Figure 4 - uploaded by Christian M. Ø. Rasmussen
Content may be subject to copyright.
a -diversity among the different brachiopod groups in the Billingen–Kunda stages from the east Baltic region. The regional stage boundaries are indicated by black, dashed lines.
Source publication
A detailed bed-by-bed study of late Early—early Mid Ordovician Eastern Baltic brachiopods has been used to construct an α-diversity curve through the upper Billingen—Kunda regional stages (Arenig–early Llanvirn). Surprisingly the main peak in diversity does not occur until the Volkhov–Kunda boundary, whereas global data indicate a peak in the mid V...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... the one succeeding the Billingen part of the succession, there is a sharp drop in diversity, followed in B IIa by a trough (compared to Billingen and B IIb ). As seen on Figure 4, the orthidines dominate the Billingen fauna, whereas the clitambonitoids become increasingly important up through the Volkhov Stage. The diversity in the B IIg trilobite zone is surprisingly stable. ...
Context 2
... the spike in the lower part of B IIIß , diversity steadily decreases through the rest of the B IIIß and B IIIg zones, to the level seen in the Volkhov Stage. As shown in Figure 4, the orthidines and clitambonitoids still dominated in the Kundan interval, but now also the plectambonitoids, the porambonitoids and the nonarticulate brachiopods, including the craniifor- mean brachiopod Pseudocrania petropolitana, contrib- uted to this high level of diversity. The nonarticulates are primarily dominated by large siphonotretides and lingulides, but also acrotretoids are present. ...
Context 3
... similar Kundan peak for the Baltic Plate was recognized at the generic level by Sturesson et al. (2005). In the current study, especially the orthidines show a time-lag on Baltica (Figure 4), compared with the global trend. The global curve indicates a dramatic radiation through the middle and upper Arenig, culminating just prior to what would be the start of the Kunda Stage on Baltica. ...
Context 4
... nonarticulate species have not been examined as thoroughly as the rhynchonelliformean species, but as illustrated in Figure 4, these also showed a dramatic increase in a-diversity above the Volkhov-Kunda boundary. However, it should be stressed, that this curve is highly biased, due to insufficient sampling (only material from one locality in the Volkhov Stage is present) and the preparation techniques used. ...
Citations
... In sections in western Russia, the fossil brachiopod dis tribution has revealed a so-called biodiversity event in the early Darriwilian, approximately at the base of the Lenodus variabilis Conodont Zone (Rasmussen et al. 2007). Since the first dust from the breakup of the L-chondrite parent body, as also reconstructed in the Hällekis section, occurs close to the base of the L. variabilis Zone, it has been suggested that the asteroid breakup somehow indirectly triggered the biodiver sity event (Schmitz et al. 2008). ...
... It appears that the biodiversity event seen in brachiopod distribution in western Russia by Rasmussen et al. (2007) cannot be reproduced in other taxa such as conodonts, ostracods and trilobites even at a regional scale. No detailed studies have yet been performed of the distribution of brachiopods in the sections in southern Sweden, but we plan such studies in the future. ...
... Interestingly, the Late Ordovician mass extinction apparently disrupted this pattern with the emergence of the highly cosmopolitan and opportunistic Hirnantia Fauna , which was followed by the re-establishment of endemism with the early Silurian Cathaysiorthis Fauna within the more broadly defined Edgewood-Cathay Fauna , and the Aeronian Waguanchang section faunule (Rong & Yang 1981, Rong & Zhan 2004b) that we document herein. Possible drivers of these cyclical endemism trends are speculative but might have included warmer water segregation in palaeoequatorial regions versus the cooler water Gondwanan periphery (Rasmussen et al. 2007), and/or prevailing ocean currents, such as the "palaeoequatorial cold tongue," which provided an effective dispersal barrier by restricting larval mobility . ...
After the Late Ordovician mass extinction, brachiopods recovered and re-radiated during the Aeronian age of the early Silurian. However, a drastic turnover of Ordovician-type to Silurian-type faunas took place. In South China, Aeronian brachiopod faunas are rarely reported and typically of low diversity. Here, we describe an endemic brachiopod faunule from the middle Xiangshuyuan Formation (middle Aeronian) of Yinjiang in northern Guizhou Province, South China. The fossils include five endemic species assigned to five genera. With the exception of Zygospiraella, at least three of these genera are also endemic. The diagnoses of Qianomena and Sinokulumbella are revised based on new specimens. The palaeobiogeographical and palaeoecological implications of the faunule are discussed and interpreted as products of climatic warming and increased habitat heterogeneity during the Aeronian.
