Life In A Temperate Polar Sea: A Unique Taphonomic Window On The Structure Of A Late Cretaceous Arctic Marine Ecosystem

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 20 Aug 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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Fossils from Devon Island in the High Canadian Arctic provide a glimpse of a marine community that inhabited a more temperate Arctic, around 73 million years ago. Fossil fish, marine reptiles, sponges, bivalves, and crustaceans, along with numerous coprolites (fossil feces) and dense accumulations of planktonic fossils paint a picture of a productive nearshore ecosystem in an Arctic that apparently lacked year-round ice, but was still subject to seasonal extremes in daylight. Fossil wood and pollen in the marine sediments suggest that this productive ecosystem was at least partially fueled by organic debris shed by ancient Arctic conifer forests.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences