Climate change and the selective signature of the Late Ordovician mass extinction

摘要: Selectivity patterns provide insights into the causes of ancient extinction events. The Late Ordovician mass was related to Gondwanan glaciation; however, it is still unclear whether elevated rates were attributable record failure, habitat loss, or climatic cooling. We examined Middle Ordovician-Early Silurian North American fossil occurrences within a spatiotemporally explicit stratigraphic framework that allowed us quantify rock effects on per-taxon basis and assay interplay macrostratigraphic macroecological variables in determining risk. Genera had large proportions their observed geographic ranges affected by truncation environmental shifts at end Katian stage particularly hard hit. duration subsequent sampling gaps little effect risk, suggesting this pulse cannot be entirely attributed failure; rather, caused, part, loss. Extinction risk time also strongly influenced maximum paleolatitude which genus previously been sampled, trait linked thermal tolerance. A model trained relationship between 16 explanatory during early interval substantially underestimates exclusively tropical taxa late interval. These results indicate glacioeustatic sea-level fall ocean cooling played important roles first Laurentia.