Bing Huang [bhuang@nigpas.ac.cn] and Jia-yu Rong [jyrong@nigpas.ac.cn], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China; Di Chen [dichen@nigpas.ac.cn] China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
... This phase is marked by extraordinarily elevated origination and extinction rates instead of only a higher origination rate as described in the previous studies (Franeck and Liow, 2019;Kröger et al., 2019). The simultaneous GOBE richness peak in the earliest Darriwilian can be observed not only in the present high-resolution curve of South China and the global trends described by Rasmussen et al. (2019), but also in Baltica, Laurentia, and high-latitude Gondwana (Rasmussen et al., 2007;Trubovitz and Stigall, 2018;Colmenar and Rasmussen, 2018). This correlation is consistent with a globally synchronous GOBE. ...
The early Paleozoic sediments document two major biological events: the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) and Late Ordovician mass extinction (LOME). Many investigations have focused on taxonomic richness patterns during these major diversification and extinction events, providing insights into their timings and potential causes. However, the coarse temporal resolutions used in previous investigations hampered their ability to document fine-scale patterns. To address these issues, we employed CONOP analysis to data collected from a large suite of southern Chinese stratigraphic successions to construct a high-resolution (temporal resolution of ~21.0 Kyr) regional chronostratigraphy and document species richness dynamics during the middle–late Cambrian to early Silurian interval. Our results showed that the GOBE began in the early Tremadocian and ended at the Dapingian–Darriwilian boundary and consisted of two major radiation phases in it. The main pulse of GOBE, which lasted from the late Floian to the earliest Darriwilian, exhibited a species richness increase with elevated origination and extinction rates. Major marine groups showed no significant diachroneity during the GOBE, with most presenting richness peaks in this event's main pulse of the GOBE. Plankton demonstrated a significant diversification from the late Cambrian to the GOBE climax and subsequently dominated the marine realm in South China. South China possibly acted as a cradle for global biodiversity preceding the main global phase of the GOBE. Marine life experienced two extinction events in the Late Ordovician, the Katian extinction and Hirnantian extinction, which resulted in a regional species loss of ~67%.
... Early Paleozoic Baltoscandian richness curves are available for several clades (e.g., Hammer 2003;Kaljo et al. 2011), but we follow other workers (e.g., Hints and Harper 2003;Rasmussen et al. 2007Rasmussen et al. , 2009Lam and Stigall 2015;Hints et al. 2018) in focusing on brachiopods. The taxonomy and biostratigraphy of Baltoscandian brachiopods have been studied by generations of specialists, such as Armin Öpik, Tatjana N. Alikhova, Arvo Rõõmusoks, Madis Rubel, Linda Hints, and Petras Musteikis (for recent reviews, see Harper et al. 2015;Harper and Hints 2016). ...
... a Late Ordovician diversity peak and a diversity crisis across the Ordovician/Silurian boundary. These patterns are roughly consistent with global and regional richness curves for the GOBE (e.g., Trubovitz and Stigall 2016;Colmenar and Rasmussen 2017;Hints et al. 2018;Rasmussen et al. 2019) and the LOME (e.g., Sheehan 2001;Harper et al. 2013;Rasmussen 2014), including in the Baltic paleobasin (e.g., Nestor et al. 1991;Rasmussen et al. 2007Rasmussen et al. , 2009Kaljo et al. 2011;Hints et al. 2018). The hierarchical partitioning schemes and multiple diversity indices used here allow us to dissect the roles of environmental heterogeneity and temporal turnover in generating these regional patterns. ...
The Ordovician–Silurian (~485–419 Ma) was a time of considerable evolutionary upheaval, encompassing both great evolutionary diversification and one of the first major mass extinctions. The Ordovician diversification coincided with global climatic cooling and paleocontinental collision, the ecological impacts of which were mediated by region-specific processes including substrate changes, biotic invasions, and tectonic movements. From the Sandbian–Katian (~453 Ma) onward, an extensive carbonate shelf developed in the eastern Baltic paleobasin in response to a tectonic shift to tropical latitudes and an increase in the abundance of calcareous macroorganisms. We quantify the contributions of environmental differentiation and temporal turnover to regional diversity through the Ordovician and Silurian, using brachiopod occurrences from the more shallow-water facies belts of the eastern Baltic paleobasin, an epicontinental sea on the Baltica paleocontinent. The results are consistent with carbonate shelf development as a driver of Ordovician regional diversification, both by enhancing broadscale differentiation between shallow- and deep-marine environments and by generating heterogeneous carbonate environments that allowed increasing numbers of brachiopod genera to coexist. However, temporal turnover also contributed significantly to apparent regional diversity, particularly in the Middle–Late Ordovician.
