1996/11/22 by Charles R. Marshall, Peter D. Ward · 8 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils #Evolution and Paleontology Studies
paper · doi:10.1126/science.274.5291.1360
openalex publication_date 1996/11/22 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Incompleteness of the fossil record has confounded attempts to establish the role of the end-Cretaceous bolide impact in the Late Cretaceous mass extinctions. Statistical analysis of latest Cretaceous outer-shelf macrofossils from western European Tethys reveals (i) a major extinction at or near the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary, probably caused by the impact, (ii) either a faunal abundance change or an extinction of up to nine ammonite species associated with a regression event shortly before the boundary, (iii) gradual extinction of most inoceramid bivalves well before the K-T boundary, and (iv) background extinction of approximately six ammonites throughout the latest Cretaceous.