Paleoecological Response of Corals to the End-Triassic Mass Extinction: An Integrational Analysis

Abstract

The end-Triassic (also Triassic-Jurassic) mass extinction severely affected life on planet Earth 200 million years ago. Paleoclimate change triggered by the volcanic eruptions of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) caused a great loss of marine biodiversity, among which 96% coral genera were get lost. However, there is precious little detail on the paleoecology and growth forms lost between the latest Triassic extinction and the Early Jurassic recovery. Here a new pilot study was conducted by analyzing corallite integration levels among corals from the latest Triassic and Early Jurassic times. Integration levels in corals from the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic were determined through both the Paleobiology Database as well as from a comprehensive museum collection of fossil corals. Results suggest that in addition to a major loss of diversity following the end-Triassic mass extinction, there also was a significant loss of highly integrated corals as clearly evidenced by the coral data from the Early Jurassic. This confirms our hypothesis of paleoecological selectivity for corals following the end-Triassic mass extinction. This study highlights the importance of assigning simple to advanced paleoecological characters with integration levels, which opens a useful approach to understanding of mass extinction and the dynamics of the recovery.