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Early Mesozoic (Late Triassic-Early Jurassic) Tethyan brachiopod biofacies: possible evolutionary intra-phylum niche replacement within the Brachiopoda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2016

Michael R. Sandy
Michael R. Sandy*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Dayton, 300 College Park, Dayton, Ohio 45469-2364
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Abstract

Distributions of brachiopods from low-latitude paleogeographic settings, primarily in the Tethyan Ocean of southern Europe, with additional data from North America allow some observations on the bathymetric distribution of early Mesozoic brachiopod orders. Norian and latest Triassic (Rhaetian) brachiopod biofacies are dominated in shallowest waters by short-looped terebratulids (Terebratulidina) while spire-bearing athyrids (Athyrida) are common components of deeper-water environments in the latest Triassic. In the late Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian), shallow-water brachiopod faunas are dominated by rhynchonellids, short-looped terebratulids are commoner in relatively deeper shelf waters, and spiriferids and long-looped terebratulids (Terebratellidina) are abundant in deeper-water shelf environments.

Following the end-Triassic extinction event there appears to be niche-replacement in deep-water shelf environments of Late Triassic athyrids by spiriferids and long-looped terebratulids in the Early Jurassic. Rhynchonellids appear to have diversified into shallowest water environments; specialized short-looped terebratulids may have occupied deeper-water niches that resulted ultimately in the success of the enigmatic Pygopidae later in the Jurassic and Cretaceous.

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Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , Fall 1995 , pp. 479 - 495
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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