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Published April 30, 2007 | public
Journal Article

Paleophysiology and end-Permian mass extinction

Abstract

Physiological research aimed at understanding current global change provides a basis for evaluating selective survivoyship associated with Permo-Triassic mass extinction. Comparative physiology links paleontological and palcoenvironmental observations, supporting the hypothesis that an end-Permian trigger, most likely Siberian Trap volcanism, touched off a set of physically-l inked perturbations that acted synergistically to disrupt the metabolisms of latest Permian organisms. Global wan-ning, anoxia, and toxic sulfide probably all contributed to end-Permian mass mortality, but hypercapnia (physiological effects of elevated P_(CO2)) best accounts for the selective survival of marine invertebrates. Paleophysiological perspectives further suggest that persistent or recurring hypercapnia/global warmth also played a principal role in delayed Triassic recovery. More generally, physiology provides an important way of paleobiological knowing in the age of Earth system science.

Additional Information

© 2007 Elsevier. Received 13 October 2006; received in revised form 17 January 2007; accepted 6 February 2007. Available online 11 February 2007. Research supported in part by NSF Biocomplexity grant OCE-0083415 and a postdoctoral fellowship to SP from the Agouron Institute. Arnie Miller first proposed that we parse the P–Tr fossil record in terms of skeletal physiology. We thank J. Wilson, L. Kump, and H. Pörtner for helpful comments on the manuscript, and H. Pörtner and Springer Science and Business Media for permission to reproduce Fig. 2, originally published in Naturwissenschaften.

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 18, 2023