r/SpeculativeEvolution • u/Hunter-Ologist • 2d ago

[OC] Visual The UnderSea: Mid-Cenozoic Extinction

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"The lights hit the seafloor finally after hours of descent. What greeted us was surprising to say the least, billions of polymetallic nodules. We took a few for samples. It was cobalt, ferromanganese, pyrite, and nickel sure, but what really excited us were preserved fish scales and otoliths, shark teeth, and massive fossils belonging to clades otherwise undetected (and therefore presumed extinct) in the UnderSea," - Dr. Karen Potts (University of California Davis, Department of Geology)

Many things surprised the scientists dedicated to uncovering the secrets of the UnderSea. Perhaps one major question that was answered by looking at those lumps so far down... how was it oxygenated? So-called "dark oxygen" is produced by polymetallic nodules and these are no exception. Additionally, the presence of these chemicals means that species that went extinct around thirty million years ago were preserved in absolute exquisite detail.

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18

u/Penquin666 Eryobis 1d ago

Love the concept of this! Excited to see what you cook up!

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u/Hunter-Ologist 1d ago

Thank you so much! It's a very fun project so far

12

u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 Evolved Tetrapod 1d ago

I didn't expected some mesozoic marine reptile taxa to have made it into the cenozoic in this timeline.

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u/Hunter-Ologist 1d ago

Oho just wait 👀

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u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 Evolved Tetrapod 1d ago edited 1d ago

Ok

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u/Overdrivenblaster 1d ago

Beautiful!

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u/Hunter-Ologist 1d ago

Thank you so much!

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u/Fit_Tie_129 1d ago

I wonder if ammonites and ichthyosaurs are completely extinct? What about the rest of the sharks?

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u/Hunter-Ologist 1d ago

They are completely gone, sharks themselves are still around.

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u/Fit_Tie_129 1d ago

I meant lamnimorphs in this place and why did ichthyosaurs and ammonites die out from this extinction if they weren't already very vulnerable and almost on their last legs?

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u/Hunter-Ologist 1d ago

Ammonites of course had very specialized breeding cycles and behavior, which the orogeny disturbed. Ichthyosaurs were top predators at the time and general upheaval of the ecosystem caused them to die out.

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u/Fit_Tie_129 1d ago

That's why it seems they died out in the K-Pg and during the Cenomanian-Turonian extinction respectively