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Web Sites about Mass Extinctions
!
T.J. Algeo and J. Shen (2024):
Theory
and classification of mass extinction causation. Free access,
National Science Review, 11: nwad237.
See likewise
here.
Note figure 3: Generalized flowchart showing role of carbon-cycle
response (yellow) in linking triggers (ultimate causes; green) to environmental
responses (proximate causes; red) during major biocrises.
Figure 4: Classification of mass extinctions, based on a combination of ultimate ( y-axis)
and proximate ( x-axis) causation.
L. Azevedo-Schmidt et al. (2024):
Ferns
as facilitators of community recovery following biotic upheaval. Open access,
BioScience. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biae022.
! Note figure 1: Time-calibrated fern phylogeny
[shows additionally major extinction events with and without fern spike].
See also
here.
"... The competitive success of ferns has been foundational to hypotheses about terrestrial
recolonization following biotic upheaval, from wildfires to the Cretaceous–Paleogene asteroid
impact (66 million years ago). Rapid fern recolonization in primary successional environments has been hypothesized
to be driven by ferns’ high spore production and wind dispersal
[...] We propose that a competition-based view of ferns is outdated and in need of reexamination ..."
K.L. Bacon and G.T. Swindles (2016): Could a potential Anthropocene mass extinction define a new geological period? In PDF, The Anthropocene Review, 3: 208–217.
BBC Earth timeline.
Major
mass extinctions.
! Luann Becker (2002): Repeated Blows (in PDF). Scientific American. Impacts of large meteorites and major extinctions of life.
J.P. Benca (2022):
Reconstructing
Lycopsids Lost to the Deep Past. PDF file,
In: Valérie Bienvenue et al. (eds.):
Animals, Plants and Afterimages:
The Art and Science of Representing Extinction (!free full text PDF).
See likewise
here.
"... Accurate and conservative palaeobotanical reconstructions most often accompany
scientific studies that can be difficult for the public to access.
However, these works serve as indispensable guides for a growing number
of palaeoartists undertaking more holistic ecosystem reconstructions that
can, in turn, be presented to the public ..."
!
M.J. Benton et al. (2022):
The
Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution and the origins of modern biodiversity. Free access,
New Phytologist, 233: 2017–2035.
Note fig. 1: Evolution of hyperdiverse terrestrial life.
Fig. 3: Key stages in Earth history and angiosperm evolution through
the Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution.
Also worth checking out:
Flowering
plants: an evolution revolution.
(Univ. of Bristol, November 17, 2021).
How
'Flower Power' Quite Literally Transformed Earth Millions of Years Ago
(by T. Koumoundouros, January 08,2022).
Michael J. Benton (2010): The origins of modern biodiversity on land. In PDF, Transactions of the Royal Society, B.
Michael J. Benton, The Palaeobiology and Biodiversity Research Group, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, UK: Reprints by Michael J. Benton (PDF files).
!
B.A. Black et al. (2012):
Magnitude
and consequences of volatile release from the Siberian Traps. In PDF,
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 317-318: 363-373.
This expired link
is available through the Internet Archive´s
Wayback Machine.
B. Blonder et al. (2014): Plant Ecological Strategies Shift Across the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary. Open acces, PLoS Biol, 12.
! D.P.G. Bond and S.E. Grasby (2016): On the causes of mass extinctions. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
! D.P.G. Bond and P. Wignall (2014): Large igneous provinces and mass extinctions: An update. PDF file, in: Keller, G., and Kerr, A.C., eds.: Volcanism, Impacts, and Mass Extinctions: Causes and Effects. Geological Society of America Special Paper 505.
! D.P.G. Bonda and S.E. Grasby (2016): On the causes of mass extinctions. Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, See also here (in PDF).
The Geological Society of America: GSA Annual Meeting, November 5-8, 2001, Boston, Massachusetts: Stratigraphy I: Impacts and Extinctions.
M.C. Boulter et al. (1988): Patterns of plant extinction from some palaeobotanical evidence. PDF file, In: G.P. Larwood (ed.): Extinction and Survival in the Fossit Record.
! S.E. Bryan and L. Ferrari (2013): Large igneous provinces and silicic large igneous provinces: Progress in our understanding over the last 25 years. In PDF, GSA Bulletin. See also here.
M.J. Butrim et al. (2022):
No
Consistent Shift in Leaf Dry Mass
per Area Across
the Cretaceous—Paleogene
Boundary.
