Ammonoid diversification in the Middle Triassic: Examples from the Tethys (Eastern Lombardy, Balaton Highland) and the Pacific (Nevada)

Vörös, Attila (2014) Ammonoid diversification in the Middle Triassic: Examples from the Tethys (Eastern Lombardy, Balaton Highland) and the Pacific (Nevada). Central European Geology, 57 (4). pp. 319-343. ISSN 1788-2281

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Abstract

The diversity dynamics of the Anisian ammonoids is analyzed in terms of generic richness and turnover rates in one North American (Nevada) and two western Tethyan (Eastern Lombardy, Balaton Highland) regions. Two pulses of diversification are outlined: one in the middle Anisian (Pelsonian) and another near the end of the late Anisian (late Illyrian). The Pelsonian global diversification is interpreted as an effect of global sea-level rise. In the early late Anisian the ammonoid generic richness definitely decreased both in the western Tethys and in Nevada. The latest Anisian peak of ammonoid diversity was low in Nevada, which is explained by the uniform local sedimentary environment and the absence of major global changes. In the western Tethys the late Illyrian diversity peak was very prominent: ammonoid generic richness, turnover and proportion of originations were very high. This explosive peak is interpreted in terms of major changes of two regional environmental factors: coeval volcanic activity and the control of nearby carbonate platforms. The late Illyrian volcanic ash falls provoked a dramatic increase of ammonoid generic richness by fertilization, i.e. supplying nutrients and iron, thus increasing primary productivity in the ocean. Carbonate platform margins offered diverse habitats with new, empty niches; the microbial mats supplied suspended organic matter for the higher trophic levels and eventually the ammonoids. In the western Tethyan regions platform growth re-appeared after the end-Permian crisis, and significantly increased in the late Illyrian. This was closely followed by the remarkable increase of ammonoid generic richness. Many of the genera which originated during the late Anisian seem to be ecologically connected to the platform or peri-platform environments. It is suggested that this explosive diversity peak is a manifestation of the co-evolution of the Tethyan carbonate platforms and the ammonoids.

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