Ammonites were not in decline before their extinction, scientists have found.
The marine molluscs with coiled shells and one of palaeontology's great icons flourished in Earth's oceans for more than 350 million years until they died out during the same chance event that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
"Analysing the existing Late Cretaceous ammonite fossil record as though it were the complete, global story is probably why previous researchers have thought they were in long-term ecological decline." "These differences in ammonoid diversification around the world is a crucial part of why their Late Cretaceous story has been misunderstood," said senior author Dr James Witts of the Natural History Museum, London."Their fossil record in parts of North America is very well sampled, but if you looked at this alone then you might think that they were struggling, while they were actually flourishing in other regions.
"Palaeontologists are frequently fans of silver bullet narratives for what drove changes in a group's fossil diversity, but our work shows that things are not always so straightforward," Dr Flannery Sutherland concluded."We can't necessarily trust global fossil datasets and need to analyse them at regional scales.
Evolutionary Biology Nature Endangered Animals Evolution Dinosaurs Paleontology Fossils
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ammonites' fate sealed by meteor strike that wiped out dinosaursAmmonites were not in decline before their extinction, scientists have found.
Read more »
Best MLB Prop Bets Today (Nate Eovaldi, Spencer Arrighetti, and Carlos Carrasco StrikBreaking down the best prop bets to place for the MLB action on Wednesday, June 26.
Read more »
Greeley farmers see many fields wiped out after Tuesday night's stormVeronica Acosta joined Denver7 in January 2021 as a reporter.
Read more »
The war in Gaza has wiped out entire Palestinian familiesIsraeli airstrikes are eradicating entire Palestinian families in Gaza, sometimes generations at a time, to a degree never seen before in previous conflicts there.
Read more »
The war in Gaza has wiped out entire Palestinian familiesAn Associated Press investigation identified at least 60 Palestinian families where at least 25 people were killed, sometimes four generations.
Read more »
Angels fall when early lead is wiped out by Giants' nine-run fourth inningAfter the Angels take a two-run lead, Jorge Soler has a three-run homer during Giants nine-run rally in a bullpen game for both teams Sunday.
Read more »