Dataset for: Phanerozoic survivors: actinopterygian evolution through the Permo-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction events

Actinopterygians (ray-finned fishes) successfully passed through four of the big five mass extinction events of the Phanerozoic, but the effects of these crises on the group are poorly understood. Many researchers have assumed that the Permo-Triassic mass extinction (PTME) and end-Triassic extinction (ETE) had little impact on actinopterygians, despite devastating many other groups. Here, two morphometric techniques, geometric (body shape) and functional (jaw morphology), are used to assess the effects of these two extinction events on the group. The PTME elicits no significant shifts in functional disparity while body shape disparity increases. An expansion of body shape and functional disparity coincides with the neopterygian radiation and evolution of novel feeding adaptations in the Middle-Late Triassic. Through the ETE, small decreases are seen in shape and functional disparity, but are unlikely to represent major changes brought about by the extinction event. In the Early Jurassic, further expansions into novel areas of ecospace indicative of durophagy occur, potentially linked to losses in the ETE. As no evidence is found for major perturbations in actinopterygian evolution through either extinction event, the group appears to have been immune to two major environmental crises that were disastrous to most other organisms.

辐鳍鱼（Actinopterygians，ray-finned fishes）成功渡过了显生宙（Phanerozoic）五大生物大灭绝事件中的四次，但学界对这些灭绝危机对该类群的影响仍知之甚少。诸多研究者曾认为，尽管二叠纪-三叠纪大灭绝（Permo-Triassic mass extinction, PTME）与三叠纪末灭绝（end-Triassic extinction, ETE）对多数其他生物类群造成了毁灭性打击，但这两次事件对辐鳍鱼的影响微乎其微。本研究采用两种形态计量学技术——几何形态计量学（躯体形态分析）与功能形态计量学（颌骨形态分析）——来评估这两次灭绝事件对该类群的影响。结果显示，二叠纪-三叠纪大灭绝未引发功能差异度的显著变化，但躯体形态差异度有所升高；躯体形态与功能差异度的扩张，与中晚三叠世新鳍亚纲（neopterygian）的辐射演化及新型摄食适应性的演化过程相吻合。三叠纪末灭绝事件期间，躯体形态与功能差异度仅出现小幅下降，这并不代表该灭绝事件引发了实质性的重大改变。早侏罗世时期，辐鳍鱼进一步开拓了以壳食性（durophagy）为特征的新型生态空间，这一过程可能与三叠纪末灭绝事件造成的生物更替相关。本研究未发现任何证据表明这两次灭绝事件对辐鳍鱼的演化造成重大扰动，由此可见，该类群似乎对这两场重创绝大多数其他生物的重大环境危机具备免疫力。