CHAPTER 12 Flashcards
Species that are still present today are called ____ _____
extant species
whose members have all died off are called _____ _______
extinct species.
mass extinction event
When such a sudden and global loss of species occurs,
Palaeontologists generally recognize _ major mass extinctions
5
what are the five mass extinctions ?
The End Ordovician mass extinction
The Late Devonian mass extinction
The End Permian mass extinction
The End Triassic mass extinction
The End-Cretaceous Extinction
The End Ordovician mass extinction
affected only marine organisms, but at that time terrestrial organisms just begun to evolve.
The Late Devonian mass extinction
was also largely limited to marine organisms, including some early vertebrate clades.
The End Permian mass extinction
saw the largest loss of diversity in all of Earth’s history. Marine invertebrates were decimated, and this was the largest mass extinction of insects. On land, the synapsids were hard hit, as were the anapsids
The End Triassic mass extinction
saw the extinction of most lineages of pseudosuchian archosaurs, as well as many of the synapsids that had survived the End Permian extinction, and also affected marine life.
The End-Cretaceous Extinction
event occurred roughly 66 million years ago and killed all non-avian dinosaurs. In the oceans, large marine diapsids, died out, as did many varieties of corals, several forms of plankton, and ammonites. Pterosaurs went extinct as well. Although birds ultimately survived
how survived the late Cretaceous extinction
Mammals, turtles, crocodiles, amphibians, and fish
who had the best chances of surviving the Cretaceous extinction
Small animals, and particularly those that were semiaquatic
________ are a good example: these crocodile-like aquatic diapsids (completely unrelated to crocodilians, and another good example of convergent evolution at work
Champsosaurs
Close inspection of the grey clay layer revealed that it had
high concentrations of iridium. rock in tektites and shocked quartz.
Iridium
Iridium is a rare element on earth, but it is a common component of meteorites