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Science 27 August 1999:
Vol. 285. no. 5432, pp. 1386 - 1390
DOI: 10.1126/science.285.5432.1386
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Reports

Fossil Plants and Global Warming at the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary

J. C. McElwain, * D. J. Beerling, F. I. Woodward

The Triassic-Jurassic boundary marks a major faunal mass extinction, but records of accompanying environmental changes are limited. Paleobotanical evidence indicates a fourfold increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and suggests an associated 3° to 4°C "greenhouse" warming across the boundary. These environmental conditions are calculated to have raised leaf temperatures above a highly conserved lethal limit, perhaps contributing to the >95 percent species-level turnover of Triassic-Jurassic megaflora.

Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: J.McElwain{at}sheffield.ac.uk

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