Strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) in pristine low-Mg calcite of shells of rudist bivalves from the Titanosarcolites limestones exposed in the Central, Maldon, and Marchmont inliers of Jamaica indicate that species-rich rudist-coral associations persisted into the latest Maastrichtian (66–65 Ma). This finding contradicts the currently accepted hypothesis of stepwise extinction of rudist bivalves in the middle Maastrichtian and argues for a catastrophic, impact-related demise of Caribbean Cretaceous reefal ecosystems at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary.

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