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Ediacaran biozones identified with network analysis provide evidence for pulsed extinctions of early complex life

Author

Listed:
  • A. D. Muscente

    (Harvard University
    University of Texas at Austin)

  • Natalia Bykova

    (Siberian Branch Russian Academy of Sciences)

  • Thomas H. Boag

    (Stanford University)

  • Luis A. Buatois

    (University of Saskatchewan)

  • M. Gabriela Mángano

    (University of Saskatchewan)

  • Ahmed Eleish

    (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Jonsson-Rowland Science Center)

  • Anirudh Prabhu

    (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Jonsson-Rowland Science Center)

  • Feifei Pan

    (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Jonsson-Rowland Science Center)

  • Michael B. Meyer

    (Harrisburg University of Science and Technology)

  • James D. Schiffbauer

    (University of Missouri
    University of Missouri)

  • Peter Fox

    (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Jonsson-Rowland Science Center)

  • Robert M. Hazen

    (Carnegie Institution for Science)

  • Andrew H. Knoll

    (Harvard University
    Harvard University)

Abstract

Rocks of Ediacaran age (~635–541 Ma) contain the oldest fossils of large, complex organisms and their behaviors. These fossils document developmental and ecological innovations, and suggest that extinctions helped to shape the trajectory of early animal evolution. Conventional methods divide Ediacaran macrofossil localities into taxonomically distinct clusters, which may represent evolutionary, environmental, or preservational variation. Here, we investigate these possibilities with network analysis of body and trace fossil occurrences. By partitioning multipartite networks of taxa, paleoenvironments, and geologic formations into community units, we distinguish between biostratigraphic zones and paleoenvironmentally restricted biotopes, and provide empirically robust and statistically significant evidence for a global, cosmopolitan assemblage unique to terminal Ediacaran strata. The assemblage is taxonomically depauperate but includes fossils of recognizable eumetazoans, which lived between two episodes of biotic turnover. These turnover events were the first major extinctions of complex life and paved the way for the Cambrian radiation of animals.

Suggested Citation

  • A. D. Muscente & Natalia Bykova & Thomas H. Boag & Luis A. Buatois & M. Gabriela Mángano & Ahmed Eleish & Anirudh Prabhu & Feifei Pan & Michael B. Meyer & James D. Schiffbauer & Peter Fox & Robert M. , 2019. "Ediacaran biozones identified with network analysis provide evidence for pulsed extinctions of early complex life," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-08837-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08837-3
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