Search results for "Extinction"
showing 10 items of 458 documents
Inbreeding rate modifies the dynamics of genetic load in small populations
2012
The negative fitness consequences of close inbreeding are widely recognized, but predicting the long-term effects of inbreeding and genetic drift due to limited population size is not straightforward. As the frequency and homozygosity of recessive deleterious alleles increase, selection can remove (purge) them from a population, reducing the genetic load. At the same time, small population size relaxes selection against mildly harmful mutations, which may lead to accumulation of genetic load. The efficiency of purging and the accumulation of mutations both depend on the rate of inbreeding (i.e., population size) and on the nature of mutations. We studied how increasing levels of inbreeding …
Ammonite extinction and nautilid survival at the end of the Cretaceous
2014
One of the puzzles about the end-Cretaceous extinctions is why some organisms disappeared and others survived. A notable example is the differential extinction of ammonites and survival of nautilids, the two groups of co-occurring, externally shelled cephalopods at the end of the Cretaceous. To investigate the role of geographic distribution in explaining this outcome, we compiled a database of all the occurrences of ammonites and the nautilid genus Eutrephoceras in the last 0.5 m.y. of the Maastrichtian. We also included recently published data on ammonite genera that appear to have briefly survived into the Paleocene. Using two metrics to evaluate the geographic range of each genus (first…
Palaeozoogeographical connections of the Devonian vertebrate communities of the Baltica Province. Part II. Late Devonian
2010
Abstract Late Devonian vertebrate communities within the Baltica zoogeographical Province are analysed for intra- and interprovincial connections. Components within the category of provincial endemics are used to assign the communities to a particular zoogeographical province. Marine and continental, presumably freshwater types of vertebrate dispersal are outlined. During the Late Devonian marine dispersal is displayed by ptyctodonts, struniiforms, and some dipnoans, and continental dispersal by psammosteids, acanthodians, and some arthrodires. Isolation of communities is reflected by predominance of local and provincial endemics; the majority of polydemics and cosmopolitans records wider c…
A diagenetic control on the Early Triassic Smithian-Spathian carbon isotopic excursions recorded in the marine settings of the Thaynes Group (Utah, U…
2016
17 pages; International audience; n the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction, Early Triassic sediments record some of the largest Phanerozoic carbon isotopic excursions. Among them, a global Smithian-negative carbonate carbon isotope excursion has been identified, followed by an abrupt increase across the Smithian–Spathian boundary (SSB; ~250.8 Myr ago). This chemostratigraphic evolution is associated with palaeontological evidence that indicate a major collapse of terrestrial and marine ecosystems during the Late Smithian. It is commonly assumed that Smithian and Spathian isotopic variations are intimately linked to major perturbations in the exogenic carbon reservoir. We present p…
Seed germination and reproductive features of Lysimachia minoricensis (Primulaceae), a wild-extinct plant.
2002
Lysimachia minoricensis is one of the few Mediterranean endemic plants (Minorca, Balearic islands) that has gone extinct in the wild but which persists as extant germplasm or cultivated plants in several botanical gardens. Reproductive features (seed set, number of seeds per capsule, seed weight) and germination responses to constant temperatures, sea water and dry-heat pre-treatments were investigated to determine the extent to which they may have influenced the extinction of the species. Seed set in Lysimachia is not dependent on pollinators, suggesting a functional selfer breeding system. Most plants produced a large mean number of fruits (23.2) and seeds (466), and the mean production o…
Shallow ocean oxygen decline during the end-Triassic mass extinction
2022
The end-Triassic mass extinction (ETME) was associated with intensified deep-water anoxia in epicontinental seas and mid-depth waters, yet the absolute oxygenation state in the shallow ocean is uncharacterized. Here we report carbonate-associated iodine data from the peritidal Mount Sparagio section (Southern Italy) that documents the ETME (~ 200 Ma) in the western Tethys. We find a sharp drop in carbonate I/(Ca + Mg) ratios across the extinction horizon and persisting into the Early Jurassic. This records local dissolved oxygen and iodate decline in the near-surface ocean of low-latitude Tethys due to the development of depleted oxygen concentrations. Consequently, during the ETME even sha…
Geochronology of the mid-German crystalline rise west of the River Rhine
1996
The mid-German crystalline rise has its westernmost exposures at the western margin of the Rhine graben in the southern Pfalz and the northern Alsace. The outcrops are made up of granitoid rocks and minor volcano-sedimentary sequences. Radiometric ages obtained by U/Pb, Pb/Pb, Sm/Nd and Rb/Sr analyses of the igneous rocks from this area range from ∼433 to ∼325 Ma thus covering a time span from the Silurian to the end of the lower Carboniferous. Because the investigated rocks are — according to their chemical composition — largely related to subduction zone environments, the following three geodynamical scenarios are postulated, always taking subduction of oceanic crust beneath the mid-Germa…
Comment on "Lethally hot temperatures during the Early Triassic greenhouse".
2013
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.
Scattered Radiation in the Atmosphere and the Natural Aerosol
1964
Publisher Summary This chapter deals with problems of scattered atmospheric radiation, with regard to the haze in the atmosphere. The impressive phenomenon of the tint of the sky, which varies with the time of day and with the weather situation, has long stimulated the investigation of the radiation of the sky. As it is known that the sky radiation is in part, strongly polarized and that the degree of polarization is subjected to characteristic variations, these facts are included in the investigation. The atmospheric transparency for radiation and especially the radiation effects as related to aerosols of certain sizes are of fundamental importance. Reflected and scattered radiations are e…
Atmospheric turbidity and its spectral extinction
1955
The indices of the wavelength dependency of the haze extinction which were currently determined from measurements of solar radiation and visibility at Mainz, show pronounced seasonal variations. The summer values are in general definitely higher than in winter. There is no connection with the scatter light types of the sky-light or with the meteorological situation.