INVESTIGADORES
EZCURRA Martin Daniel
artículos
Título:
The rise of the ruling reptiles and ecosystem recovery from the Permo-Triassic mass extinction
Autor/es:
EZCURRA, MARTÍN D.; BUTLER, RICHARD J.
Revista:
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. SERIES B: BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES.
Editorial:
ROYAL SOC
Referencias:
Año: 2018 vol. 285
ISSN:
0962-8452
Resumen:
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) becomethe dominant terrestrial vertebrates. Here, we place all known middlePermian?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 morphologicallyconservative and globally distributed post-extinction ?disaster fauna?; amajor but cryptic and poorly sampled phylogenetic diversification with significantly elevated evolutionary rates; and a marked increase in speciescounts, abundance, and disparity contemporaneous with global ecosystemstabilization some 5 million years after the extinction. This multiphaseevent transformed global ecosystems, with far-reaching consequences forMesozoic and modern faunas.