Selective extinction at the end-Cretaceous and appearance of the modern Decapoda.

The article focuses on the extinction and origination patterns of marine decapod crustaceans across the end-Cretaceous mass extinction and their subsequent recovery in the Paleocene, which shaped the modern decapod fauna. It documents that podotrematous crabs experienced high extinction rates (about 72% of genera), while heterotrematous crabs showed both extinction and rapid radiation, with many singleton genera indicating rapid evolutionary turnover. Geographic location influenced survival, with taxa in regions distal to the Chicxulub impact site, such as the North Atlantic and northeastern Pacific, showing higher survival, whereas the Western Interior Seaway had the highest extinction rates. The study also highlights that reproductive strategies and habitat specialization may have contributed to differential survival, and that heterotrematous crabs eventually became dominant in the Cenozoic, while podotremes declined. Overall, decapod extinction and recovery patterns were complex and varied among clades, reflecting a mosaic of ecological and evolutionary responses to environmental upheaval.