Pimiento Catalina, Kocáková Kristína, Mathes Gregor H, Argyriou Thodoris, Cadena Edwin-Alberto, Cooper Jack A, Cortés Dirley, Field Daniel J, Klug Christian, Scheyer Torsten M, Valenzuela-Toro Ana M, Buess Timon, Günter Meike, Gardiner Amanda M, Hatt Pascale, Holdener Geraldine, Jacober Giulia, Kobelt Sabrina, Masseraz Sheldon, Mehli Ian, Reiff Sarah, Rigendinger Eva, Ruckstuhl Mimo, Schneider Santana, Seige Clarissa, Senn Nathalie, Staccoli Valeria, Baumann Jessica, Flüeler Livio, Guevara Lino J, Ickin Esin, Kissling Kimberley C, Rogenmoser Janis, Spitznagel Dominik, Villafaña Jaime A, Zanatta Chiara
Department of Paleontology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.
Camb Prism Extinct. 2024 May 17;2:e7. doi: 10.1017/ext.2024.12. eCollection 2024.
The modern marine megafauna is known to play important ecological roles and includes many charismatic species that have drawn the attention of both the scientific community and the public. However, the marine megafauna has never been assessed as a whole, nor has it been defined in deep time. Here, we review the literature to define and list the species that constitute the marine megafauna, and to explore biological and ecological patterns throughout the Phanerozoic. We propose a size cut-off of 1 m of length to define the extinct marine megafauna. Based on this definition, we list 706 taxa belonging to eight main groups. We found that the extinct marine megafauna was conspicuous over the Phanerozoic and ubiquitous across all geological eras and periods, with the Mesozoic, especially the Cretaceous, having the greatest number of taxa. Marine reptiles include the largest size recorded (21 m; ) and contain the highest number of extinct marine megafaunal taxa. This contrasts with today's assemblage, where marine animals achieve sizes of >30 m. The extinct marine megafaunal taxa were found to be well-represented in the Paleobiology Database, but not better sampled than their smaller counterparts. Among the extinct marine megafauna, there appears to be an overall increase in body size through time. Most extinct megafaunal taxa were inferred to be macropredators preferentially living in coastal environments. Across the Phanerozoic, megafaunal species had similar extinction risks as smaller species, in stark contrast to modern oceans where the large species are most affected by human perturbations. Our work represents a first step towards a better understanding of the marine megafauna that lived in the geological past. However, more work is required to expand our list of taxa and their traits so that we can obtain a more complete picture of their ecology and evolution.
现代海洋巨型动物群已知发挥着重要的生态作用，其中包括许多具有超凡魅力的物种，这些物种吸引了科学界和公众的关注。然而，海洋巨型动物群从未作为一个整体进行过评估，在地质历史时期也从未被明确界定。在此，我们回顾文献以界定并列出构成海洋巨型动物群的物种，并探究显生宙期间的生物学和生态学模式。我们提出以1米的体长作为界定已灭绝海洋巨型动物群的标准。基于这一定义，我们列出了属于八个主要类群的706个分类单元。我们发现，已灭绝的海洋巨型动物群在显生宙期间十分显著，在所有地质时代和时期都普遍存在，中生代，尤其是白垩纪，拥有最多的分类单元。海洋爬行动物包括有记录的最大体型（21米），并且包含已灭绝海洋巨型动物分类单元数量最多。这与当今的动物组合形成对比，当今海洋动物体型超过30米。已灭绝的海洋巨型动物分类单元在古生物学数据库中有很好的代表性，但采样情况并不比体型较小的同类更好。在已灭绝的海洋巨型动物群中，体型似乎总体上随时间推移而增大。大多数已灭绝的巨型动物分类单元被推断为大型食肉动物，主要生活在沿海环境。在显生宙期间，巨型动物物种与较小物种面临相似的灭绝风险，这与现代海洋形成鲜明对比，在现代海洋中大型物种受人类干扰影响最大。我们的工作是朝着更好地理解生活在地质历史时期的海洋巨型动物群迈出的第一步。然而，还需要开展更多工作来扩充我们的分类单元及其特征列表，以便我们能够更全面地了解它们的生态学和进化情况。