Front. Plant Sci., 13:894690.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.894690.
See also
here.
! D.J. Button et al. (2017): Mass extinctions drove increased global faunal cosmopolitanism on the supercontinent Pangaea. In PDF, Nature Communications, 8. See also here.
! Derek Briggs and Peter Crowther (eds.), Earth Pages, Blackwell Publishing:
Paleobiology:
A Synthesis
(PDF files). Snapshot now taken by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
Series of concise articles from over 150 leading authorities from around the world.
Navigate from the content file.
There are no restrictions on downloading this material. Excellent!
Worth checking out:
Part 1. Major Events in the History of Life,
Pages 1-92.
Part 2. The Evolutionary Process and the Fossil Record,
Pages 93-210.
Part 3. Taphonomy,
Pages 211-304.
Part 4. Palaeoecology,
Pages 305-414.
Part 5. Taxonomy, Phylogeny and Biostratigraphy,
Pages 415-490.
!
M.R. Carvalho et al. (2021):
Extinction
at the end-Cretaceous and the origin of modern Neotropical rainforests
Science, 372: 63–68. See also
here
(in PDF).
"... Plant diversity declined
by 45% at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary and did not recover for ~6 million years. ..."
Please take notice:
Wie
der Asteroid den Regenwald prägte. Wissenschaft.de, in German.
B. Cascales-Miñana et al. (2013): What is the best way to measure extinction? A reflection from the palaeobotanical record. Abstract.
! B. Cascales-Miñana and C.J. Cleal (2013): The plant fossil record reflects just two great extinction events. Abstract.
! B. Cascales-Miñana and C.J. Cleal (2012): Plant fossil record and survival analyses. In PDF, Lethaia, 45: 71-82. See also here (abstract).
! Catastrophic Events and Mass Extinctions: Impacts and Beyond. Conference, University of Vienna, Austria (Sunday, July 9, 2000, to Wednesday, July 12, 2000). Go to: Preliminary Program and Abstracts (PDF format). To use this file, click on the name of the session, and when the full program listing appears, click on the title of a presentation to view the abstract.
P. Cermeño et al. (2022):
Post-extinction
recovery of the Phanerozoic oceans and biodiversity hotspots. Free access,
Nature, 607: 507–511.
"... We attribute the overall increase in global diversity during the Late
Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras to the development of diversity hotspots under prolonged
conditions of Earth system stability and maximum continental fragmentation.
We call this the ‘diversity hotspots hypothesis’, ..."
The University of Chicago Chronicle: J. John Sepkoski, 50, dies at home in Hyde Park.
Philippe Claeys, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of California, Berkeley: When the sky fell on our heads: Identification and interpretation of impact products in the sedimentary record. U.S. National Report to IUGG, 1991-1994, Rev. Geophys. Vol. 33 Suppl.; 1995. American Geophysical Union.
! Vincent Courtillot (2003): Evolutionary catastrophes: the science of mass extinction. PDF file, 188 pages, Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing).
Richard Cowen, Tracking the Course of Evolution: Extinctions, Mass Extinctions.
! T.J. Crowley and G.R. North (1988): Abrupt climate change and extinction events in earth history. In PDF, Science.
Mark Dalton, Cray Research,Inc., Los Alamos: Extinction pages. An index page without annotations.
!
W.J. Davis (2023):
Mass
extinctions and their relationship with atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration:
Implications for Earth's future. Open access,
Earth's Future, 11: e2022EF003336.
!
Note figure 1: Time series of mass extinctions and their substages over the past
534 million years.
Figure 2: Equal-interval histogram of percent genus loss versus (vs.) time
showing 25 previously-identified mass extinction events over the past
534 million years.
Allen A. Debus, Fossil News:
The Art of Paleocatastrophe.
How paleoartists have portrayed catastrophic events in life´s past.
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
Senatskommission für Zukunftsaufgaben der Geowissenschaften
der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG):
Dynamische
Erde – Zukunftsaufgaben
der Geowissenschaften.
10.3 – Krisen
der Evolution und Dynamik der Biodiversität. In German.
Still available through the Internet Archive´s
Wayback Machine.
S. Díaz and Y. Malhi (2022): Biodiversity: Concepts, patterns, trends, and perspectives. Free access, Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 47: 31-63.
R. Dirzo and P.H. Raven (2003): Global state of biodiversity and loss. In PDF, Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour., 28.
