MASS EXTINCTION AMONG NON-MARINE TETRAPODS
MASS EXTINCTION AMONG NON-MARINE TETRAPODS
复制标题
DOI：
10.1038/316811a0
复制
发表时间：
1985-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
BENTON, MJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
BENTON, MJ
许多作者描述了非海洋四足动物(两栖动物、爬行动物、鸟类和哺乳动物)的化石记录1-3，并确定了主要的生态更替、大规模灭绝和适应性辐射。然而，四足动物大规模进化的这些特征中的大多数都没有海洋无脊椎动物4-10、海洋脊椎动物7-10和维管陆地植物11的数字数据。从海洋无脊椎动物的记录中学到了很多，特别是关于随时间多样化的总体模式、不同主要分类群在不同时间的表现以及大规模灭绝的规模和时间。本研究基于一项新的陆地四足动物化石记录数据汇编，对一些一般性结论进行了检验。我表明，家庭多样性随着时间的推移而增加，特别是从白垩纪到现在。有几次大规模灭绝事件，但这些事件都与统计上的高灭绝率有关。灭绝事件，包括著名的白垩纪末期灭绝事件，是灭绝速率略有上升和起源速率下降的结果，现有证据不支持从统计学上将大规模灭绝与背景灭绝区分开来的观点。此外，非海生四足动物的记录显示，从泥盆纪晚期到现在，总灭绝速度不断增加，灭绝概率(每个分类单元的速度)仅略有下降，与海洋动物记录的发现相反。
The fossil record of non-marine tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) has been described by numerous authors1–3, and major ecological replacements, mass extinctions and adaptive radiations have been identified. However, most of these features of the large-scale evolution of tetrapods have been noted without numerical data of the kind assembled for marine invertebrates4–10, marine vertebrates7–10and vascular land plants11. Much has been learnt from the record of marine invertebrates, particularly about the overall patterns of diversification with time, the performance of different major taxonomic groups at different times, and the magnitude and timing of mass extinctions. The present study tests some of the general conclusions on the basis of a new compilation of data on the fossil record of terrestrial tetrapods. I show that family diversity rose with time, and in particular from the Cretaceous to the present day. There were several mass extinction events, but none of these was associated with a statistically high extinction rate. The extinction events, including the famous terminal Cretaceous extinction, were the result of a slightly elevated extinction rate combined with a depressed origination rate, and the present evidence does not support the view that mass extinctions are statistically distinguishable from background extinctions. Further, the record of non-marine tetrapods shows an increasing total extinction rate and an only marginally decreasing probability of extinction (per-taxon rate) from the late Devonian to the present, the opposite of the findings from the record of marine animals.