... The Early Ordovician global ocean current distribution (Wang and Wang, 2011), suggests that after entering the Palaeo-Tethys, the West Wind Drift flowed north along the western coast of Gondwana and then quickly turned westward to form an ocean circulation. The upper Yangtze region, which was located at a higher latitude and closer to the ancient continental marginal subduction zone, was more susceptible to low-temperature ocean currents carrying food resources (Rasmussen et al., 2007). This may have caused the trilobites in the upper Yangtze region to radiate first, which advanced the radiation time of the overall South China plate. ...
The biodiversity changes of trilobites in the middle Yangtze region of South China in the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event and the end-Ordovician mass extinction have been analysed. The Ordovician trilobites in this region originated in the early Tremadocian and radiated from the late Floian to the early Katian. Two peaks of diversity appeared in the late Dapingian to the early Darriwilian and the early Katian. The extinction occurred in the late Katian, followed by a survival period in the Hirnantian. The Whiterock fauna began to surpass the Ibex fauna during the early Katian and were dominant by the late Katian to the Hirnantian, indicating that Cambrian Evolutionary Fauna was gradually replaced. The study once again confirms the view that the effects of factors such as sea level, climate, oxygen content, nutrient supply, and tectogenesis differ temporally and to different degrees in different regions, resulting in differences in the vertical sequence and horizontal combination of ecosystems, which is the reason for the different evolution patterns of Ordovician trilobites in different regions.
... According to the Early Ordovician global ocean current distribution (Wang and Wang 2011), the West Wind Drift flowed northwards along the western coast of Gondwana after entering the Tethys and then sharply turned westward, thereby creating oceanic circulation. The low-temperature ocean currents carrying food resources produced an advantageous environment in South China (Rasmussen et al. 2007) which helped create favourable conditions allowing the cephalopods to reach the climax of Ordovician diversification in the Floian. ...
The evolution of Ordovician cephalopod diversity in the Middle Yangtze region of South China has been analysed. The cephalopods in this region appeared in the earliest Tremadocian, radiated in the Early–Middle Floian and Middle Ordovician, and went through an extinction period during the Late Katian and Hirnantian. The composition of the cephalopod fauna underwent major changes in the Late Floian. Specifically, all the genera occurring in previous time periods disappeared and Tarphyceratida, Actinoceratida, and Orthoceratida appeared and prospered. Differences in the evolution of cephalopod diversity between Middle Yangtze region and other regions were detected, which were caused by differences in the vertical sequence and horizontal combination of controlling factors. Changes in living environments and the distribution of food resources prompted Ordovician cephalopods to evolve adaptations for life in deep-water environments. The low-temperature ocean current near the western coastline of Gondwana created favourable conditions for the Floian peak of cephalopod diversity in South China. The tectonic movements, high rainfall, and relatively closed environment of the Middle Yangtze region led to rapid sea level rise and hindered cephalopod diversification. These processes explain the low cephalopod diversity in the Late Ordovician and the absence of the previously reported Katian radiation peak in this region.
... It marks the initial radiation of the "Palaeozoic evolutionary fauna" (Sepkoski 1981). Several benthic groups exhibit pulses in diversification roughly across the Lower to Middle Ordovician transition (Rasmussen et al. 2007;Servais et al. 2010). Additionally, differences in the timing and phylogenetic patterning (Westrop and Adrain 1998;Harper et al. 2015;Colmenar and Rasmussen 2018;Franeck and Liow 2019;Stigall et al. 2019) result in seemingly divergent local representations of the event. ...
... Brachiopod faunas and respective range-through-diversities observed in the Simpson Group of the American mid-continent (Trubovitz and Stigall 2016) showed a steady rise from less than ten species recorded in the late Dapingian to more than 35 in the mid-Darriwilian. Although more volatile because of numerous stratigraphic gaps and condensed facies, the record from Baltica (Rasmussen et al. 2007) essentially shows the same pattern. In a series of recent database analyses (e.g. ...