! dmoz, open directory project: Science: Earth Sciences: Paleontology: Extinction.
A.M. Dunhill et al. (2022):
Extinction
cascades, community collapse, and recovery across a Mesozoic hyperthermal event. In PDF,
bioRxiv.
See also
here.
"... the extinction event caused a switch from a diverse, stable community with high levels
of functional redundancy to a less diverse, more densely connected, and less stable
community of generalists.
Ecological recovery appears to have lagged behind the recovery of biodiversity,
with most metrics only beginning to return to pre-extinction levels ~7 million years
after the extinction event...."
! A.M.T. Elewa (2008): Mass Extinction. In PDF. See also here (table of contents, Springer).
! R.E. Ernst and N. Youbi (2017): How Large Igneous Provinces affect global climate, sometimes cause mass extinctions, and represent natural markers in the geological record. Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 478: 30-52. See also here (in PDF).
!
J.M. Galloway and S. Lindström (2023):
Wildfire
in the geological record: Application of Quaternary methods to deep time studies. Open access,
Evolving Earth, 1.
!
Note figure 1: Summary figure of changes in atmospheric O2 [...] and important events in
Earth’s history, climate state, selected extinction events.
Geological Society of America: GSA Annual Meeting, October 27-30, 2002, Denver, CO: Abstracts. Go to: Paleontology/Paleobotany V: Diversity Dynamics and Extinctions.
Geological Society of America, Geological Society of London. Earth System Processes - Global Meeting (June 24-28, 2001) Edinburgh: Technical Sessions. Abstracts. Go to: Controls on Phanerozoic Diversifications and Extinctions: Long-Term Interactions Between the Physical and Biotic Realms, and Critical Transitions in Earth History and Their Causes, and Critical Transitions in Earth History and Their Causes (Posters).
! The Geological Society of London:G. Escarguel et al. (2011): Biodiversity is not (and never has been) a bed of roses! In PDF, Comptes Rendus Biologies.
D.H. Erwin (2008): Extinction as the loss of evolutionary history. PDF file, PNAS, 105: 11520-11527. See also here (abstract).
Mike Farabee, Estrella Mountain Community College Center, Avondale, Arizona: On-Line Biology Book. Introductory biology lecture notes. Go to: THE BIOSPHERE AND MASS EXTINCTIONS.
Brian Fisher Johnson (2009), Earth magazine, The American Geological Institute:
Deciphering
mass extinctions.
What the planet´s past mass extinctions tell us about the future of life on Earth.
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
Michael Foote, Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago: Origination and Extinction through the Phanerozoic: A New Approach. Analyzing the observed first and last appearances of marine animal and microfossil genera. PDF file, The Journal of Geology, 2003, volume 111, p. 125–148.
W.J. Foster et al. (2023): How predictable are mass extinction events? Free access, R. Soc. Open Sci., 10: 221507. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.221507.
! The Full Wiki Project (an independent publishing company based in Sydney, Australia): Extinction events: Reference.
J.C. Gall (2009): Terre et Vie: des histoires imbriquées (in French, with an abridged English version p. 106). PDF file, Comptes Rendus Palevol, 8: 105-117.
!
J.M. Galloway and S. Lindström (2023):
Impacts
of large-scale magmatism on land plant ecosystems. Open access,
Elements, 19: 289–295.
! Note figure 1: Summary figure of changes in the diversity of land
plants over geological time.
Figure 2: Flow chart showing the myriad of ways large-scale magmatism may impact land plants.
"... Emplacement of large igneous
provinces (LIPs) is implicated in almost every mass extinction and smaller
biotic crises in Earth’s history, but the effects of these and other large-scale
magmatic events on terrestrial ecosystems are poorly understood
[...] We review existing palynological literature to
explore the direct and cumulative impacts of large-scale magmatism, such as
LIP-forming events, on terrestrial vegetation composition and dynamics over geological time ..."
Geolor, Geoteach.Com: List of Short Exercises. Exercises cover a variety of earth science topics with accompanying references.
S. Goderis et al. (2021): Globally distributed iridium layer preserved within the Chicxulub impact structure. Free access, Sci. Adv., 7: eabe3647.
W.A. Green et al. (2011): Does extinction wield an axe or pruning shears? How interactions between phylogeny and ecology affect patterns of extinction. In PDF, Paleobiology, 37: 72-91. See also here.
J.M. Gutak and D.A. Ruban (2013):
Catastrophes
versus events in the geologic past: how
does the scale matter? In PDF.
