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Research Article| November 01, 1998 Mammalian community response to the latest Paleocene thermal maximum: An isotaphonomic study in the northern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming William C. Clyde; William C. Clyde 1Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3589 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Philip D. Gingerich Philip D. Gingerich 2Department of Geological Sciences and Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information William C. Clyde 1Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3589 Philip D. Gingerich 2Department of Geological Sciences and Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (1998) 26 (11): 1011–1014. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1998)0262.3.CO;2 Article history First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation William C. Clyde, Philip D. Gingerich; Mammalian community response to the latest Paleocene thermal maximum: An isotaphonomic study in the northern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Geology 1998;; 26 (11): 1011–1014. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1998)0262.3.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract New stratigraphic and paleontological information from the McCullough Peaks, northern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, is incorporated into an isotaphonomic faunal database and used to investigate the impact of the latest Paleocene thermal maximum and coincident earliest Wasatchian immigration event on local mammalian community structure. Surface collections from Willwood Formation overbank deposits provide taphonomically consistent and stratigraphically resolved samples of the medium- to large-sized components of underlying mammalian communities. Rarefaction shows that the immigration event caused an abrupt and dramatic increase in species richness and evenness. After this initial increase, diversity tapered off to more typical Wasatchian levels that were still higher than those in the preceding Clarkforkian. Wasatchian immigrants were rapidly incorporated into the new community organization, representing ∼20% of the taxa and ∼50% of the individuals. Immigrant taxa generally had larger body sizes and more herbivorous and frugivorous dietary habits compared to endemic taxa, causing significant turnover in body-size structure and trophic structure. There was a significant short-term body-size decrease in many lineages that may have been prompted by the elevated temperatures and/or decreased latitudinal thermal gradients during the latest Paleocene thermal maximum. Rapid short-term climatic change (transient climates) and associated biotic dispersal can have abrupt and long-lasting effects on mammalian community evolution. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.
Clyde et al. (1998) studied this question.