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Changes in theoretical ecospace utilization in marine fossil assemblages between the mid-Paleozoic and late Cenozoic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Andrew M. Bush ,
Richard K. Bambach  and
Gwen M. Daley
Andrew M. Bush
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Center for Integrative Geosciences, University of Connecticut, 75 North Eagleville Road, Unit 3043, Storrs, Connecticut 06269. E-mail: andrew.bush@uconn.edu
Richard K. Bambach
Affiliation:
Botanical Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. E-mail: richard.bambach@verizon.net
Gwen M. Daley
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Geology, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, South Carolina 29733. E-mail: daleyg@winthrop.edu
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Abstract

We present a new three-dimensional theoretical ecospace for the ecological classification of marine animals based on vertical tiering, motility level, and feeding mechanism. In this context, analyses of a database of level-bottom fossil assemblages with abundance counts demonstrate fundamental changes in marine animal ecosystems between the mid-Paleozoic (461–359 Ma) and late Cenozoic (23–0.01 Ma). The average local relative abundance of infaunal burrowers, facultatively motile animals, and predators increased, whereas surface dwellers and completely non-motile animals decreased in abundance. Considering tiering, motility, and feeding together, more modes of life had high to moderate average relative abundance in the Cenozoic than in the Paleozoic. These results are robust to the biasing effects of aragonite dissolution in Paleozoic sediments and to heterogeneities in the latitudinal and environmental distributions of collections. Theoretical ecospace provides a unified system for future analyses of the utilization of ecologic opportunities by marine metazoa.

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Paleobiology , Volume 33 , Issue 1 , Winter 2007 , pp. 76 - 97
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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References

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