Re: Selective Extinction

[Chris Campbell <sankarah@ou.edu>]

Peter Von Sholly wrote:
> 
> Yes, pterosaurs perished (somewhere along the way anyhow).  Maybe they
> weren't as adept at flying as birds.  And as somebody said, "what about the
> mosasaurs and sharks?"  (as in how did my question explain their
> extinctions) I must confess that I thought sharks survived!  You learn
> something new all the time. 

No, sharks suffered tremendously.  They survived as a clade, but the
diversity in that clade dropped significantly.  Of course, if we make
the not unreasonable assumption that a number of species evolved in
tandem with inland seas, the regression of said seas would result in a
lot of dead sharks.  They wouldn't, of course, even notice an asteroid
(unless they happened to be skimming the surface that day).

Chris