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Data from: Local and global abundance associated with extinction risk in late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic gastropods

Cite this dataset

Payne, Jonathan L.; Truebe, Sarah; Nützel, Alexander; Chang, Ellen T. (2011). Data from: Local and global abundance associated with extinction risk in late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic gastropods [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8330

Abstract

Ecological theory predicts an inverse association between population size and extinction risk, but most previous paleontological studies have not confirmed this relationship. The reasons for this discrepancy between theory and observation remain poorly understood. In this study, we compiled a global database of gastropod occurrences and collection-level abundances spanning the Early Permian through Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian). Globally, the database contains 5469 occurrences of 496 genera and 2156 species from 839 localities. Within the database, 30 collections distributed across 7 stages contain at least 75 specimens and 10 genera – our minimum criteria for within-collection analysis of extinction selectivity. We use logistic regression analysis to assess the relationship between abundance and extinction risk using global and local measures of population size and stage-level extinction patterns in Early Permian through Early Jurassic marine gastropods. We find that global genus occurrence frequency is inversely associated with extinction risk (i.e., positively associated with survival) in 15 of 16 stages examined, statistically significantly so in 6 stages. Although correlation between geographic range and occurrence frequency may account for some of this association, results from multivariable regression analysis suggest that the association between occurrence frequency and extinction risk is largely independent of geographic range. Within local assemblages, abundance (number of individuals) is also inversely associated with extinction risk. The strength of association is consistent across time and modes of fossil preservation. Effect strength is poorly constrained, particularly in analyses of local collections. In addition to limited power due to small sample size, this poor constraint may result from confounding by ecological variables not controlled for in the analyses, by taphonomic or collection biases, or from non-monotonic relationships between abundance and extinction risk. Two factors are likely to account for the difference between our results and those of most previous studies. First, many previous studies focused on the end-Cretaceous mass extinction event; the extent to which these results can be generalized to other intervals remains unclear. Second, previous findings of non-selective extinction could result from insufficient statistical power rather than the absence of an underlying effect because non-selective extinction is generally used as the null hypothesis for statistical convenience. Survivorship patterns in late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic gastropods suggest that abundance has been a more important influence on extinction risk through the Phanerozoic than previously appreciated.

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Location

Global