Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution

The Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution (abbreviated KTR), also known as the Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution (ATR) by authors who consider it to have lasted into the Palaeogene,[1] describes the intense floral diversification of flowering plants (angiosperms) and the coevolution of pollinating insects, as well as the subsequent faunal radiation of frugivorous, nectarivorous and insectivorous avians, mammals, lissamphibians, squamate reptiles and web-spinning spiders during the Middle to Late Cretaceous, from around 125 Mya to 80 Mya.[2] Alternatively, according to Michael Benton, the ATR is proposed to have lasted from 100 Ma, when the first highly diverse angiosperm leaf floras are known, to 50 Ma, during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum, by which point most crown lineages of angiosperms had evolved.[1]

  1. ^ a b Benton, Michael James; Wilf, Peter; Sauquet, Hervé (26 October 2021). "The Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution and the origins of modern biodiversity". New Phytologist. 233 (5): 2017–2035. doi:10.1111/nph.17822. hdl:1983/82a09075-31f4-423e-98b9-3bb2c215e04b. PMID 34699613. S2CID 240000207. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  2. ^ Lloyd, G. T.; et al. (2008). "Dinosaurs and the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution. 2008". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 275 (1650): 2483–2490. doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.0715. PMC 2603200. PMID 18647715.