Editorial: Biotic changes in terrestrial environments around the Eocene–Oligocene transition

• Published in: Frontiers in Earth Science
• Main Authors: Fostowicz-Frelik, Łucja, Li, Qian, Métais, Grégoire
• Other Authors: Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris (CR2P), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: mammals Eocene-Oligocene transition paleoenvironments stratigraphy Asia; mammals; Eocene-Oligocene transition; paleoenvironments; stratigraphy; Asia; [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Antarctic; Hooker; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04291350; https://hal.science/hal-04291350/document; https://hal.science/hal-04291350/file/83-Fostowicz-Frelik-al-2023__editorial.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2023.1305471

The biotic event associated with the Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) is arguably one of the most significant in the Cenozoic history of life. At the planetary scale, the EOT is marked by a climatic shift from "greenhouse" to "icehouse" world (e.g., Zachos et al., 2001) caused by multiple factors including the final isolation of the Antarctic initiating development of permanent ice sheets on this continent and setting of the circum-Antarctic current, which had global consequences in the Earth-wide cooling and climate drying. These changes in temperature and air circulation facilitated the appearance of the first large-scale open habitats and substantially changed biotas across the globe. In Asia, the enhanced aridification across the EOT, coupled with the India-Asia collision and remarkable global sea-level drop profoundly changed the geography of Central Asia, creating land bridges that allowed biogeographic reorganization of terrestrial biotas. In Western Europe, the EOT is concomitant with a major turnover in terrestrial vertebrate fauna, the so-called Grande Coupure, first identified by Stehlin (1909) in the Paris Basin, which marked the demise of endemic Eocene assemblages (Hooker et al., 2009), and the influx of multiple clades of Asian mammals. Likewise, the "Mongolian remodeling" (Meng and McKenna, 1998) shows a significant biotic reorganization reflecting an aridification of the Mongolian Plateau. These pulses in faunal migration, generally radiating from Asia to other continents, are thought to be the result from a complex interplay between the orogenic evolution of Asia (mostly India-Asia collision) and the global cooling and aridification of Asia induced by the combined partial pressure of CO 2 (pCO 2) drawdown and the westward retreat of the Paratethys Sea initiated at ~40 Ma (Bosboom et al., 2014). This profound biotic reorganization eventually led to shaping of modern aspect ecosystems with the faunal content we know today.