Original paper
Evolution of trace fossil communities in the Deep Sea
Seilacher, A.
Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen Band 157 Heft 1-2 (1978), p. 251 - 255
3 references
published: Dec 11, 1978
DOI: 10.1127/njgpa/157/1978/251
ArtNo. ESP155015701041, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
In the last report (Seilacher, 1976, 1977a), the seemingly linear diversity increase of distal flysch ichnocoenoses through Phanerozoic time has been emphasized and referred to the stability of biotopes even in the marginal parts of the deep sea. A well exposed mid-Jurassic flysch discovered by M. Madani near Meshed, Iran, has in the meantime yielded trace fossils that bridge the gap between Pennsylvanian and Upper Cretaceous flysch ichnocoenoses. Surprisingly, the new assemblage is not intermediate, but resembles Carboniferous communities in character and level of diversity, suggesting a diversity saturation followed by a mid-Cretaceous diversity burst. In order to fully understand this burst, it is necessary to describe its consequences in two écologic situations that alternate within each turbidite sequence.
Keywords
Meshed • Iran • fossil • Evolution