!
Photograph of an upright stem on PDF page 5!
Christa-Ch. Hofmann, Institute of Palaeontology, University of Vienna: Pollen and spores tell nearly everything...- and often nothing. Abstract, The International Plant Taphonomy Meeting 2002, Bonn, Goldfuss Museum, Institute of Paleontology, Germany. Snapshot taken by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
B. Hönisch et al. (2012):
The
Geological Record of
Ocean Acidification. In PDF,
Science, 135.
This expired link is now available through the Internet Archive´s
Wayback Machine.
S.M. Holland and M.E. Patzkowsky (2015): The stratigraphy of mass extinction. Abstract.
Hooper Virtual Natural History Museum (named for now retired Dr.
Ken Hooper, a Carleton University micropaleontologist)
Department of Earth Sciences,
Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada).
The principle objective of this museum is to provide a state-of-the-art summary of items of
geological interest, emphasizing areas currently being studied by students and research faculty.
For some special topics you may navigate from
here or from
there (The archives).
See especially:
!
The End-Permian Mass Extinction.
!
Extinctions:
Cycles of Life and Death Through Time.
!
Mass Extinctions
Of The Phanerozoic Menu.
!
Evolution & Extinction.
R.B. Huey et al. (2002): Plants versus animals: do they deal with stress in different ways? PDF file, Integrative and Comparative Biology, 42: 415-423.
! P.M. Hull et al. (2020): On impact and volcanism across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. In PDF, Science, 367: 266–272. See also here (abstract) and there (in German).
P.M. Hull et al. (2016): Rarity in mass extinctions and the future of ecosystems. In PDF, Nature 528: 345–351. See also here (abstract).
! P. Hull (2015): Life in the aftermath of mass extinctions. In PDF, Current Biology. See also here (abstract).
! P.M. Hull and S.A.F. Darroch (2013): Mass extinctions and the structure and function of ecosystems. PDF file, in: A.M. Bush, S.B. Pruss, and J.L. Payne (eds.): Ecosystem Paleobiology and Geobiology, The Paleontological Society Short Course, October 26, 2013. The Paleontological Society Papers, 19. See also here.
!
D. Jablonski and S.M. Edie (2023):
Perfect
storms shape biodiversity in time and space. Free access,
Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society, 2.
"... Many of the most dramatic patterns in biological diversity are created by
“Perfect Storms” —rare combinations of mutually reinforcing factors that push origination,
extinction, or diversity accommodation to extremes
[...] The Perfect Storms perspective may allow more nuanced and
specific applications of our characterization of past events to the
present day, even if today’s combination of pressures is in some
ways unprecedented ..."
D. Jablonski (2005): Mass extinctions and macroevolution. In PDF, Paleobiology, 31: 192-210.
David Jablonski, Committee on Evolutionary Biology, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Chicago: The interplay of physical and biotic factors in macroevolution. PDF file, In: A. Lister and L. Rothschild, eds., Evolution on Planet Earth: The impact of the physical environment. New York: Academic Press, 235-252; 2003.
David Jablonski, Committee on Evolutionary Biology, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Chicago: Extinction: Past and present. PDF file, Nature 427: 589; 2004.
! K.-P. Kelber (2003): Sterben und Neubeginn im Spiegel der Paläofloren. PDF file (17 MB!), in German. Plant evolution, the fossil record of plants and the aftermath of mass extinction events. pp. 38-59, 212-215; In: Hansch, W. (ed.): Katastrophen in der Erdgeschichte - Wendezeiten des Lebens.- museo 19, Heilbronn.
! G. Keller and A.C. Kerr (2014): Foreword. From Keller, G., and Kerr, A.C., eds.: Volcanism, Impacts, and Mass Extinctions: Causes and Effects. Geological Society of America Special Paper 505.
Richard A. Kerr (2011):
Was
the "Dinosaur Killer" Unfairly Charged?
Science.
Provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
V. Krassilov and A. Shuklina (2007): Terrestrial biotic crises: paleobotanical record and interpretation. In PDF.
Cyril Langlois,
ENS de Lyon:
Évolution
et crises biologiques. PDF file. Lecture notes,
in French.
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
S. Lidgard et al. (2009):
The
search for evidence of mass extinction. In PDF,
Natural history, 118: 26-32.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
Ronald J. Litwin, Robert E. Weems, and Thomas R. Holtz, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver (Maintained by Eastern Publications Group Web Team): Dinosaurs: Facts and Fiction.
