Abstract
Abstract To help resolve current controversies surrounding the fundamental question of synchrony between end-Permian mass extinction on land and in the sea, we examined the marine Permian–Triassic reference section at Meishan (southeastern China) for land-derived molecular degradation products of pentacyclic triterpenoids with oleanane carbon skeletons, diagnostic for the Permian plant genus Gigantopteris. We identified a continuous quantitative record of mono-aromatic des-A-oleanane, which abruptly ends in the main marine extinction interval just below the Permian-Triassic boundary. This taxon-specific molecular biomarker, therefore, reveals in unmatched detail the timing and tempo of the demise of one of the most distinctive Permian plants and provides evidence of synchronous extinction among continental and marine organisms. Parallel reduction in the relative abundance of lignin phenols confirms that aridity-driven extinction was not restricted to Gigantopteris but likely affected the entire wetland flora of the equatorial South China microcontinent.
Highlights
Multiple lines of paleontological, geochemical, and sedimentological evidence confirm worldwide collapse of continental and marine ecosystems at the end of the Permian Period
Global meta-analysis of the temporal distribution of Permian and Triassic plant fossils may suggest that evidence for mass extinction among land plants is far from robust (Nowak et al, 2019), and regional studies commonly conclude that continental and marine extinctions were timed differently (e.g., Fielding et al, 2019)
We have interpreted the compounds as mono-aromatic des-A-oleananes (MADAO; see the Supplemental Material)
Summary
Geochemical, and sedimentological evidence confirm worldwide collapse of continental and marine ecosystems at the end of the Permian Period. Global meta-analysis of the temporal distribution of Permian and Triassic plant fossils may suggest that evidence for mass extinction among land plants is far from robust (Nowak et al, 2019), and regional studies commonly conclude that continental and marine extinctions were timed differently (e.g., Fielding et al, 2019). Disagreements about extinction synchrony are at least partly related to imprecise correlation of continental fossil records to the marine Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Triassic at Meishan, Zhejiang Province in southeastern China (Yin et al, 2001).
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