Data from: Type Maastrichtian gastropod faunas evidencing rapid ecosystem recovery following the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary

The study of the global mass extinction event at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene
(K/Pg) boundary can aid in understanding patterns of selective extinction
and survival, and dynamics of ecosystem recovery. Outcrops in the
Maastrichtian type area (southeast Netherlands, northeast Belgium)
comprise an exceptionally expanded K/Pg boundary succession that offers a
unique opportunity to study marine ecosystem recovery within the first
thousands of years following the mass extinction event. A quantitative
analyses was performed on systematically sampled macrofossils of the
topmost Maastrichtian and lowermost Danian strata at the former
Curfs-Ankerpoort quarry (Geulhem), which represent ‘snapshots’ of the
latest Cretaceous and earliest Palaeogene marine ecosystems, respectively.
Molluscs in particular are diverse and abundant in the studied succession.
Regional ecosystem changes across the K/Pg boundary are relatively minor,
showing a decline in suspension feeders, accompanied by an ecological
shift to endobenthic molluscs. The earliest Paleocene gastropod assemblage
retains many ‘Maastrichtian’ features and documents a fauna that
temporarily survived into the Danian. The shallow, oligotrophic carbonate
platform in this area was inhabited by taxa that were adapted to low
nutrient levels and resistant to starvation. As a result, the local taxa
were less affected by the short-lived detrimental conditions related to
K/Pg boundary perturbations, such as darkness, cooling, starvation and
ocean acidification. This resulted in relatively high survival rates,
which enabled rapid recolonization and recovery of marine faunas in the
Maastrichtian type area.