Drivers of the Middle Triassic radiolarian diversification

Determine the respective roles of abiotic and biotic drivers in producing the Middle Triassic radiolarian diversification event.

Background

The Middle Triassic interval features exceptional radiolarian diversification and morphological innovation, marked by short-lived species and rapid evolutionary changes. Competing hypotheses include nutrient supply changes (upwelling, monsoon-driven inputs), volcanic ash fertilization, and direct environmental influences such as increased cosmic flux.

Despite these proposals, the paper notes that the relative contributions of abiotic and biotic processes to this diversification pulse remain unresolved.

References

These unique evolutionary innovations and accelerated rates of evolutionary changes might have been caused by direct environmental influences on the radiolarian genome like a strong cosmic flux, although the roles of abiotic and biotic drivers of this particularly important diversification event remain unclear so far.

— Cosmic radiation drives quasi-periodic changes in the diversity of siliceous marine microplankton  (2402.09163 - Ozsvárt et al., 2024) in Section 2.2: The Triassic blooming