Mesozoic–Cenozoic Radiation

The Mesozoic–Cenozoic Radiation is the third major extended increase in biodiversity in the Phanerozoic, after the Cambrian Explosion and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. The Mesozoic–Cenozoic Radiation began in the mid-Mesozoic and extends through the Cenozoic, with no indication of having yet ended. It differs from the earlier radiations in that the diversity appears largely in the variety of species and other taxa below the level of Order (biology). "The spectacular radiation of the angiosperms, mammals and certain reptile groups (such as the snakes) on land is matched by that of the planktonic foraminifera, neogastropods, heteroconch bivalves, cheilostome bryozoans, decapod crustaceans and teleost fish in shallow seas."[1][2] The marine diversification is largely that represented by the Modern Evolutionary Fauna, and there are also the terrestrial diversifications of the birds and among the insects.

References

  1. ↑ page 5 in Owen AW & Crame JA (2002). "Palaeobiogeography and the Ordovician and Mesozoic-Cenozoic biotic radiations". In Crame JA and Owen AW. Palaeobiogeography and Biodiversity Change: the Ordovician and Mesozoic-Cenozoic Radiations. Geological Society Special Publications (194). London: The Geological Society. pp. 1–11. ISBN 1-86239-106-8.
  2. ↑ Hallam A (1994). An Outline of Phanerozoic Biogeography. Oxford Biogeography (10). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198540618.


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