Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Phanerozoic shallow water diversity driven by changes in sea-level

  • Published:
Geologische Rundschau Aims and scope Submit manuscript

    We’re sorry, something doesn't seem to be working properly.

    Please try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, please contact support so we can address the problem.

Abstract

Shallow water (< 50 m) marine diversity curves for the Phanerozoic, based on area changes due to sea-level variation and continental movements, are presented. It is shown that a change in the degree of endemism can alter diversity more than the effect of sea-level change, or change in the number of faunal provinces. The pattern produced, for a constant degree of endemism, shows some rapid, but not periodic, falls in diversity. These occur in the Middle Cambrian, at the end of the Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Cretaceous and Eocene, and in the Messinian. There is no recurring single cause for these falls.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ausich WI, Bottjer DJ (1982) Tiering in suspension-feeding communities on soft substrata throughout the Phanerozoic. Science 216: 173–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Ausich WI, Bottjer DJ (1985) Phanerozoic tiering in suspension-feeding communities on soft substrata: implications for diversity. In: Valentine JW (ed) Phanerozoic Diversity Patterns: Profiles in Macroevolution. Princeton University Press, Princeton: 255–274

    Google Scholar 

  • Bambach RK (1977) Species richness in marine benthic habitats through the Phanerozoic. Paleobiology 3: 152–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Bambach RK (1985) Classes and adaptive variety: the ecology of diversification in marine families through the Phanerozoic. In: Valentine JW (ed) Phanerozoic Diversity Patterns: Profiles in Macroevolution, Princeton University Press, Princeton: 191–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Carr TR, Kitchell JA (1981) Dynamics of taxonomic diversity. Paleobiology 6: 427–443

    Google Scholar 

  • Cocks LRM, Fortey RA (1982) Faunal evidence for oceanic separation in the Palaeozoic of Britain. J Geol Soc London 139: 465–478

    Google Scholar 

  • Cogley LRM (1985 Hypsometry of the continents. Z Geomorphol Suppl 53: 56 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckert JD (1988) Late Ordovician extinction of North American and British crinoids. Lethaia 21: 147–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Flessa KW (1975) Area, continental drift and mammalian diversity. Paleobiology 1: 189–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Flessa KW, Sepkoski JJ (1978) On the relationship between Phanerozoic diversity and changes in habitable area. Paleobiology 4: 359–366

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaffin S (1987a) Ridge volume dependence on seafloor generation rate and inversion using long term sealevel change. Am J Sci 287: 596–611

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaffin S (1987b) Phase difference between sea level and magnetic reversal rate. Nature 329: 816–819

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ, Raup DM, Sepkoski JJ Jr, Schopf TJM, Simberloff DS (1977) The shape of evolution: A comparison of real and random clades. Paleobiology 3: 23–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallam A (1984) Pre-Quaternary sea-level changes. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 12: 205–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallam A (1986) The Pliensbachian and Tithonian extinction events. Nature 319: 765–768

    Google Scholar 

  • Haq BU, Hardenbol J, Vail PR (1987) Chronology of fluctuating sea-levels since the Triassic. Science 235: 1156–1167

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison CGA, Miskell KJ, Brass GW, Saltzman ES, Sloan JL II (1983) Continental hypsography. Tectonics 2: 357–377

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitchell JA, Carr TR (1985) Nonequilibrium model of diversification: faunal turnover dynamics. In: Valentine JW (ed) Phanerozoic Diversity Patterns: Profiles in Macroevolution, Princeton University Press, Princeton: 277–309

    Google Scholar 

  • MacArthur RH, Wilson EW (1967) The theory of island biogeography. Princeton University Press, Princeton: 203 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • McElhinny MW, Embleton BJJ, Ma XH, Zhang ZK (1981) Fragmentation of Asia in the Permian. Nature 293: 212–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin TE (1981) Species-area slopes and coefficients: A caution on their interpretation. Am Naturalist 118: 823–837

    Google Scholar 

  • Pojeta JJr (1971) Review of Ordovician pelecypods. US Geol Surv Prof Pap No. 695: 46pp

  • Preston FW (1962) The canonical distribution of commonness and rarity. Ecology 43: 185–215; 410—432

