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Comparative paleoecology of Cambrian trilobite extinctions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Stephen R. Westrop  and
Michael B. Cuggy
Stephen R. Westrop
Affiliation:
Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and School of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma, Norman 73019
Michael B. Cuggy
Affiliation:
School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, Canada
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Abstract

Analysis of 164 collections from shelf facies of Laurentian North America indicates that three successive trilobite mass extinctions at Late Cambrian stage boundary intervals (“biomere” boundaries) are characterized by a common pattern of change in distributional paleoecology and species diversity. In all cases, the extinction intervals are marked by a shift to biofacies that have broader environmental distributions than those prior to the onset of extinctions, implying a reduction in between-habitat (beta) diversity. Significant declines in within-habitat (alpha) diversity also characterize each extinction and the compositions of shelf biofacies record extensive immigration of taxa from off-shelf and shelf-margin sites. The nature and extent of ecologic disruption of the shelf appears to be comparable to changes associated with major mass extinctions, such as those at the end of the Ordovician and Permian. Unlike major mass extinctions, the Cambrian events are followed by a complete recovery of diversity and biofacies structure within a few million years.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 73 , Issue 2: Papers from the Second International Trilobite Conference, August 1997 , March 1999 , pp. 337 - 354
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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