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1 March 2001 Heart urchins at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary: a tale of two clades
Charlotte H. Jeffery
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Abstract

Previous estimates of the global generic diversity loss for echinoids at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary have been as high as 65%. However, these estimates are based on compilations of occurrence data from the existing literature and are plagued by problems of inconsistent taxonomic usage. Analysis of a taxonomically standardized, phylogenetically framed data set demonstrates that the generic extinction rate for heart urchins was 33%, and that the two constituent orders suffered markedly different fates. Whereas holasteroids lost 56% of their generic diversity at the end of the Cretaceous, only 17% of spatangoid genera became extinct. Correlation of extinction with a range of geographical, environmental, and biological factors has been explored. Survivorship is significantly correlated only with feeding strategy, implying that the extinctions of atelostomate echinoids at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary were nutrient driven. In addition, feeding strategy is correlated with atelostomate clade affinity, explaining the differential fates of holasteroids and spatangoids at the end of the Cretaceous.

Charlotte H. Jeffery "Heart urchins at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary: a tale of two clades," Paleobiology 27(1), 140-158, (1 March 2001). https://doi.org/10.1666/0094-8373(2001)027<0140:HUATCT>2.0.CO;2
Accepted: 1 April 2000; Published: 1 March 2001
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