    Google Scholar 

  • Schopf TJM (1974) Permo-Triassic extinctions: relation to sea-floor spreading. J Geol Chicago 82: 129–143

    Google Scholar 

  • Schopf TJM (1979) The role of biogeographic provinces in regulating marine faunal diversity through geologic time. In: Gray J, Boucot AJ (eds) Historical Biogeography, Plate Tectonics, and the Changing Environment. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis: 449–457

    Google Scholar 

  • Scotese CR, McKerrow WS (1990) Revised world maps and introduction. In: McKerrow WS, Scotese CR (eds) Palaeozoic Palaeogeography and Biogeography. Geol Soc Mem No 12: 1–21

  • Scotese CR, Bambach RK, Barton C, van der Voo R, Ziegler AM (1979) Paleozoic base maps. J Geol 87: 217–277

    Google Scholar 

  • Sepkoski JJ Jr (1978) A kinetic model of Phanerozoic taxonomic diversity. I. Analysis of marine orders. Paleobiology 4: 223–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Sepkoski JJ Jr (1984) A kinetic model of Phanerozoic taxonomic diversity. III. Post—Paleozoic families and mass extinctions. Paleobiology 10: 246–267

    Google Scholar 

  • Sepkoski JJ Jr, Bambach RK, Raup DM, Valentine JW (1981) Phanerozoic marine diversity and the fossil record. Nature 293: 435–437

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith AG, Hurley AM, Briden JC (1981) Phanerozoic Paleocontinental World Maps. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 102 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley SM (1968) Post-Paleozoic adaptive radiation of infaunal bivalve molluscs — A consequence of mantle fusion. J Paleontol 42: pp 214–229

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley SM (1976) Ideas on the timing of metazoan diversification. Paleobiology 2: 203–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley SM (1984) Temperature and biotic crises in the marine realm. Geology 12: 205–208

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley SM (1988a) Paleozoic mass extinctions: shared patterns suggest global cooling as a common cause. Am J Sci 288: 334–352

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley SM (1988b) Climatic cooling and mass extinction of Paleozoic reef communities. Palaios 3: 228–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Valentine JW (1969) Patterns of taxonomic and ecological structure of the shelf benthos during Phanerozoic time. Palaeontology 12: 684–709

    Google Scholar 

  • Valentine JW (1970) How many marine invertebrate fossil species? A new approximation. J Paleontol 44: 410–415

    Google Scholar 

  • Valentine JW (1971) Plate tectonics and shallow marine diversity and endemism, an actualistic model. System Zool 20: 253–264

    Google Scholar 

  • Valentine JW, Foin TC, Peart D (1978) A provincial model of Phanerozoic marine diversity. Paleobiology 4: 55–66

    Google Scholar 

  • van Valen L (1973) Are categories in different phyla comparable? Taxon 22: 333–373

    Google Scholar 

  • Vermeij GJ (1977) The Mesozoic marine revolution: evidence from snails, predators and grazers. Paleobiology 3: 245–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Vermeij GJ (1989) Geographical restriction as a guide to the causes of extinction: the case of the cold northern oceans during the Neogene. Paleobiology 15: 335–357

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker EP (1968) Mammals of the World. 2nd edn. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 622 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson M (1981) Island Populations. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 286 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Wyatt AR (1984) Relationship between continental area and elevation. Nature 311: 370–372

    Google Scholar 

  • Wyatt AR (1986) Post-Triassic continental hypsometry and sea level. J Geol Soc London 143: 907–910

    Google Scholar 

  • Wyatt AR (1987) Shallow water areas in space and time. J Geol Soc London 144: 115–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Zonenshain LP, Kuzmin MI, Kononov MV (1985) Absolute reconstructions of the Paleozoic oceans. Earth Planet Sci Lett 74: 103–116

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Earth Studies, University of Wales, SY23 3DB, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, UK

    A. R. Wyatt

Authors
  1. A. R. Wyatt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wyatt, A.R. Phanerozoic shallow water diversity driven by changes in sea-level. Geol Rundsch 82, 203–211 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00191826

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00191826

Key words

Search

Navigation