A novel tool to untangle the ecology and fossil preservation knot in exceptionally preserved biotas

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Ressource 1Download: Saleh et al. 2021 Ecology and Taphonomy.pdf (3504.06 [Ko])
State: Public
Version: Author's accepted manuscript
License: CC BY 4.0
Serval ID
serval:BIB_BCA79CC95580
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
A novel tool to untangle the ecology and fossil preservation knot in exceptionally preserved biotas
Journal
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Author(s)
Saleh Farid, Bath-Enright Orla G., Daley Allison C., Lefebvre Bertrand, Pittet Bernard, Vite Antoine, Ma Xiaoya, Mángano M. Gabriela, Buatois Luis A., Antcliffe Jonathan B.
ISSN
0012-821X
Publication state
Published
Issued date
09/2021
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
569
Pages
117061
Language
english
Abstract
Understanding the functioning of extinct ecosystems is a complicated knot of ecological, evolutionary, and preservational strands that must be untangled. For instance, anatomical and behavioral differences can profoundly alter fossilization pathways. This is particularly true in exceptionally preserved soft-bodied biotas that record the earliest phases of animal evolution during the Cambrian Explosion and the Ordovician Radiation. Herein, a novel method of data partitioning based on probabilistic modelling is developed to examine these processes for the Walcott Quarry, Burgess Shale, Canada (510Ma), and the Fezouata Shale, Morocco (c. 475Ma). The modelling shows that the mechanism for soft-tissue preservation in the Walcott Quarry is ecologically selective, favoring the endobenthos. This is not found in the Fezouata Shale. Taken in concert with bioturbation data, a new model of comparative preservation is developed based on sedimentary flow dynamics. This suggests that during the Cambrian Explosion and Ordovician Radiation the most exceptional fossils sites must still be calibrated against each other to understand the unfolding evolutionary events and the ecological structuring of ancient animal communities.
Keywords
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), Space and Planetary Science, Geochemistry and Petrology, Geophysics
Web of science
Funding(s)
Swiss National Science Foundation / Projects / 205321_179084
Other / 311727-20
Other / 422931-20
Create date
04/08/2021 12:50
Last modification date
21/11/2022 8:30
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