New Canadian amber deposit fills gap in fossil record near end-Cretaceous mass extinction
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View abstract on PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.A new Late Cretaceous amber deposit from Canada reveals diverse arthropod fauna, filling a critical gap in the fossil record around the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. This discovery offers insights into arthropod survival and faunal transitions before the extinction event.
Area Of Science
- Paleontology
- Paleoecology
- Biogeochemistry
Context
- Fossiliferous amber deposits are rare around the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction, creating a gap in understanding arthropod diversity and survival.
- Existing hypotheses on arthropod responses to the K-Pg event are based on indirect evidence like fossil leaves and molecular phylogenies, not direct fossil records.
Purpose
- To report a new, diverse amber assemblage from the Late Cretaceous (67.04 ± 0.16 Ma) in Canada, filling a significant gap in the arthropod fossil record spanning the K-Pg mass extinction.
- To analyze the amber's chemical signatures and stable isotopes to infer the paleoenvironment and the amber-producing trees.
Summary
- A diverse amber assemblage from the Big Muddy Badlands, Canada, includes seven arthropod orders and at least 11 insect families, representing the most diverse arthropod collection near the K-Pg extinction.
- Amber chemistry indicates coniferous trees (Cupressaceae) in a subtropical swamp environment near the Western Interior Seaway.
- The assemblage shows an abundance of extant ant families and a lack of exclusively Cretaceous families, suggesting a faunal transition before the end of the Cretaceous.
Impact
- This discovery provides direct fossil evidence to test hypotheses about arthropod diversity and survival across the K-Pg mass extinction.
- The findings contribute to understanding ancient ecosystems, arthropod evolution, and biogeochemistry during a critical period in Earth's history.
- The unique faunal composition suggests a previously unsampled Late Cretaceous environment and offers insights into pre-extinction faunal changes.
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