Biotic recovery patterns after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction differ among the molluscan faunas of the North American Gulf Coast, northern Europe, northern Africa, and Pakistan and northern India, In contrast to the Gulf Coast, the other three regions lack a rapid expansion and decline of "bloom taxa" and have lower proportions of invaders early in the recovery phase. The anomalous Gulf Coast patterns, distinct from extratropical Europe and the tropical regions, provide evidence for the biogeographic and macroevolutionary complexity of biotic recoveries and may have implications for present-day biotas.