178-16 Reviewing the Severity, Selectivity, and Timing of the Guadalupian Extinction

Session: Paleontology, Diversity, Extinction, Origination

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The Guadalupian (Capitanian, mid-Permian) extinction was only recognized as a distinct event around 30 years ago, having been grouped with the end-Permian mass extinction in previous studies. The extinction has been linked to the Emeishan flood basalts, suggesting that the causes and consequences may have been similar to other flood basalt-driven crises. However, the Guadalupian extinction remains far less understood. Although it was initially proposed as a major mass extinction, improvements to Permian biostratigraphic correlation have revealed Late Permian ages for many localities previously assigned to earlier intervals. As a result, it is now known that the marine Guadalupian crisis had extinction rates that were only slightly elevated above background levels. However, the extinction was far more severe for certain groups, most notably fusulinid foraminifera. Similarly, although the existence of an extinction during the Capitanian stage is well-documented, the exact timing and tempo within the stage remain uncertain due to a lack of high-resolution fossil range data at individual stratigraphic sections. The timing, tempo, and severity of terrestrial extinctions are also highly uncertain due to the even greater challenges of dating and correlating terrestrial formations. Geochemical proxy records are also ambiguous, unlike the consistent excursions in carbon, oxygen, and other isotopic or trace metal proxies observed at the end-Permian mass extinction. Although the Guadalupian extinction is only a minor crisis in terms of overall taxonomic severity, it is still a fascinating event that provides another example of flood basalt-driven environmental and biotic change.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-9421

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