The Dapingian to Darriwilian Kanosh Formation is one of the most fossiliferous units of the Pogonip Group (Great Basin, western US). It records a critical phase of the so-called Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) during which many marine clades diversified on lower systematic levels. However, a comprehensive palaeoecological analysis has not been presented for this unit so far. Based on newly collected material from three sections in the type area at Ibex, we reconstruct benthic marine communities, analyse diversity patterns, and discuss its significance for the GOBE. We find no differences in species’ composition across the formation with respect to brachiopods. Benthic assemblages are dominated by Shoshonorthis michaelis, alongside the presence of Anomalorthis lonensis and Anomalorthis utahensis across the whole unit. Trilobites show a more pronounced facies restriction with species of Kanoshia and Pseudomera being observed in more proximal limestone whereas Bathyurellus and Pseudoolenoides occur in fine-grained, low-energy deposits. The skeletal limestone also records abundant bioclasts of bryozoans, echinoderms, and receptaculitids, suggesting an ecologically diverse and tiered community being present in the inner shelf zone. However, most of these groups are not particularly diverse in terms of species richness. This implies that principle establishment of typical members of the “Palaeozoic Fauna” is not associated with a local diversification of clades. The comparably low habitat diversity of the Kanosh Fauna likely reflects environmental constraints such as high rates of siliclastic input. Additionally, these mainly Dapingian communities still represent a base-line fauna before the principal diversification took place.
... A number of scholars have conducted meticulous research on the evolution of Early-Middle Ordovician brachiopod diversity in various regions, including Baltica, Laurentia, and the upper Yangtze region of South China (Zhan 2003;Zhan et al. 2005;Rasmussen et al. 2007;Hansen and Holmer 2010;Stigall 2016, 2018;Stigall, 2018). Research on Early-Middle Ordovician brachiopods in the middle Yangtze region has been performed previously (Xu and Liu 1984;Wang 1984;Zeng et al. 1987Zeng et al. , 1991Zhu et al. 1990). ...
... The brachiopod diversity in the northeastern Spitsbergen region was low before the middle Floian, suddenly rose to a peak in the late Floian, and continued until the middle Darriwilian. The radiation process and diversity of brachiopods in south-central Oklahoma were similar to those in the east Baltic region of the Baltica Plate: the diversity increased in a stepwise manner in the late Dapingian, experienced plateaus in the early Darriwilian and peaked in the middle Darriwilian (Rasmussen et al. 2007;Trubovitz and Stigall, 2016;Hints et al. 2018). The Baltic peak diversity seems more dramatic in the Holodentata Zone as the sections are condensed, and the Darriwilian diversity decline was exacerbated by edge effects (Rasmussen et al. 2007;Trubovitz and Stigall 2016); these processes are the reasons for the difference between the Laurentia and Baltica curves. ...
... The radiation process and diversity of brachiopods in south-central Oklahoma were similar to those in the east Baltic region of the Baltica Plate: the diversity increased in a stepwise manner in the late Dapingian, experienced plateaus in the early Darriwilian and peaked in the middle Darriwilian (Rasmussen et al. 2007;Trubovitz and Stigall, 2016;Hints et al. 2018). The Baltic peak diversity seems more dramatic in the Holodentata Zone as the sections are condensed, and the Darriwilian diversity decline was exacerbated by edge effects (Rasmussen et al. 2007;Trubovitz and Stigall 2016); these processes are the reasons for the difference between the Laurentia and Baltica curves. ...
The evolution of the Early–Middle Ordovician brachiopod diversity in the middle Yangtze region of South China has been analyzed. The brachiopods in this region originated in the early Tremadocian and radiated from the late Floian to the late Dapingian. The composition of rhynchonelliformean brachiopods underwent major changes in the late Floian, and endemic genera migrated from the upper Yangtze region to replace the cosmopolitan genera. A global comparison of the brachiopod diversity curves of South China, Laurentia and Baltica reveals that (1) the processes and scales of brachiopod radiation in different paleocontinents were distinct; (2) unlike the global evolution of graptolites and chitinozoans, the correlation between brachiopod diversification and regional habitat change was more obvious, and the impact of habitat heterogeneity was reflected not only between plates but also in the interior of the plates, such as the closely connected middle and upper Yangtze regions of South China; and (3) geographical isolation was a key factor in the differential radiation on different paleocontinents.
