During the Global Taghanic Biocrisis (c. 385 Ma), Middle Devonian faunas worldwide underwent extinction. In the biocrisis type region, the northern Appalachian Basin, biodiversity changes occurred through three bioevents that ultimately resulted in the loss of numerous endemic taxa. Carbon isotope excursions during this biocrisis have been documented in various stratigraphic successions, but never in the type region. Herein, we reconstruct changes in δ¹³C_carb from the biocrisis type region and compare these changes to local faunal transitions. An approximately 1.5‰ negative excursion corresponds to the first bioevent, a time of inferred global warming and replacement of most endemic taxa of the mid-palaeolatitude Appalachian Basin by invasive palaeoequatorial taxa. An approximately 2‰ positive excursion is associated with the second bioevent, recognized as a return of the endemic fauna and the loss of invasive taxa. This positive excursion occurs near the Polygnathus ansatus–Ozarkodina semialternans zonal boundary and is recognized elsewhere. Faunal cosmopolitanism associated with the third bioevent corresponds with an inflection in the carbon isotope record from negative to positive trending values, which agrees with a positive carbon record excursion seen elsewhere at the semialternans–Schmidtognathus hermanni zonal boundary. This new carbon isotope record provides an important reference for recognizing this biocrisis in other areas and facies.