Origins of Deep-Sea Fauna: Global Bottlenecks in Speciation and Radiation

The antiquity of extant deep-sea benthic fauna is believed to reflect past extinction events and re-colonization from shallow-water species. Deep-sea colonization by shallow-water fauna may only have occurred through isothermal water columns such as the Mesozoic and early Cenozoic eras. Evidence now supports the direction of species’ radiation and speciation over time. Geophysical data furthermore support the view of rapid faunistic exchange processes between shallow and deep seas.