title: Tiering in suspension-feeding communities on soft substrata throughout the phanerozoic.
abstract: Tiering of benthic marine suspension-feeding communities on soft substrata has varied throughout the Phanerozoic. Epifaunal tiering was most developed during the middle and late Paleozoic and the Triassic to Jurassic, with large-scale reductions in tiering occurring during the Permian-Triassic extinctions and after the Jurassic. Infaunal tiering reached its highest level of organization after the Paleozoic.
authors.forename: W I
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Ausich
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Bottjer