Chief sources of brachiopod recovery from the end Ordovician mass extinction with special references to progenitors

Survivor, Lazarus and progenitor tars are sources of biotic recovery follow ing mass extinction. Investigations of the benthic brachiopods through the latest Ordovician mass extinction shows that progenitors developed many evo lutionary novelties and successful surviving mechanisms. They are superior to survivors and Lazarus taxa in their ability to adapt to environmental ch anges. They are the primary source of macroevolution and the ancestors of a number of new tare. Three kinds of progenitors are recognized based on the Ordovician-Silurian brachiopods from South China: survivor-progenitors, cr isis-progenitors and Lazarus-progenitors; the last has the strongest abilit y to resist adverse environments, and is the most diverse and abundant.