Flora en fauna herstelde zich soms verrassend snel na het massale uitsterven 66 miljoen jaar geleden
25 October 2019
11:11
We report a time-calibrated stratigraphic section in Colorado that contains unusually complete fossils of mammals, reptiles, and plants, and elucidates the drivers and tempo of biotic recovery during the poorly known first million years after the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction (KPgE). Within ~100 thousand years (ka) post-KPgE, mammalian taxonomic richness doubled and maximum mammalian body mass increased to near pre-KPgE levels. A three-fold increase in maximum mammalian body mass and dietary niche specialization occurred at ~300 ka post-KPgE, concomitant with increased megafloral standing species richness.
