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ZZZ: Dino Studies > Lesson 11 (Rise of Mesozoic Biosphere) > Flashcards

Lesson 11 (Rise of Mesozoic Biosphere) Flashcards

1
Q

What is the greatest catastrophe in the biosphere

A

Permian - Triassic mass extinction

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2
Q

What started the perm-triassic mass extinction

A

Series of events, probably triggered by extensive volcanic activity in Siberia which led to global warming

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3
Q

what percentage of species on the planet became extinct during the permian triassic mass extinction?

A

96%

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4
Q

what was the supercontinent and super-ocean in the early triassic called?

A

Pangea
Panthalassa

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5
Q

What was early triassic climate like?

A

Harsh, hot, desert

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6
Q

What are evaporites

A

Natural salt/mineral left after the evaporation of a body of water

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7
Q

What rocks were found in the early triassic that suggested that the climate was hot?

A

Ventifacts and Calcretes

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8
Q

What were the poles like in in the early triassic?

A

No ice, probably more temperate so forests and diverse fauna could survive

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9
Q

Where can oxygen isotopes be taken from

A

Conodonts, the mouth part of the worm like chordate

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10
Q

What did the oxygen isotopes from the early triassic find?

A

Rapid warming to about 36 degrees celsius, peaked around 252.1 MA
Cooling after main extinction, second rise in temperature around 250.7 MA

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11
Q

What was the temperature like in the Late Smithian

A

Second rise, sea surface temperature rose to 38 degrees potentially exceeding 40 degrees

(sea temperature today at the equator rarely exceeds 30 degrees as reference)

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12
Q

what are the two stages in the early triassic recognized in the geographic time scale

A

Induan and Olenekian
- olenekian can be divided into smithian and spathian

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13
Q

what are ‘disaster taxa’

A

life forms that were left after the permo trassic boundary

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14
Q

what are some qualities of the disaster taxa

A

high abundance, low diversity

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15
Q

what is an example of a disaster taxa

A

Lystrosaurus

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16
Q

What are some qualities of the lystrosaurus

A
  • Reptile
  • Paired (dog like) tusks
  • Belonged to group ‘therapsids’ or ‘mammal like reptiles’
  • abundant during 251-247 MA, made up over 90% of terrestrial vertebrate species on Earth
  • ‘shovel lizard’
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17
Q

Lystrosaurus eating and walking habits?

A
  • no teeth, kind of a beak
  • herbivore
  • used tusks to grub up roots
  • walk with legs wide out as opposed to tucked under body, similar to crocodile
  • potentially able to burrow?
  • ability to crop vegetation and burrow may be what allowed lystrosaurus to survive
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18
Q

What was the plant life like in the early triassic?

A

Forests were uncommon
plants would be dominated by smaller herbaceous forms like Pleuromeia and Dicroidium (seed ferns)

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19
Q

what is the coal gap

A
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20
Q

What was the ocean life like in the early triassic

A
  • Similar to plant life
  • dominated by high abundance, low diversity faunas of ‘disaster taxa’ (Lingula, Claraia)
  • No corals (Coral gap for 10 million years)
  • stromatolites were common
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21
Q

What was the biodiversity spread during the early triassic

A
  • Inverse of life today, equator was a dead zone (gap in fossil record)
  • life forms were not present at low latitudes
  • applies to oceans as well
22
Q

what life forms were found around the equator in the early triassic

A
  • not many
  • invertebrates (sessile mullusks)
  • stromatolite reefs
23
Q

what is the lilliput effect

A

a lot of taxa found during the early triassic were small in size

24
Q

What was driving the impoverished Early Triassic and why did it last so long?

A
  • high temperatures pushing organisms past thermal tolerance
  • for most plants that is about 35 degrees celsius
  • higher temperature requires more metabolism, more metabolism requires more oxygen
25
Q

how long did the earth take to recovers after the permian - triassic extinction

A

5-7 million years (usually only takes a few hundred thousand years to recover)

26
Q

what are some other problems that increased temperature created

A
  • reducing oxygen conditions in the ocean (dysoxic or anoxic)
  • rise in hydrogen sulfide
  • Increased CO2
  • caused more acidic oceans, causing problems for creatures with shells
27
Q

How did the increase CO2 in the ocean cause problems for creatures

A

creatures that produce thick calcium carbonate shells or skeletons could only produce thin and weak shells

28
Q

what maintained conditions during the early triassic that allowed them to last so long?

A
  • potentially siberian traps releasing CO2
  • this may have destabilized more methane hydrates, further warming the planet
  • not currently proven
29
Q

when did earths biota start to recover post permian?

A

middle - late triassic

30
Q

when did the reef gap end

A

middle triassic

31
Q

what do brachipods resemble

A

clams

32
Q

how do brachiopods feed

A

using a lophophore, a ring of ciliate tentacles that they used to capture material suspended in the water column

33
Q

what group dominated the sea shells of the mesozoic and cenozoic?

A

the mollusks (bivalves and gastropods)

34
Q

what is a bivalve

A

clam

35
Q

what is a gastropod

A

snail

36
Q

which animal replaced the lystrosaurus in the middle triassic? What did they look like?

A

Archosaurus

37
Q

What did Rauisuchia look like? What group are they a part of?

A

crocodile on long legs, Archosaurus

38
Q

what did coelophysis look like

A

slender bipedal carnivore - probably agile runner, good depth perception

Traveled in packs

39
Q

earliest mammal?

A

megazostrodon

40
Q

date of luoping site?

A

Middle triassic

41
Q

How many fossils in the Luoping site

A

20,000 fossils of fishes, reptiles, shellfish, shrimps and other seabed creatures

42
Q

what is significant abou tthe Luoping fossil site

A

more more diverse ecosystem recovered than what is seen in the early triassic, close to pre-extinction levels

43
Q

What does the Luoping fossil site suggest about recovery?

A

It took about 10 million years for a fully functioning ecosystem to develop

44
Q

What surprising finding was true of many species found in the Triassic?

A

creatures looked a lot like other modern species, even if they werent related to them

45
Q

What made some Triassic animals look like unrelated animals that lived much later?

A

evolution based on environment

46
Q

What characteristics made Drepanosaurus look like birds?

A

Heads, eyes, beak, saddle shaped neck

47
Q

Are the Drepanosaurus closely related to birds?

A

No, they are related to lizards

48
Q

When does the rate of evolutionary change really take off? What is this phenomenon called?

A

Mass extinction leaves lots of niches open, allowing animals to transition/evolve to fill other roles

called adaptive radiation

49
Q

What three examples are there of specific niches filled by reptile lineages?

A
  • Rauisuchids - took on role of apex predator
  • Aetosaurs - plant eating, covered in armour
  • Phytosaurs - developed long snouts with bony teeth
50
Q

What may have allowed the dinosaurs to survive the End-Triassic Mass Extinction?

A

Small and unspecialized

51
Q

What is it called in evolution when similar selective pressures lead to similar physical results?

A

convergent evolution

ZZZ: Dino Studies (12 decks)

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