The end-Permian mass extinction removed more than 80% of marine genera. Ammonoid cephalopods were among the organisms most affected by this crisis. The analysis of a global diversity data set of ammonoid genera covering about 106 million years centered on the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) shows that Triassic ammonoids actually reached levels of diversity higher than in the Permian less than 2 million years after the PTB. The data favor a hierarchical rather than logistic model of diversification coupled with a niche incumbency hypothesis. This explosive and nondelayed diversification contrasts with the slow and delayed character of the Triassic biotic recovery as currently illustrated for other, mainly benthic groups such as bivalves and gastropods.

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International audienceOne of the most important carbon cycle perturbations following the end-Permian mass extinction event straddles the Smithian-Spathian boundary (SSB) (Olenekian, Early Triassic). This anomaly is characterized by a prominent positive carbon isotope excursion known from Tethyan marine rocks. Its global signifi cance is established here by a new high paleolatitude record (Spitsbergen). Paleontological evidence, such as Boreal palynological data (Barents Sea, Norway) and global patterns of ammonoid distribution, indicates a synchronous major change in terrestrial and marine ecosystems near the SSB. The reestablishment of highly diverse plant ecosystems, including the rise of woody gymnosperms and decline of the formerly dominating lycopods, is interpreted as an effect of a major climate change. This hypothesis is supported by modeling of ammonoid paleobiogeography, the distribution patterns of which are interpreted as a proxy for sea surface temperatures (SST). The latest Smithian thus appears to have been a time of a warm and equable climate as expressed by an almost fl at pole to equator SST gradient. In contrast, the steep Spathian SST gradient suggests latitudinally differentiated climatic conditions. We propose that this drastic climate change and the global carbon cycle perturbation were triggered by a massive end-Smithian CO2 injection. The SSB event could therefore represent one of the causes for stepwise and delayed recovery of marine and terrestrial biotas in the wake of the end-Permian biotic crisis

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