TY - JOUR
T1 - Physical drivers of mosasaur evolution
AU - Polcyn, M.J.
AU - Jacobs, L.L.
AU - Araújo, R.
AU - Schulp, A.S.
AU - Matues, O.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Mosasaurs are marine squamates with a 32.5. million-year history from their appearance at 98. Ma to their extinction at the K-Pg boundary (65.5. Ma). Using a database of 43 generic and 94 species-level taxa, we compare the taxonomic diversity and patterns of morphological disparity in mosasaurs with sea level, sea surface temperature, and stable carbon isotope curves for the Upper Cretaceous to explore factors that may have influenced their evolution. No single factor unambiguously accounts for all radiations, diversification, and extinctions; however, the broader patterns of taxonomic diversification and morphological disparity point to niche differentiation in a "fishing up" scenario under the influence of "bottom-up" selective pressures. The most likely driving force in mosasaur evolution was high productivity in the Late Cretaceous, driven by tectonically controlled sea levels and climatically controlled ocean stratification and nutrient delivery. When productivity collapsed at the end of the Cretaceous, coincident with bolide impact, mosasaurs became extinct. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.
AB - Mosasaurs are marine squamates with a 32.5. million-year history from their appearance at 98. Ma to their extinction at the K-Pg boundary (65.5. Ma). Using a database of 43 generic and 94 species-level taxa, we compare the taxonomic diversity and patterns of morphological disparity in mosasaurs with sea level, sea surface temperature, and stable carbon isotope curves for the Upper Cretaceous to explore factors that may have influenced their evolution. No single factor unambiguously accounts for all radiations, diversification, and extinctions; however, the broader patterns of taxonomic diversification and morphological disparity point to niche differentiation in a "fishing up" scenario under the influence of "bottom-up" selective pressures. The most likely driving force in mosasaur evolution was high productivity in the Late Cretaceous, driven by tectonically controlled sea levels and climatically controlled ocean stratification and nutrient delivery. When productivity collapsed at the end of the Cretaceous, coincident with bolide impact, mosasaurs became extinct. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.
U2 - 10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.05.018
DO - 10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.05.018
M3 - Article
SN - 0031-0182
VL - 400
SP - 17
EP - 27
JO - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
JF - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
ER -