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Hierarchical Control of Terrestrial Vertebrate Taphonomy Over Space and Time: Discussion of Mechanisms and Implications for Vertebrate Paleobiology

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Book cover Taphonomy

Part of the book series: Aims & Scope Topics in Geobiology Book Series ((TGBI,volume 32))

Abstract

There is no doubt among paleontologists that the fossil record of terrestrial vertebrates is fragmented and unevenly distributed over space and time. The underlying causes of this patchiness derive from a combination of factors occurring before and after the deposition of vertebrate remains. Large-scale vertebrate fossil distribution patterns present challenges in addressing the effects of small-scale taphonomic processes on distribution patterns, and what, if any, effect they may have on biodiversity reconstructions. This chapter presents a hierarchical model connecting small-scale taphonomic processes and large-scale fossil preservation patterns. Factors acting at higher levels in the hierarchy constrain the range of taphonomic processes acting at lower levels, whereas lower level processes are responsible for determining vertebrate preservation and the resulting fossil record for an area. Secular changes in climate, tectonics, sea-level, etc. alter the distribution of both environments and biodiversity over time. These changes in turn may alter the congruence between standing biodiversity and the fraction of that diversity faithfully represented in the fossil record, skewing our understanding of extinct vertebrate ecosystems and their evolution over time.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Paleogeographic Atlas Project at the University of Chicago (pgap.uchicago.edu) and the Paleomap Project at the University of Texas, Arlington (www.scotese.com).

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Acknowledgments

This chapter is dedicated to Alfred M. Ziegler (University of Chicago, retired), who inspired me to think about big problems at big scales and helped me develop the scholarly tools to approach them. This chapter owes its existence to the intellectual heritage he instilled in me as a lowly undergraduate working in his lab many years ago. Working for Fred opened the opportunity to work with David Weishampel (Johns Hopkins University), who deserves credit for letting me get my hands on the Dinosauria distribution data, which helped get me interested in the factors behind fossil distribution patterns. I would like to thank Bob Gastaldo (Colby College) for detailed comments and criticisms on an early draft of the manuscript and to Catherine Forster (The George Washington University), who further helped shape this mass of ideas into a coherent whole through multiple drafts. Thanks also go to Kay Behrensmeyer (Smithsonian), Tony Fiorillo (Dallas Museum of Nature and Science), Louis Jacobs (Southern Methodist University), and Ray Rogers (Macalester College) for many fruitful discussions and encouragement. I am grateful to David Bottjer and Peter Allison for the opportunity to contribute to this book. Special thanks go to my family and Summer Ostrowski for their continued support in all my endeavors, paleontological and otherwise, throughout the years. Paleogeographic and paleoclimate maps produced by the Paleogeographic Atlas Project (pgap.uchicago.edu), The Paleomap Project (www.scotese.com), and Ron Blakey (jan.ucc.nau.edu/∼rcb7/RCB.html) proved invaluable in the preparation of this manuscript. Some of the symbols used in Fig. 8.2 are courtesy of the Integration and Application Network (ian.umces.edu/symbols/), University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

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  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, 49401, USA

    Christopher R. Noto

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  1. Department of Earth Science & Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ, London, UK

    Peter A. Allison

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, 90089-0740, Los Angeles, California, USA

    David J. Bottjer

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Noto, C.R. (2011). Hierarchical Control of Terrestrial Vertebrate Taphonomy Over Space and Time: Discussion of Mechanisms and Implications for Vertebrate Paleobiology. In: Allison, P.A., Bottjer, D.J. (eds) Taphonomy. Aims & Scope Topics in Geobiology Book Series, vol 32. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8643-3_8

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