An introduction to the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event: insights from the Tafilalt Biota, Morocco

Aaron W. Hunter, J. Javier Álvaro, Bertrand Lefebvre, Peter VAN ROY, Samuel Zamora

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference paperChapterpeer-review

3 Citations (Web of Science)

Abstract

The exquisitely preserved, diverse and abundant fossil assemblages yielded by the ‘echinoderm meadows’ of the Tafilalt region of the eastern Anti-Atlas represent a new Konservat-Lagerstätte, one of the few exceptionally preserved Late Ordovician open-marine faunas found globally, giving us an insight into the radiation of life during the later phases of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) in high-latitude peri-Gondwana. The GOBE resulted in an unprecedented increase in the diversity of families, classes and orders, at the fastest rate of the entire Phanerozoic and represents one of the most significant events in the evolution of the marine biosphere, preceding the end-Ordovician mass extinction. Nine different phyla and several soft-bodied problematica are represented in the Tafilalt, including several notable echinoderm Lagerstätten. This volume is the culmination of over 20 years of research by several international teams and integrates a series of contributions that look at diverse aspects of the biota, including the stratigraphic distribution of the faunas, depositional environments, systematic palaeontology, preservation, palaeobiogeography and the nature and impact of the international fossil trade on these exceptionally preserved fossil faunas.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationGeological Society Special Publication
PublisherGeological Society of London
Pages1-4
Number of pages4
Volume485
Edition1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Publication series

NameGeological Society Special Publication
Number1
Volume485
ISSN (Print)0305-8719

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