! R. Lockwood (2008): Beyond the "Big Five" - Extinctions as Experiments in the History of Life. In PDF. In: From Evolution to Geobiology: Research Questions Driving Paleontology at the Start of a New Century, Paleontological Society Short Course, October 4, 2008. Paleontological Society Papers, Volume 14, Patricia H. Kelley and Richard K. Bambach. (Eds.).
E.J.T. Loewen et al. (2024):
New
Canadian amber deposit fills gap in fossil record near end-Cretaceous
mass extinction. In PDF, Current
Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.03.001.
See
here
as well.
"... we report a diverse amber assemblage from the Late Cretaceous
(67.04 ± 0.16 Ma) of the Big Muddy Badlands, Canada. The new deposit fills a critical 16-million-year gap in
the arthropod fossil record
Amber chemistry and stable isotopes suggest the amber was produced by coniferous
(Cupressaceae) trees in a subtropical swamp ..."
S.G. Lucas (2021): Nonmarine Mass Extinctions. Paleontological Research 25: 329-344. See also here.
E.N. Lughadha et al. (2020): Extinction risk and threats to plants and fungi. Open access, Plants, People, Planet, 2: 389–408.
! J.C. McElwain (2018): Paleobotany and global change: Important lessons for species to biomes from vegetation responses to past global change, In PDF, Annual review of plant biology, 69: 761–787. See also here
P.J. Mayhew et al. (2008): A long-term association between global temperature and biodiversity, origination and extinction in the fossil record. In PDF, Proc Biol Sci., 275: 47-53.
! J.C. McElwain and S.W. Punyasena (2007): Mass extinction events and the plant fossil record. PDF file, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 22: 548-557. See also here (abstract).
Jennifer C. McElwain, UCD Earth Systems Institute, Dublin:
Climate change and mass extinction: What
can we learn from 200 million year old
plants?
PDF file.
Provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
G.R. McGhee et al. (2013): A new ecological-severity ranking of major Phanerozoic biodiversity crises. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 370: 260-270.
! G.R. McGhee et al. (2004): Ecological ranking of Phanerozoic biodiversity crises: ecological and taxonomic severities are decoupled. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 211: 289-297.
N. MacLeod (2014): The geological extinction record: History, data, biases, and testing. Abstract, from: Keller, G., and Kerr, A.C., eds.: Volcanism, Impacts, and Mass Extinctions: Causes and Effects. Geological Society of America Special Paper 505.
S. Miller (2014): The public impact of impacts: How the media play in the mass extinction debates. PDF file, in: Keller, G., and Kerr, A.C., eds.: Volcanism, Impacts, and Mass Extinctions: Causes and Effects. Geological Society of America Special Paper 505.
!
R.D. Nance (2022):
The
supercontinent cycle and Earth's long-term climate. Open access,
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1515: 33–49.
Note figure 1: Reconstruction of Pangea for the Late Triassic (at 200 Ma).
!
Figure 7: Distribution of warm (greenhouse) and cool (icehouse) global climatic conditions for the
past 1 Ga compared with times of
supercontinent assembly and breakup for Rodinia, Pannotia, and Pangea.
Figure 9: Distribution of large igneous provinces (LIPs) throughout Earth history.
!
Figure 10: Age and estimated volume of Phanerozoic large igneous provinces
(LIPs) compared to genus extinction magnitude showing
correlation between mass extinction events (peaks) and LIP emplacement.
Stephen A. Nelson, Department of Geology, Tulane University. New Orleans, LA: Natural Disasters, Meteorites, Impacts, and Mass Extinction.
Michael J. Novacek and Elsa E. Cleland (2001): The current biodiversity extinction event: Scenarios for mitigation and recovery. Abstract, PNAS, 98: 5466-5470.
! Paul E. Olsen, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY: Dinosaurs and the History of Life. Go to: Lecture 23 - The Impact Theory of Mass Extinction. The general pattern of extinctions.
W. Oschmann (2006): Evolution und Sterben der Dinosaurier. In PDF, Nova Acta Leopoldina NF 93, 345, 117-143. PDF file, in German.
!
Oxford Bibliographies.
Oxford Bibliographies offers
exclusive, authoritative research guides. Combining the best features of an annotated bibliography
and a high-level encyclopedia, this cutting-edge resource directs researchers to the best
available scholarship across a wide variety of subjects. Go to:
Fossils
(by Kevin Boyce).
