Biotic Recovery of Early Triassic Crinoids
Mentor 1
Margaret Fraiser
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
27-4-2018 1:00 PM
Description
The Permian-Triassic mass extinction was the most catastrophic loss of life in history. It also represents a major shift in the biota of earth. Ninety six percent of marine species went extinct and the few survivors had to adapt to the harsh post-extinction climate. The extinction was caused by massive volcanism in modern day Siberia which released CO2 into the air. The increased carbon dioxide is hypothesized to have caused massive global warming. This global warming led to an acidification of the ocean, and many marine invertebrates were unable to survive and went extinct. The biotic recovery of invertebrate organisms after the extinction required new and inventive ways to process the extinction pressures. Holocrinus is an important fossil, as it represents the sole survivor of this mass extinction and led to the entirety of all modern crinoids. Many factors of Holocrinus may have been essential to it being able to bear the extinction pressures; the ability to move when other crinoids could not is the primary hypothesized form of survival. Early Triassic crinoids lived in oxygen-rich reef and shallow ocean settings. Being able to relocate to these environments during times of high carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could have their key to surviving this extinction. Based on the Crinoid skeletons, or ossicles, the surrounding sediments, and other surviving reef dwellers, we can extrapolate more on the biotic recovery of crinoids in the Early Triassic.
Biotic Recovery of Early Triassic Crinoids
Union Wisconsin Room
The Permian-Triassic mass extinction was the most catastrophic loss of life in history. It also represents a major shift in the biota of earth. Ninety six percent of marine species went extinct and the few survivors had to adapt to the harsh post-extinction climate. The extinction was caused by massive volcanism in modern day Siberia which released CO2 into the air. The increased carbon dioxide is hypothesized to have caused massive global warming. This global warming led to an acidification of the ocean, and many marine invertebrates were unable to survive and went extinct. The biotic recovery of invertebrate organisms after the extinction required new and inventive ways to process the extinction pressures. Holocrinus is an important fossil, as it represents the sole survivor of this mass extinction and led to the entirety of all modern crinoids. Many factors of Holocrinus may have been essential to it being able to bear the extinction pressures; the ability to move when other crinoids could not is the primary hypothesized form of survival. Early Triassic crinoids lived in oxygen-rich reef and shallow ocean settings. Being able to relocate to these environments during times of high carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could have their key to surviving this extinction. Based on the Crinoid skeletons, or ossicles, the surrounding sediments, and other surviving reef dwellers, we can extrapolate more on the biotic recovery of crinoids in the Early Triassic.
