Triassic), and the genus Anasibirites Mojsisovics is the most emblematic taxon of this family. Its stratigraphical range is restricted to the beginning of the late Smithian (Wasatchites distractus Zone). The genus is also characterized by an unusual cosmopolitan distribution, thus contrasting with most earlier Smithian ammonoid distributions that were typically restricted by latitude. Because the late Smithian witnessed an extinction of the nekton (e.g. ammonoids, conodonts) whose amplitude is equal to or larger than that of the end-Permian crisis, the nu…
Marine Early Triassic Actinopterygii from Elko County (Nevada, USA): implications for the Smithian equatorial vertebrate eclipse
AbstractThe Early Triassic vertebrate record from low paleolatitudes is spotty, which led to the notion of an ‘equatorial vertebrate eclipse’ during the Smithian. Here we present articulated ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii), collected from the marine Lower Triassic Thaynes Group at three new localities in Elko County (Nevada, USA), which were deposited within the equatorial zone. From the Smithian of the Winecup Ranch, we describe two partial skulls of the predatory actinopterygianBirgeria(Birgeriidae), attributed toB.americananew species andBirgeriasp.Birgeria americanan. sp. is distinguished from other species by a less reduced operculogular series. With an estimated total length of 1.7…
Mature Modifications and Dimorphism in Ammonoid Cephalopods
The shell of an ammonoid is a kind of autobiography of the animal that once occupied it. Different parts of the shell tell different parts of the life history. The growth lines and the tiny intervals in between, along with the shape of the shell itself, record what was happening at the anterior end of the body. The septa and their sutures relate the tale of the other extremity.
Biogeography of Triassic ammonoids
After the end-Permian mass extinction, ammonoids experienced an explosive recovery followed by episodes of radiation and extinction. These events were associated with sudden biogeographic changes often closely related to major climatic and oceanographic changes. Previous biogeographic studies of Triassic ammonoids have rarely focused on a specific time-interval and were rarely based on quantitative methods. Thus, we will first review biogeographical methods and the biogeographical signals known from Triassic ammonoids. Secondly, we will focus on quantitative approaches that improve our knowledge of ammonoid biogeographical structuring and dynamics during the Triassic, and we will discuss co…
Gastropod evidence against the Early Triassic Lilliput effect
4 pages; International audience; Size reduction in the aftermath of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction event has repeatedly been described for various marine organisms, including gastropods (the Lilliput effect). A Smithian gastropod assemblage from Utah, USA, reveals numerous large-sized specimens of different genera as high as 70 mm, the largest ever reported from the Early Triassic. Other gastropods reported from Serbia and Italy are also as large as 35 mm. Size frequency distributions of the studied assemblages indicate that they were not unusually small when compared with later Mesozoic and modern faunas. The occurrence of large-sized gastropods less than 2 Ma after the Permian-Trias…
New Smithian (Early Triassic) ammonoids from Crittenden Springs, Elko County, Nevada: implications for taxonomy, biostratigraphy and biogeography.
41 pages; International audience
Permian-Triassic extinctions and rediversifications.
Ammonoids were a major component of Permian marine faunas, but were on the verge of extinction during the Permian-Triassic crisis ~ 252 myr ago. Despite the severity of this extinction, their recovery was explosive in less than 1.5 myr. By Smithian time, they had already reached levels of taxonomic richness much higher than those of the Permian. The causes for the rapid Early Triassic diversification and proliferation of these organisms still remain elusive, but the evolution of their spatio-temporal diversity and disparity patterns closely correlates with the numerous environmental changes recorded during this time interval.
Data from: Revision of the genus Anasibirites Mojsisovics (Ammonoidea): an iconic and cosmopolitan taxon of the late Smithian (Early Triassic) extinction
The family Prionitidae Hyatt represents a major component of ammonoid faunas during the Smithian (Early Triassic), and the genus Anasibirites Mojsisovics is the most emblematic taxon of this family. Its stratigraphical range is restricted to the beginning of the late Smithian (Wasatchites distractus Zone). The genus is also characterized by an unusual cosmopolitan distribution, thus contrasting with most earlier Smithian ammonoid distributions that were typically restricted by latitude. Because the late Smithian witnessed an extinction of the nekton (e.g. ammonoids, conodonts) whose amplitude is equal to or larger than that of the end-Permian crisis, the number of valid species that should …