Paleontology
(by René Bobe).
Paleoecology
(by Alistair Seddon).
! J.L. Payne and M.E. Clapham (2012): End-Permian Mass Extinction in the Oceans: An Ancient Analog for the Twenty-First Century? In PDF, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 40: 89-111. See also here (New York Times feature).
PBS, Alexandria, Virginia (PBS is a private, non-profit media enterprise owned and operated by the US 349 public television stations): Evolution. This online course is intended to deepen the understanding of evolution with extensive content-rich materials, interactive exercises, primary source readings and in depth exploration of scientific concepts. Go to: Extinction.
Peripatus Homepage (?): Extinction.
David Perlman, San Francisco Chronicle: Mass extinction comes every 62 million years, UC physicists discover.
Shanan E. Peters, University of Wisconsin-Madison: Sepkoski´s Online Genus Database. The purpose of this database is to allow users to easily search and summarize Sepkoski's global genus compendium on the basis of Evolutionary Fauna, Phylum, or Class.
! Shanan E. Peters (2008): Environmental determinants of extinction selectivity in the fossil record. PDF file, Nature, Vol. 454.
!
Alex L. Pigot et al. (2012):
Speciation
and Extinction Drive the Appearance of
Directional Range Size Evolution in Phylogenies and the
Fossil Record. Free access,
PLoS Biol., 10: e1001260. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001260
See also
here.
! N. Pinter and S.E. Ishman (2008): Impacts, mega-tsunami, and other extraordinary claims. In PDF, GSA today.
A. Piombino (2016): The Heavy Links between Geological Events and Vascular Plants Evolution: A Brief Outline. In PDF, International Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 216.
P. David Polly,
Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN:
Historical Geology. Life through time.
Lecture notes. Topics are paleontology, geologic time, biological evolution,
plate tectonics, ancient environments, and climate change,
principles of interpreting earth history from geological data, etc. Go to:
Lecture 15:
Paleobiology, and
Lecture 21:
Mesozoic 2: Terrestrial environments and extinction.
Lecture slides (PDF files).
These expired links are now available through the Internet Archive´s
Wayback Machine.
G. Racki (2020):
Volcanism
as a prime cause of mass extinctions: Retrospectives and perspectives. PDF file,
in Adatte, T., Bond, D.P.G., and Keller, G., (eds.): Mass Extinctions,
Volcanism, and Impacts: New Developments: Geological Society of America Special Paper 544, p. 1–34.
Special Paper, 544. See likewise
here.
Note figure 9: Major geologic processes contributing to widespread oceanic anoxia, in a broad
conceptual setting of the global system.
Figure 10: Volcanic super-greenhouse (“summer”) scenario.
"... In recent models of earth-system crises, the correlation between the major Phanerozoic
mass extinctions and large igneous provinces has been well established
[...] the killing effectiveness of volcanic cataclysm should be viewed not only by the large
igneous province size but also by their host geology, magma plumbing system, and
eruption dynamics ..."
! G. Racki (2019): Big 5 mass extinctions. In PDF. Chapter accepted to "Encyclopedia of Geology", 2. ed., Elsevier, 2020.
G. Racki (2014): Dmitri Sobolev and other forgotten forerunners of mass extinction science and volcanic catastrophism. In PDF, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
! G. Racki (2012): The Alvarez impact theory of mass extinction; limits to its applicability and the "great expectations syndrome". In PDF, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. See also here (abstract).
M. Rakocinski et al. (2020): Volcanic related methylmercury poisoning as the possible driver of the end- Devonian Mass Extinction. In PDF, Scientific Reports, 10: 7344.
Michael R. Rampino (2010): Mass extinctions of life and catastrophic flood basalt volcanism. PDF file, PNAS, 107: 6555-6556. See also here.
! D.M. Raup, PNAS Online: The Role of Extinction in Evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol 91, 6758-6763. See also here (PDF).
! D.M. Raup and J.J. Sepkoski Jr. (1982):
Mass
extinctions in the marine fossil record. PDF file, Science.
See likewise
here.
C.J. Reddin et al. (2023):
Oversimplification
risks too much: a response to ‘How predictable are mass extinction events?'. Free access,
R. Soc. Open Sci., 10: 230400.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230400.
Worth checking out:
W.J. Foster et al. (2023):
How
predictable are mass extinction events? Free access,
R. Soc. Open Sci., 10: 221507.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.221507.
E. Stiles et al. (2020): Cretaceous–Paleogene plant extinction and recovery in Patagonia. Open access, Paleobiology, 46: 445–469.
