Flourishing Sponge-Based Ecosystems after the End-Ordovician Mass Extinction

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.061

	Flourishing Sponge-Based Ecosystems after the End-Ordovician Mass Extinction
	Botting, JP; Muir, LA; Zhang, YD (张元动); Ma, X (马譞）; Ma, JY (马俊业); Wang, LW; Zhang, JF; Song, YY (宋妍妍); Fang, X (方翔)
	2017
发表期刊	Current Biology
ISSN	0960-9822
卷号	27 期号:4 页码:556-562
摘要	The Late Ordovician (Hirnantian, approximately 445 million years ago) extinction event was among the largest known, with 85% species loss [1]. Post-extinction survival faunas are invariably low diversity, especially benthic communities [2], but ecological structure was restored relatively rapidly [1]. This pattern, however, reflects organisms with robust skeletons, as only one exceptionally preserved Hirnantian fossil biota was previously known [3, 4]; in particular, almost no Hirnantian sponges have been recorded. Our study reveals an extraordinarily diverse, sponge-dominated community thriving immediately after the Hirnantian extinction in Zhejiang, South China. Several contemporaneous sites preserve a total diversity of over 75 sponge species, many with preserved soft tissues, in pronounced contrast to normal survival and early recovery faunas. This diversity is unprecedented for any Hirnantian fossil group, and the fauna provides a unique window into a post-extinction ecosystem. The sponges are often large and structurally complex and represent numerous different lineages that survived the extinction. Layers with abundant sponge remains were deposited after other mass extinctions [5, 6], suggesting a general pattern of sponge abundance during collapse of Phanerozoic marine ecosystems. It is possible that the conditions of ecological collapse increase the particulate food sources for sponges, while they themselves are relatively unaffected by the crises. Furthermore, the abundance of sponges in the Hirnantian sequence of South China may have aided post extinction ecosystem recovery by stabilizing the sediment surface, allowing sessile suspension feeders such as brachiopods, corals, and bryozoans to recover rapidly.
DOI	10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.061
收录类别	SCI
语种	英语
WOS研究方向	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology ; Cell Biology
WOS类目	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology ; Cell Biology
WOS记录号	WOS:000394724600027
出版者	CELL PRESS
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://ir.nigpas.ac.cn/handle/332004/13710
专题	中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所其他
通讯作者	Zhang, YD (张元动)
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Botting, JP,Muir, LA,Zhang, YD ,et al. Flourishing Sponge-Based Ecosystems after the End-Ordovician Mass Extinction[J]. Current Biology,2017,27(4):556-562.
APA	Botting, JP.,Muir, LA.,Zhang, YD .,Ma, X .,Ma, JY .,...&Fang, X .(2017).Flourishing Sponge-Based Ecosystems after the End-Ordovician Mass Extinction.Current Biology,27(4),556-562.
MLA	Botting, JP,et al."Flourishing Sponge-Based Ecosystems after the End-Ordovician Mass Extinction".Current Biology 27.4(2017):556-562.