Article
Geography, Physical
Xiaolin Chang, Mingcai Hou, He Shi, Hu Wang, Jiankang Lai, Hua Zhang
Summary: The study of epibionts and hosts in the marine hard-substrate communities in the Longmenshan region of South China revealed that the encrustation patterns on brachiopods are influenced by host shell morphology and ecological environments, with certain epibionts showing selective preferences for specific host taxa. The abundance and distribution of epibionts varied across different stages of the Middle-Late Devonian, and changes in encrustation from dorsal to ventral valves of host brachiopods were found to be related to shifts in host taxa rather than ecological environments. Overall, there was no significant change in epibiont abundance, diversity, or relationships between hosts and epibionts around the Frasnian/Famennian boundary interval, indicating long-term ecological damage during the Frasnian rather than dramatic environmental changes.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Michal Mergl
Summary: In the Kotys Limestone of the Prague Basin, Bohemia, twelve encrusters and three endobiont trace fossils were identified on silicified brachiopod, coral, and gastropod shells. Encrusters showed different substrate selection strategies, with preferences for specific types of shells. The host shells also hosted a variety of other organisms, including corals, pterobranchs, bryozoans, and various borings and structures of unclear origin.
BULLETIN OF GEOSCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Geology
M. Hedhli, S. E. Grasby, C. M. Henderson, B. J. Davis
Summary: The Devonian-Carboniferous boundary (DCB) Hangenberg extinction in Europe, which is characterized by black shale deposition, has been considered a global anoxic event with uncertain cause. However, the absence of a significant global carbon isotope excursion and the long duration of anoxia do not support this hypothesis. By studying data from sections in western Canada, it has been determined that anoxic pulses in Laurentian seas started before 363 million years ago, which is consistent with the timing in Europe. Therefore, the black shales near the DCB do not represent a single global anoxic event, but rather multiple, diachronous Black Sea-like basins.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Gregory J. Retallack
Summary: The evolution of Devonian woodlands involved an increase in size of vascular plants, alongside the presence of towering nematophytes in the same fossil plant assemblage. Nematophytes, lacking vascular plant tissues, formed closed canopies and were eventually overtaken by vascular land plants. Fungi, including glomeromycotan mycorrhizae and lichens, played a crucial role in nurturing and facilitating the evolution of early land plants.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Wenkun Qie, Junpeng Zhang, Genming Luo, Thomas J. Algeo, Bo Chen, Lei Xiang, Kun Liang, Xianyi Liu, Philip A. E. Pogge von Strandmann, Jitao Chen, Xiangdong Wang
Summary: According to the research, the Hangenberg Crisis coincided with a large decline in biodiversity and widespread anoxia in the end-Devonian ocean. Previous studies attributed marine anoxia to the spread of deeply-rooted plants and/or increased volcanism on the continents, but critical connections have not been thoroughly explored. The study proposes enhanced weathering as a key trigger, supported by a negative shift in lithium isotopes and a coupled response in carbon isotopes of marine carbonates in South China, indicating increased nutrient delivery to the ocean and contributing to oceanic eutrophication.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Kate H. Pippenger, Lucas Estrada, David S. Jones, Phoebe A. Cohen
Summary: This study investigates Hg enrichments during the Late Devonian Kellwasser Events (UKE and LKE), suggesting that volcanic activity during the UKE may have been regional, while Hg concentrations in the LKE were primarily influenced by organic matter. The triggers of biodiversity loss during the Kellwasser Events may be unique compared to other major extinctions. Broad sampling of the Kellwasser record is needed for the development of an extinction model accounting for variations in global Hg concentrations.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Claudio Garbelli, Anna Cipriani, Uwe Brand, Federico Lugli, Renato Posenato
Summary: The Dolomites is a significant region for studying the evolution of shallow-marine ecosystems during the end-Permian mass extinction. By using strontium isotope stratigraphy, the correlation between the Dolomites and the Meishan section can be established, contributing to the understanding of the biological crisis that occurred.
Article
Geology
Shu-Han Zhang, Shu-Zhong Shen, Douglas H. Erwin
Summary: This study investigates the patterns of latitudinal diversity gradients (LDGs) from the Carboniferous icehouse to the Triassic greenhouse climates using marine invertebrate fossils. The results suggest that LDG peaks are influenced by multiple factors rather than solely alternating icehouse and greenhouse climates, with icehouse climates generally restricting diversity at high latitudes. The diversity peaks shifted northward during the late Carboniferous and early Permian, likely due to plate drift and increased habitat area. Changes in LDG steepness were most pronounced at low latitudes and during biotic crises and recovery, while transitions from icehouse to greenhouse climates created more deviation at high latitudes.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ruiwen Zong, Yiming Gong
Summary: Trilobite exuviae can provide information on the development and behavior of individual trilobites. Research on Late Devonian phacopidae trilobite exuviae suggests that they migrated to deep-water areas to molt, possibly to avoid predators and competing organisms. This behavior indicates that migratory behavior in modern arthropods may date back to the Devonian period.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jaleigh Q. Pier, Sarah K. Brisson, J. Andrew Beard, Michael T. Hren, Andrew M. Bush
Summary: The study investigates how different types of risk intersect in the well-preserved brachiopod fauna of the Appalachian Foreland Basin during the Frasnian-Famennian mass extinction. Findings suggest that vulnerable taxa went extinct more rapidly during the first extinction pulse.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yixin Cui, Bing Shen, Yuanlin Sun, Haoran Ma, Jieqiong Chang, Fangbing Li, Xianguo Lang, Yongbo Peng
Summary: The Frasnian-Famennian mass extinction event is characterized by two positive carbonate carbon isotope excursions and global deposition of black shale and bituminous limestone. Evidence from South China indicates a pulse of seafloor oxygenation at the F-F boundary, rather than pervasive oceanic anoxia.
EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Paleontology
Melani Berrocal-Casero, Fernando Garcia Joral
Summary: This paper presents new arguments that support the hypothesis about the functional meaning of commissural asymmetry in the Coniacian rhynchonellide Cyclothyris cardiatelia. The hypothesis suggests that commissural asymmetry is an adaptation to life on soft substrates, leading to a partially sunk life position. The paper compares the taphonomic compression in asymmetrical C. cardiatelia with a symmetrical rhynchonellide, supporting the idea of a different life position. The fossil record and observations in extant rhynchonellides further support this hypothesis.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Adrian Marciszak, Aleksandra Kropczyk, Wiktoria Gornig, Malgorzata Kot, Adam Nadachowski, Grzegorz Lipecki
Summary: The remains of 12 canids from different species have been discovered at various paleontological sites in Poland, with the oldest fossils dating back approximately 4.9 million years. These sites span different geological ages, with the Late Pleistocene-Holocene age having the highest number of fossil sites. Some canid species, such as Eucyon and Nyctereutes, disappeared from Poland in the Early Pleistocene, while other species from the genera Lycaon, Canis, and Vulpes were found in multiple sites from the past 2 million years. The presence of two new canid species in Poland, Nyctereutes procyonoides and Canis aureus, can be attributed to either human introduction or natural expansion.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jiawei Zhang, Changzhou Deng, Weipeng Liu, Zuoqi Tang, Yue Wang, Taiping Ye, Weian Liang, Lingyun Liu
Summary: The study found high mercury and total organic carbon anomalies near the Frasnian-Famennian boundary in two marine strata, indicating a global increase in mercury flux possibly associated with the Late Devonian LIP eruptions. This suggests a causal link between the Viluy, Kola, and Pripyat-Dnieper-Donets LIP eruptions and the F-F mass extinction.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Zhen Guo, Zhong-Qiang Chen, David A. T. Harper, Yuangeng Huang
Summary: The Rhynchonellida, a group of brachiopods, showed increased lineage richness in the Early and early Middle Triassic with changes in shell size and development of ornamentation. The study suggests that paedomorphosis might have been a survival strategy for certain genera to thrive in the harsh environment after the P/Tr extinction.
Article
Geology
Olev Vinn, Sabiela Musabelliu, Michal Zaton
Editorial Material
Geology
Michal Rakocinski, Michal Zaton, Leszek Marynowski, Przemyslaw Gedl, Jens Lehmann
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2019)
Article
Biology
Michal Zaton, Emilia Jarochowska
HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Geography, Physical
Michal Zaton
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Grzegorz Sadlok, Michal Zaton
PALAEOBIODIVERSITY AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTS
(2020)
Article
Paleontology
Michal Zaton, Tomasz Wrzolek, Jan Ove R. Ebbestad
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Michal Rakocinski, Leszek Makrynowsi, Agnieszka Pisarzowska, Jacek Beldowski, Grzegorz Siedlewicz, Michal Zaton, Maria Cristina Perri, Claudia Spalletta, Hans Peter Schonlaub
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2020)
Article
Paleontology
Michal Zaton, David J. C. Mundy
JOURNAL OF PALEONTOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Geography, Physical
Michal Zaton, Tomasz Wrzolek
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maria Ana Tovar-Hernandez, Harry A. ten Hove, Olev Vinn, Michal Zaton, Jesus Angel de Leon-Gonzalez, Maria Elena Garcia-Garza
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jakub Slowinski, Dawid Surmik, Piotr Duda, Michal Zaton
Article
Geography, Physical
Michal Rakocinski, Leszek Marynowski, Michal Zaton, Pawel Filipiak
Summary: The study indicates that anoxic/euxinic conditions existed on the sea bottom during the Lower Alum Shale Event (LASE) in the Polish part of the Laurussia basin, possibly due to enhanced primary productivity in the water column. Additionally, volcanic activity and global climatic changes may have led to significant sea level rise and a global transgression event.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Paleontology
Michal Zaton, Mingxi Hu, Mercedes di Pasquo, Paul M. Myrow
Summary: A new genus and species of microconchid tubeworm, Aculeiconchus sandbergi n. gen. n. sp., is described from the Givetian (Devonian) Maywood Formation of Cottonwood Canyon, Wyoming, USA. This study reveals the previously undocumented adaptive strategy of hollow spines on the tube underside in microconchids, suggesting a possible phylogenetic relationship with cyclostome bryozoans. The occurrence of microconchids in the Maywood Formation provides insights into their opportunistic colonization and adaptive innovations in estuarine environments.
JOURNAL OF PALEONTOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geology
Michal Zaton, Olev Vinn, Ursula Toom, Jakub Slowinski
Summary: A new encrusting tentaculitoid species, Lindstroemiella eichwaldi, is described from the Silurian of Saaremaa Island in Estonia. It shares some features with Anticalyptraea but differs in shell morphology and structure, and is proposed to be classified under a new order Anticalyptraeida.
Article
Biology
Michal Zaton, Jakub Slowinski, Olev Vinn, Michal Jakubowicz
Summary: Microconchid and anticalyptraeid tubeworms from the Middle Devonian of Morocco are described for the first time. The presence of Palaeoconchus sanctacrucensis suggests migration from southern Laurussia during the transgression, while the encrustation patterns indicate different colonization strategies of the two species. The discovery of Oichnus borings provides insights into the non-predatory activity in the region.
HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
(2023)