Exceptional continental record of biotic recovery after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction

Exceptional continental record of biotic recovery after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction

We report a time-calibrated stratigraphic section in Colorado that contains unusually complete fossils of mammals, reptiles, and plants and elucidates the drivers and tempo of biotic recovery during the poorly known first million years after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction (KPgE). Within ~1...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 366; no. 6468; pp. 977 - 983
Main Authors: Lyson, T R, Miller, I M, Bercovici, A D, Weissenburger, K, Fuentes, A J, Clyde, W C, Hagadorn, J W, Butrim, M J, Johnson, K R, Fleming, R F, Barclay, R S, Maccracken, S A, Lloyd, B, Wilson, G P, Krause, D W, Chester, S G B
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States The American Association for the Advancement of Science 22-11-2019
Subjects:
Animals
Body Composition
Body Size
Climate
Colorado
Cretaceous
Ecosystem
Extinction
Extinction, Biological
Fossils
Mammals - anatomy & histology
Mammals - classification
Mass extinctions
Paleogene
Plants - anatomy & histology
Plants - classification
Reptiles - anatomy & histology
Reptiles - classification
Species richness
Temperature
Colorado
United States > US
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Summary:We report a time-calibrated stratigraphic section in Colorado that contains unusually complete fossils of mammals, reptiles, and plants and elucidates the drivers and tempo of biotic recovery during the poorly known first million years after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction (KPgE). Within ~100 thousand years (ka) post-KPgE, mammalian taxonomic richness doubled, and maximum mammalian body mass increased to near pre-KPgE levels. A threefold increase in maximum mammalian body mass and dietary niche specialization occurred at ~300 ka post-KPgE, concomitant with increased megafloral standing species richness. The appearance of additional large mammals occurred by ~700 ka post-KPgE, coincident with the first appearance of Leguminosae (the bean family). These concurrent plant and mammal originations and body-mass shifts coincide with warming intervals, suggesting that climate influenced post-KPgE biotic recovery.
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ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aay2268