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Full-Text Articles in Paleontology
Lilliput Effect Dynamics Across The Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass Extinction: Approaches, Prevalence, And Mechanisms, Matthew Brett Jarrett
Lilliput Effect Dynamics Across The Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass Extinction: Approaches, Prevalence, And Mechanisms, Matthew Brett Jarrett
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
An organism's body size entails both physiological and ecological costs. Furthermore, as a parameter in analyzing organisms, it represents a fundamental and essential morphometric character. Reductions in size following mass extinction is a commonly observed phenomenon in the fossil record. This study examines the evolutionary significance of this phenomenon termed the: 'Lilliput Effect' by proposing that it represents a rapid evolutionary response to altered selection pressures during a mass extinction. This primary hypothesis is evaluated against two additional hypotheses of size reduction: 1) stunted growth as a response to stressed ecosystems, and/or 2) mass extinctions are size selective.
These hypotheses …