Mentor(s): Madeline Ess

During the Mesozoic Marine Revolution (MMR), increasing predation pressure is thought to have resulted in ecosystem reorganization due to changes in ecospace utilization, richness, and new modes of life. Although Mesozoic gastropod shell architecture and diversity have been well studied, changes in gastropod functional diversity have not yet been directly evaluated using trait-based approaches. Here we examine functional diversity, the number and types of functions performed by organisms in a community. To assess how gastropod functional diversity may have changed across the MMR in the western Tethys, we examined how species were distributed within functional space for 5 stage time-bins: the Anisian, Carnian, Bathonian, Aptian, and Maastrichtian. The findings from this research support the hypothesis that metabolic and physiological escalation during the MMR prompted significant ecosystem restructuring and changes in energy transfer pathways.

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