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Project Progress

Causes and Consequences of the Diversification and Extinction of Metazoans (dm)

We have built an extensive database (nearly 1000 fossil collections) of Neoproterozoic and Cambrian macrofossil occurrences in order to evaluate the timing of the Cambrian explosion as well as its environmental and geographic context. The data were entered into the Paleobiology Database housed at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) in Santa Barbara, California (http://flatpebble.nceas.ucsb.edu/public/). A preliminary report on the Paleobiology Database was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. We have met most of our main objectives, which were to (1) redesign the database and implement a standardized structure and (2) to begin building the Neoproterozoic and Cambrian data.

We also made progress on investigating the Late Ordovician mass extinction. We are working on an analysis of taxonomic and environmental patterns of extinction and recovery on Laurentia. We have collected an extensive database over the last year.We have also performed simulations of Late Ordovician climate using the GENESIS 2.0 global climate model in order to investigate the role of paleogeography, atmospheric pCO2 levels, and sea level in causing the Late Ordovician glaciation. We have met all of our main objectives, which were to make preliminary studies into the physical factors underlying the Late Ordovician glaciation and the paleontological patterns of Late Ordovician mass extinction and recovery.