The early Mesozoic radiation of dinoflagellates

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Abstract

Dinoflagellates are a major component of the marine microplankton and, from fossil evidence, appear to have been so for the past 200 million years. In contrast, the pre-Triassic record contains only equivocal occurrences of dinoflagellates, despite the fact that comparative ultrastructural and molecular phylogenetic evidence indicates a Precambrian origin for the lineage. Thus, it has often been assumed that the dearth of Paleozoic fossil dinoflagellates was due to a lack of preservation or recognition and that the relatively sudden appearance of dinoflagellates in the Mesozoic is an artifact of the record. However, new evidence from a detailed analysis of the fossil record and from the biogeochemical record indicates that dinoflagellates did indeed undergo a major evolutionary radiation in the early Mesozoic.

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The operated Markov´s chains in economy (discrete chains of Markov with the income)

Grigoriy Sokolov (2015)

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Evolution of the coral-zooxanthellae symbiosis during the Triassic: a geochemical approach

George Stanley, Peter Swart (1995)

Scleractinian corals first appeared during Triassic time in tropical shallow water environments. Controversy surrounds the paleoecology of scleractinian corals of the Late Triassic. Were they like their living counterparts, capable of supporting reefs, or had they not yet coevolved the important association with zooxanthellae that facilitated reef growth and construction? Indirect evidence suggests that some Upper Triassic corals from the Tethys played important constructional roles as reef builders within tropical carbonate complexes of the Tethys. To evaluate this idea, we have employed a geochemical approach based on isotope fractionation to ascertain if Late Triassic corals once possessed zooxanthellae. We have determined evidence for the ancient presence of algal symbiosis in 13 species of Triassic scleratinians from reef complexes in Turkey and northern Italy. In contrast, two higher latitude Jurassic species used as a control group for isotope analysis, lacked isotopic indications of symbiosis. These findings, together with stratigraphic and paleoecologic criteria, support the contention that Late Triassic scleractinian corals inhabiting shallow-water carbonate complexes of the Tethys were predominantly zooxanthellate, like their living counterparts from present day reefs. We view the zooxanthellate condition in calcifying reef organisms as a necessary prerequisite for constructional reef development. Our results emphasize the power of stable isotope studies in helping to answer paleobiological questions.