Effect of the Frasnian-Famennian extinction event on the stromatoporoids

Treatise Online, no. 34: Part E, Revised, Volume 4, Chapter 14: Paleobiogeography of the Paleozoic Stromatoporoidea

“…6). StearN (1987) delineated three stromatoporoid faunas in the Famennian: (1) dominantly labechiids; (2) labechiids and clathrodictyids; and (3) mainly clathrodictyids, without labechiids, a more Frasnian-like assembly of genera. He suggested that labechiids might have been better adapted to cooler water than were the typically Devonian nonlabechiids.…”

“…HamiltoN (1970) stated that, in Russia, the Famennian strata of the western slopes of the Urals, Novaya Zemlya, the Yogorsk Peninsula, Bolshaya Zelenets Island, and Dolgi Island were deposited in relatively shallow, miogeosynclinal environments, whereas strata on the eastern slopes of the Urals were deposited in deeper, eugeosynclinal environments. StoCk (1990) noted that areas of shallower water contained dominantly labechiid and mixed stromatoporoid faunas (StearN's [1987] faunas 1 and 2) and areas of deeper water contained dominantly nonlabechiids (StearN's [1987] fauna 3). StoCk (2005) suggested that global cooling associated with Famennian glaciations (e.g., CroWell, 1999), which probably made a significant contribution to nonlabechiid stromatoporoid extinctions at the end of the Frasnian, continued to adversely affect those genera most typical of the Lochkovian-Frasnian.…”

Treatise Online, no. 10, Part E, Revised, Volume 4, Chapter 11B: Extinction patterns of the Paleozoic Stromatoporoidea

“…Similar episodic extinction events have not been identified in the history of the stromatoporoids. Stearn (1987) suggested that general cooling of Late Devonian climates led first to widespread F/F drop in diversity and abundance of the stromatoporoids, the rise of the cool-water tolerant labechiids, and eventually to the demise of the whole class (D/C). Copper (1994) has suggested that the greater effect of F/F events on the corals than on the stromatoporoids means that the former were more sensitive to environmental change than the latter.…”

“…Assemblages of nonlabechiids only, labechiids only, and mixed assemblages are separated geographically in late Famennian (Strunian) rocks, and they first appear to be localized around the equatorial Paleo tethys ocean. On the basis of this distribution, Stearn (1987) suggested that the labechiids became dominant in the Famennian because they were more tolerant of cool water.…”

The Late Devonian (Frasnian/Famenian) mass extinction: a proposed test of the glaciation hypothesis

“…-Foraminifera (Kalvoda, 1990) -Stromatoporoid and coral reefs (Stern, 1987;Cop per, 2002) -Tentaculitoids (Wei et al, 2012) -Trilobites (Morzadec, 1992) B. TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS: 1. Dif fer en tial sur vival of high-lat i tude ter res trial biota:…”