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Taphonomic Overprints on Phanerozoic Trends in Biodiversity: Lithification and Other Secular Megabiases

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Taphonomy

Part of the book series: Aims & Scope Topics in Geobiology Book Series ((TGBI,volume 32))

Abstract

Taphonomic biases introduce heterogeneity into the quality of the fossil record and can skew paleontologists’ perception of biodiversity. This paper reviews the temporal extent and consequences of major taphonomic biases, including lithification of sediments, skeletal replacement through silicification and phosphatization, concentration of skeletal hard-parts, and the exceptional preservation of soft-bodied faunas. The frequency of occurrence of particular biases, and their effects of fossil faunas is identified using occurrence-based datasets, such as the Paleobiology Database.

Lithification of most Paleozoic and Mesozoic fossiliferous sediments has likely had a significant influence on perceptions of within-community diversity and paleoecological composition. The increased availability of unlithified sediments in rocks of late Mesozoic through Cenozoic age coincides with a two- to threefold increase in local diversity, a discrepancy that remains even after employing sampling-standardization techniques. Taxa that possess small body size and aragonitic skeletal mineralogy are preferentially lost or obscured following the cementation of host sediments. Additionally, morphological details are often obscured or not preserved in specimens obtained from lithified sediments, suggesting that taphonomic damage could hinder taxonomic practice and estimates of diversity at the global-scale. Silica replacement, which generally enhances diversity among groups composed of less stable skeletal composition, appears most frequently among Permian fossil assemblages. Phosphatic replacement, which plays a key role in the preservation of soft-bodied and small-shelly faunas, appears commonly in assemblages of Cambrian age. Konservat-lagerstätten, while providing a rich source of information on the rarely preserved soft-bodied biota, are infrequent in the fossil record, but perhaps are most notable in rocks of Cambrian age. Shell beds are well known as sources of tremendous diversity and although they are not easily defined these beds appear to increase in frequency in middle Paleozoic and Cenozoic age successions. Fossil molds, unlike previously mentioned biases, suggest lost diversity, and are most frequent in rocks of early Cambrian and early Mesozoic age.

The non-random nature of the above biases raises concerns regarding the comparison of diversity or ecological complexity over the course of the Phanerozoic or between contemporaneous faunal groups. Furthermore, a number of the biases have tremendous potential to affect community-scale patterns, either degrading (e.g., lithification, aragonite dissolution) or enhancing (e.g., silicification, phosphatization) the relative quality of fossil data. A number of approaches can be undertaken to minimize these biases, including the selective filtering of datasets to remove taphonomically vulnerable groups or the use of taphonomic control taxa that indicate the appropriate preservation state of fossil assemblages.

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Acknowledgments

The following institutions and staff are acknowledged for permitting and facilitating access to museum collections used in this study for analysis of lithification and diagenesis on specimens: American Museum of Natural History (Bushra Hussaini), Cincinnati Museum Center (Brenda Hanke), Paleontological Research Institution (Warren Allmon, Greg Dietel, Ursula Smith), and the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (Susan Butts, Cope MacClintock). Jessica Bazeley and Penny Benson are thanked for photography and digital archiving of fossil collections used in this study. Initial research was undertaken while AH was supported by a University Dean Distinguished Dissertation Award from the University of Cincinnati. A Gaylord Donnelley Environmental Fellowship from the Yale Institute of Biospheric Studies allowed final completion of this investigation and funded museum visits. Carlton Brett is thanked for reading an earlier version of this manuscript, while Arnie Miller, Devin Buick, Katherine Bulinski and Chad Fergusson, are acknowledged for helpful discussions during its infancy. Lastly, I appreciate the support of John Alroy in maintaining the Paleobiology Database. This is Paleobiology Database publication number 99.

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  1. Center for Tropical Paleoecology and Archaeology, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panamá, República de Panamá

    Austin J. W. Hendy

  2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA

    Austin J. W. Hendy

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  1. Department of Earth Science & Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ, London, UK

    Peter A. Allison

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, 90089-0740, Los Angeles, California, USA

    David J. Bottjer

Appendix

Appendix

Specimens illustrated in Fig. 2.19; read from left to right (lithified to unlithified) in figure (a) Nuculanoidea: Phestia sp. (x0.5), YPM 507054, Mississippian, Indiana; Phestia bellistriata (x0.5), YPM 507043, Pennsylvanian, Oklahoma; Hilgardia brogniarti (x.05), YPM 325744A, Eocene, Alabama. (b) Nuculidae: Nuculoidea corbuliformis (x0.5), YPM 507052–507053, Devonian, New York; Nucula ovata (x0.5), YPM 383450, Early Cretaceous, England; Nucula percrassa (x0.3), YPM 507066, Late Cretaceous, Tennessee. (c) Anomiidae: “Anomia” sp. (x0.8), YPM 507055, Late Cretaceous, Mississippi; Anomia anomialis (x0.8), YPM 507039, Eocene, England; Anomia argentaria (x0.8), YPM 507014–507015, Late Cretaceous, England. (d) Limidae: Lima dichotoma (x0.3), YPM 507051, Late Cretaceous, Czechoslovakia; Limatula gibbosa (x0.8), YPM 507028, Jurassic, France; Ctenoides spatula (x0.8), YPM 507012–507013, Eocene, France. (e) Mytiloidea: Phthonia nodicostata (x0.5), YPM 500843, Devonian, New York; Promytilus swallovi (x0.5), YPM 507056, Pennsylvanian, Kansas; Modiolus modiolus (x0.3), YPM 309185, Pleistocene, Scotland. (f) Astartiidae: Neocrassina elegans (x0.3), YPM 507031, Jurassic, France; Astarte incrassata (x.0.5), YPM 507023, Pliocene, England; Iocrassina omalii (x0.8), YPM 507065, Pliocene, England. (g) Lucinoidea: Lucinidae indet. (x0.8), YPM 507048, Late Jurassic, England; Eophysema ozarkana (x0.5), YPM 6937, Eocene, Alabama; Epilucina concentrica (x0.5), YPM 507036, Eocene, France. (h) Crassatelloidea: Cypricardella bellastriata (x1.0), YPM 507050, Devonian, New York; Bathytormus sp. (x1.2), YPM 507034, Oligocene, Mississippi; Hybolophus speciosa (x0.5), YPM 507030, Pliocene, North Carolina.

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Hendy, A.J.W. (2011). Taphonomic Overprints on Phanerozoic Trends in Biodiversity: Lithification and Other Secular Megabiases. In: Allison, P.A., Bottjer, D.J. (eds) Taphonomy. Aims & Scope Topics in Geobiology Book Series, vol 32. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8643-3_2

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