Recovery after the Taghanic extinction

The fifth and final paper in a series devoted to the rich brachiopod fauna from Józefka near Górno (Holy Cross Mountains, Poland) concerns species from the upper Givetian. Twenty species are described, two of which are new. A comparison with older and younger assemblages shows that the recovery of faunas following the Taghanic extinction in the middle Givetian was a continuous process and was not disrupted by a lesser extinction at the boundary between the Middle and Late Devonian (the Frasnes event). However, a closer look reveals a difference between reef and deeper-water ecosystems: the latter are more resistant to ecological disturbances (they have greater resilience).

Figure: Givetian terebratulide Cimicinoides sp. from Mount Józefka. The shell is 11.5 mm long and 10.9 mm wide. Note the punctate (finely perforated) shell structure.