Climatic impact on paleoecology of the Late Cretaceous Arctic megafauna

Climatic patterns are considered as a determinative factor in faunal evolutionary directions, affecting both geographical and ecological characteristics of modern species as well as extinct taxa. Biological research from the North American Arctic zones indicate a well-supported level of climatic influences on the developmental history of life. Particularly, the dinosaurs and the pterosaurs evolved in major constraints of ancient environmental events which gradually separated their biological niche and evolutionary path. The increasing fossil records and paleobiological studies are keystones to analyze such evolutionary pathways across deep time of the Mesozoic. In this work, I present a summarized review on how climatic patterns of Late Cretaceous Arctic controlled the ecological characteristics of the native megafauna. This study was conducted by means of biological analysis on relevant published literature to provide a brief, documented approach on ancient Arctic climatology and paleoecology. The Late Cretaceous climate of Arctic zones caused wide faunal distributions and ecological adaptations in various levels which are recognizable through the related stratigraphic zones. These adaptations are reflected as many structural or functional varieties including population, behavior, and body size. Hence, the detailed biological analyses alongside the attempts for fossil record are important factors to envisage a more confident explanation for climatic models and environmental systems.

کلیدواژه ها:

Climate ، Paleoecology ، Late Cretaceous ، Arctic ، Fauna