Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 22 November 1996:
Vol. 274. no. 5291, pp. 1360 - 1363
DOI: 10.1126/science.274.5291.1360
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Sudden and Gradual Molluscan Extinctions in the Latest Cretaceous of Western European Tethys

Charles R. Marshall * and Peter D. Ward

Incompleteness of the fossil record has confounded attempts to establish the role of the end-Cretaceous bolide impact in the Late Cretaceous mass extinctions. Statistical analysis of latest Cretaceous outer-shelf macrofossils from western European Tethys reveals (i) a major extinction at or near the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary, probably caused by the impact, (ii) either a faunal abundance change or an extinction of up to nine ammonite species associated with a regression event shortly before the boundary, (iii) gradual extinction of most inoceramid bivalves well before the K-T boundary, and (iv) background extinction of approximately six ammonites throughout the latest Cretaceous.

C. R. Marshall, Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Molecular Biology Institute, and Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567, USA.
P. D. Ward, Department of Geological Sciences, AJ-20, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Optimal estimators of the position of a mass extinction when recovery potential is uniform.
S. C. Wang, D. J. Chudzicki, and P. J. Everson (2009)
Paleobiology 35, 447-459
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Comment on "Abrupt and Gradual Extinction Among Late Permian Land Vertebrates in the Karoo Basin, South Africa".
C. Marshall (2005)
Science 308, 1413b
   Full Text »    PDF »
Pulsed origination and extinction in the marine realm.
(2005)
Paleobiology 31, 6-20
Land plant extinction at the end of the Cretaceous: a quantitative analysis of the North Dakota megafloral record.
(2004)
Paleobiology 30, 347-368
Improved confidence intervals for estimating the position of a mass extinction boundary.
(2004)
Paleobiology 30, 5-18
Confidence limits on fossil ranges that account for facies changes.
(2003)
Paleobiology 29, 468-479
Applicability and resolving power of statistical tests for simultaneous extinction events in the fossil record.
(2003)
Paleobiology 29, 37-51
TESTING PHYLOGENETIC HYPOTHESES WITH STRATIGRAPHY AND MORPHOLOGY--A COMMENT ON SMITH (2000).
(2002)
Journal of Paleontology 76, 590-593
STRATIGRAPHY IN PHYLOGENY RECONSTRUCTION--RESPONSE.
(2002)
Journal of Paleontology 76, 594-595
Stratigraphic Variation in the Timing of First and Last Occurrences.
(2002)
Palaios 17, 134-146
Impact of the terminal Cretaceous event on plant-insect associations.
C. C. Labandeira, K. R. Johnson, and P. Wilf (2002)
PNAS 99, 2061-2066
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Heart urchins at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary: a tale of two clades.
(2001)
Paleobiology 27, 140-158
Testing for a mass extinction without selecting taxa.
(2000)
Paleobiology 26, 647-650
Likelihood tests of hypothesized durations: determining and accommodating biasing factors.
(2000)
Paleobiology 26, 431-449
Pattern of Marine Mass Extinction Near the Permian-Triassic Boundary in South China.
Y. G. Jin, Y. Wang, W. Wang, Q. H. Shang, C. Q. Cao, and D. H. Erwin (2000)
Science 289, 432-436
   Abstract »    Full Text »
The tempo of mass extinction and recovery: The end-Permian example.
S. A. Bowring, D. H. Erwin, and Y. Isozaki (1999)
PNAS 96, 8827-8828
   Full Text »    PDF »
The Future of the Fossil Record.
D. Jablonski (1999)
Science 284, 2114-2116
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Organic Carbon Fluxes and Ecological Recovery from the Cretaceous-Tertiary Mass Extinction.
S. D'Hondt, P. Donaghay, J. C. Zachos, D. Luttenberg, and M. Lindinger (1998)
Science 282, 276-279
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Meteorite impact and the mass extinction of species at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary.
K. O. Pope, S. L. D'Hondt, and C. R. Marshall (1998)
PNAS 95, 11028-11029
   Full Text »    PDF »
U/Pb Zircon Geochronology and Tempo of the End-Permian Mass Extinction.
S. A. Bowring, D. H. Erwin, Y. G. Jin, M. W. Martin, K. Davidek, and W. Wang (1998)
Science 280, 1039-1045
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Discussion on the Cretaceous-Tertiary biotic transition.
(1998)
Journal of the Geological Society 155, 413-419
   Abstract »    PDF »
Impacts and marine invertebrate extinctions.
N. MacLeod (1998)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 140, 217-246
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)