... The East Baltic area hosts numerous excellent outcrops of lower Paleozoic strata and the St Petersburg (temporarily Petrograd, Leningrad) region in Russia has long held a prominent role in the scientific work concerning the Ordovician System (e.g., Pander 1830; Schmidt 1858Schmidt , 1881Schmidt , 1882Lamansky 1905;Alikhova 1960;Sergeyeva 1962). The regional sedimentary succession has become an important archive for the understanding of the paleontologic and paleoenviron mental development during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE; e.g., Tolmacheva et al. 1999;Hansen & Harper 2003;Rasmussen et al. 2007Rasmussen et al. , 2009Rasmussen et al. , 2016Koromyslova 2011; and references therein) and the strata even hold possible clues to events in our solar system (Korochantsev et al. 2009;Lindskog et al. 2012;Heck et al. 2016Heck et al. , 2017. Recent global biodiversity data highlight the lowermost Darriwilian -the very interval covered by the succession at the Lynna Riveras pivotal for the biotic development during the GOBE . ...
... The strata at the Lynna River span a crucial phase of the GOBE (sensu Rasmussen et al. 2019), and locally collected faunal diversity, geochemical and paleoen vironmental data have added immensely to the understanding of this global phenomenon in the history Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2020, 69, 1, 37-61 of life on Earth (e.g., Rasmussen et al. 2007Rasmussen et al. , 2009Rasmussen et al. , 2016Trubovitz & Stigall 2016). As has been shown for coeval strata at various localities in Sweden (e.g., Schmitz et al. 2003), and in South China (Cronholm & Schmitz 2010), beds near the lower-middle Kunda boundary at the Lynna River are enriched in chromite grains of extra terrestrial origin (Korochantsev et al. 2009;Lindskog et al. 2012;Meier et al. 2014). ...
... This Middle Ordovician rise in biodiversity is notably evident within the suspension feeding benthos, and particularly rhynchonelliformean brachiopods experienced a massive radiation at this time (Harper et al. 2013;Trubovitz & Stigall 2016;Colmenar & Rasmussen 2018;Hints et al. 2018). Rasmussen et al. (2007) constrained the main speciation phase among brachiopods to the late Dw1 and earliest Dw2 time slices (see Bergström et al. 2009), which translates into the A. expansus-A. raniceps interval of the regional trilobite zonation. ...
The Ordovician Period has emerged as a highly dynamic time in Earth history. Comprehensive work on chrono-, chemo- and biostratigraphy has resulted in an overall well-constrained systemic framework, but several local successions around the globe still await detailed analysis in many respects. Herein we perform a high-resolution analysis of abiotic and biotic signals in the Lynna River section, a key locality in northwestern Russia. As this section has been pivotal in documenting the temporal evolution of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event on Baltica, the macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of the local succession reveal important paleoenvironmental information that ties into the global development during the Middle Ordovician. The results add particularly to the understanding of the characteristics and large-scale sedimentary ‘behavior’ of the Baltoscandian paleobasin. Microfacies vary consistently with the macroscopic appearance of the rocks, with intervals characterized by competent limestone being associated with coarser carbonate textures and intervals dominated by marly beds associated with finer textures. Along with carbonate textures, fossil grain assemblages vary in a rhythmic (~cyclic) manner. The local rocks are commonly partly dolomitized, with the proportion of dolomitization increasing up-section. Regional comparisons suggest that the changes in overall macro- and microfacies were strongly related to variations in sea level. New high-resolution conodont biostratigraphic data largely confirm previous regional correlations based on lithostratigraphy and trilobite faunas, and enable more robust correlations worldwide.
... On the palaeocontinent of Baltica, this radiation has been tracked with high temporal precision (Hansen and Harper, 2003;Madison, 2013;Rasmussen, 2005;Rasmussen et al., 2007;Rasmussen and Harper, 2008). This work has yielded excellent control on the biostratigraphical ranges of the plectambonitoid taxa and further unveiled their true diversity at this time. ...
... (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.) Rasmussen et al., 2007;Rasmussen and Harper, 2008). This high temporal resolution has provided an excellent overview of not just the earliest evolution of this enigmatic group of brachiopods, but also its progressive development in relation to changes in lithofacies. ...
... The first speciation phase during the lowermost Kundan, is not just restricted to the plectambonitoids. Orthids, porambonitoids and even linguliform brachiopods also experienced a major radiative phase at this level (Rasmussen et al., 2007). A pattern that is repeated globally not just within brachiopods (Colmenar and Rasmussen, 2017;Trubovitz and Stigall, 2016), but across many clades both within the benthos and nektos (Stigall et al., 2019). ...
