The Mesozoic Marine Revolution

The Mesozoic Marine Revolution (MMR) was a major evolutionary episode involving the large-scale restructuring of shallow-marine benthic communities and the rise to dominance of the Modern Evolutionary Fauna. Although the majority of studies published on the MMR have been based on the body-fossil record, the ichnologic record yields valuable insights into this evolutionary event, most notably regarding the degree of infaunalization, complexity of infaunal tiering structures, and predation intensity. The main groups of bioturbators involved in the MMR were crustaceans, bivalves, echinoids, and “worms,” whereas the most important bioeroders were sponges, gastropods, bivalves, echinoids, and “worms.”