Gregory J. Retallack (2011): Exceptional fossil preservation during CO2 greenhouse crises? Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
! R.A. Rohde and R.A. Muller (2005): Cycles in Fossil Diversity. In PDF, Nature, 434, 208-210. See also here and there (abstract).
Dmitry A. Ruban (2012): Mesozoic mass extinctions and angiosperm radiation: does the molecular clock tell something new? In PDF, Geologos, 18: 37-42.
Sarda Sahney et al. (2010): Rainforest collapse triggered Carboniferous tetrapod diversification in Euramerica. PDF file, Geology, 38: 1079-1082. See also here, and there (abstract).
Robert Sanders, Public Affairs, NEWS RELEASE, 4/22/99; University of California at Berkeley: New evidence links mass extinction with massive eruptions that split Pangea supercontinent and created the Atlantic 200 million years ago.
A. Santa Catharina et al. (2022):
Timing
and causes of forest fire at the K–Pg boundary. Open access,
Scientific Reports, 12.
"... and charred tree trunks. The overlying mudstones show an iridium anomaly
and fungal and fern spores spikes.
We interpret these heterogeneous deposits as a direct result of the
Chicxulub impact and a mega-tsunami in response to seismically-induced landsliding. ..."
S.R. Schachat and C.C. Labandeira (2021): Are Insects Heading Toward Their First Mass Extinction? Distinguishing Turnover From Crises in Their Fossil Record. In PDF, Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 114: 99–118. See also here.
!
M. Schobben et al. (2019):
Interpreting
the carbon isotope record of mass extinctions. Free access,
Elements, 15: 331–337.
Note figure 2: Temporal distribution of large igneous provinces (LIPs)
and mass extinctions since the Ordovician.
Figure 3: The biogeochemical carbon cycle.
"... carbon isotopes are not a panacea
for understanding all aspects of mass extinctions. Most,
perhaps all, extinction crises coincide with large-scale
volcanism and disturbance to the long-term carbon cycle ..."
! J.J. Sepkoski (1998): Rates of speciation in the fossil record. In PDF, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B, 353: 315-326.
T. Servais et al. (2023):
No
(Cambrian) explosion and no (Ordovician) event: A single long-term radiation in
the early Palaeozoic. Free access,
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 623.
Note figure 1: Overview of the major terminologies used in studies of early Palaeozoic (Cambrian,
Ordovician, Silurian) biodiversity, including the Cambrian ‘Explosion’ and the Great Ordovician
Biodiversification ‘Event,’ and stratigraphical position of some of the most significant
Konservat-Lagerstätten.
Figure 3: Early Palaeozoic species richness curves of the three major biostratigraphical groups.
!
P.W. Signor III and J.H. Lipps (1982):
Sampling
bias, gradual extinction patterns and catastrophes in the fossil record.
In PDF, Geological Society of America.
This expired link
is available through the Internet Archive´s
Wayback Machine.
J.D. Sigwart et al. (2018): Measuring Biodiversity and Extinction—Present and Past. Open access, Integrative and Comparative Biology, 58: 1111–1117. See also here (in PDF).
D. Silvestro et al. (2016): Fossil biogeography: a new model to infer dispersal, extinction and sampling from palaeontological data. In PDF, Phil. Trans. R. Soc., B, 371. See also here.
!
M.S. Smart et al. (2022):
Enhanced
terrestrial nutrient release during the Devonian emergence and expansion of forests: Evidence from
lacustrine phosphorus and geochemical records. Free access,
GSA Bulletin. Note also:
Können
Wurzeln töten?
By P. Heinemann, Frankfurter Allgemeine, March 07, 2023 (in German).
Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: Blast from the Past!
S.V. Sobolev et al. (2011): Linking mantle plumes, large igneous provinces and environmental catastrophes. In PDF.
R.V. Solé and M. Newman (2002): Extinctions and Biodiversity in the Fossil Record. In PDF, Volume 2, The Earth system: biological and ecological dimensions of global environmental change, pp. 297-301; Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change.
H. Song et al. (2021):
Thresholds
of temperature change for mass
extinctions. Open access,
Nature Communications, 12.
Note fig. 1: Temperature change and extinction rate over the past 450 million years.
