Re: Devonian extinctions

[Mark Purnell <map2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Per Alhlberg wrote:
"     This seems to raise some interesting questions, such as why the F-F 
event should leave vertebrates untouched"

This is not quite true.  Conodonts (vertebrates now) suffer a fairly serious extinction 
around the end of the Frasnian.  Most of the Famennian is something of a boom time for 
conodonts, but they  also went into a decline around the end of the Devonian.  They are, of 
course fully marine (Per may have been talking about continental vertebrates 
exclusively).  I do not know; how are other marine vertebrates affected at this time?



Dr Mark A. Purnell

Department of Geology, University of Leicester
University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, U.K
tel: 0116 2523629  fax: 0116 2523918