Globally discordant Isocrinida (Crinoidea) migration confirms asynchronous Marine Mesozoic Revolution

Rowan Whittle, Aaron Hunter, David Cantrill, Kenneth McNamara

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Marine Mesozoic Revolution (MMR, starting ~200 million years ago) changed the
ecological structure of sea floor communities due to increased predation pressure. It was thought to have caused the migration of less mobile invertebrates, such as stalked isocrinid crinoids, into deeper marine environments by the end of the Mesozoic. Recent studies questioned this hypothesis, suggesting the MMR was globally asynchronous. Alternatively, Cenozoic occurrences from Antarctica and South America were described as retrograde reversions to Palaeozoic type communities in cool water. Our results provide conclusive evidence that isocrinid migration from shallow to deep water did not occur at the same time all over the world. The description of a substantial new fauna from Antarctica and Australia, from often-overlooked isolated columnals and articulated crinoids, in addition to the first compilation to our knowledge of Cenozoic Southern Hemisphere isocrinid data, demonstrates
a continuous record of shallow marine isocrinids from the Cretaceous-Paleogene to the Eocene/Oligocene boundary.
Original languageEnglish
Article number46
Pages (from-to)1-10
Number of pages10
JournalCommunications Biology
Volume1
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2018

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Globally discordant Isocrinida (Crinoidea) migration confirms asynchronous Marine Mesozoic Revolution'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this