E.A. Sperling et al. (2022):
Breathless
through Time: Oxygen and Animals
across Earth’s History. Free access,
The Biological Bulletin, 243. https://doi.org/10.1086/721754.
Note figure 1: The four broad stages of atmospheric oxygen and life through Earth history,
with oxygen in log scale as percent of present atmospheric levels (% PAL).
Figure 5: Reconstructed marine animal biodiversity dynamics and atmospheric
oxygen through the Phanerozoic.
Figure 7: The chronology of the worst mass extinction in Earth history.
!
S.M. Stanley (2016):
Estimates
of the magnitudes of major marine mass
extinctions in earth history. In PDF,
freely available online through the PNAS open access option.
See also here.
"... that the great terminal Permian crisis eliminated only about 81% of marine species,
not the frequently quoted 90–96%. Life did not almost disappear at the end of the Permian,
as has often been asserted."
E. Stiles et al. (2020): Cretaceous–Paleogene plant extinction and recovery in Patagonia. Free access, Paleobiology, 46: 445–469.
H. Svensen et al. (2009): Contact metamorphism, halocarbons, and environmental crises of the past. PDF file, Environ. Chem., 6: 466-471. See also here.
J.B. Thompson and S. Ramírez-Barahona (2023): No evidence for angiosperm mass extinction at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary. In PDF, bioRxiv.
! R.J. Twitchett et al. (2006): The palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology and palaeoenvironmental analysis of mass extinction events. PDF file, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 232: 190-213.
David Ulansey, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco: Mass Extinction Underway. A number of reports, articles, and Web sites dealing with what many now call the sixth extinction. Visit the Mass Extinction Links.
V. Vajda et al. (2016): Disrupted vegetation as a response to Jurassic volcanism in southern Sweden. In PDF, from: Kear, B. P., Lindgren, J., Hurum, J. H., Milàn, J. & Vajda, V. (eds): Mesozoic Biotas of Scandinavia and its Arctic Territories. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 434.
! Vivi Vajda and Stephen McLoughlin (2007): Extinction and recovery patterns of the vegetation across the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary - a tool for unravelling the causes of the end-Permian mass-extinction. PDF file, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 144: 99-112.
P.B. Wignall and B. van de Schootbrugge (2016): Middle Phanerozoic mass extinctions and a tribute to the work of Professor Tony Hallam. In PDF, Geological Magazine. See also here (abstract).
! Steve C. Wang and Andrew M. Bush (2008): Adjusting global extinction rates to account for taxonomic susceptibility. Abstract, Paleobiology,34: 434-455. See also here (in PDF).
!
P.B. Wignall (2001):
Large
igneous provinces and mass extinctions. In PDF,
Earth-Science Reviews, 53: 1-33.
See also
here.
S.L. Wing et al. (2009):
Late
Paleocene fossils from the Cerrejón Formation, Colombia, are the earliest record of
Neotropical rainforest. Free access,
PNAS, 106: 18627-18632.
"... we report on an ˜58-my-old flora from the Cerrejón Formation of Colombia
(paleolatitude ˜5 °N) that is the earliest megafossil record of Neotropical rainforest.
The low diversity of both plants and herbivorous insects in this Paleocene Neotropical
rainforest may reflect an early stage in the diversification of the lineages that inhabit this
biome, and/or a long recovery period from the terminal Cretaceous extinction ..."
Note as well:
No,
Dinosaurs Did Not Trudge Through Thick Rainforests
(by Riley Black, July 29, 2024; Smithsonian Magazine).
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
!
Extinction event.
Category:Extinction events
Fern spike.
P. Wilf et al. (2023): The end-Cretaceous plant extinction: Heterogeneity, ecosystem transformation, and insights for the future. Open access, Cambridge Prisms: Extinction, 1, e14, 1–10.
Peter Wilf et al. (2006): Decoupled Plant and Insect Diversity After the End-Cretaceous Extinction. PDF file, Science, 313.
David B. Williams (2010), Earth magazine, The American Geological Institute: Do impacts trigger extinctions? Impact theory still controversial.
!
S.A. Wooldridge (2008):
Mass
extinctions past and present:
a unifying hypothesis. In PDF,
Biogeosciences Discussions, 5: 2401-2423. See also:
Interactive
comment on "Mass extinctions past and present: a unifying hypothesis" by
SA Wooldridge.
YAHOO:
> Biology > Extinction >
Mass Extinctions.
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Wayback Machine.
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