A novel tool to untangle the ecology and fossil preservation knot in exceptionally preserved biotas
A novel tool to untangle the ecology and fossil preservation knot in exceptionally preserved biotas
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DOI：
10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117061
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发表时间：
2021-09
影响因子：
5.3
通讯作者：
F. Saleh;Orla G. Bath-Enright;A. Daley;B. Lefebvre;B. Pittet;Antoine Vite;Xiaoya Ma;M. Mángano;L. Buatois;J. Antcliffe
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文献类型：
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作者：
F. Saleh;Orla G. Bath-Enright;A. Daley;B. Lefebvre;B. Pittet;Antoine Vite;Xiaoya Ma;M. Mángano;L. Buatois;J. Antcliffe
了解已灭绝生态系统的功能是一个复杂的结生态，进化，必须解开的链。例如，解剖学和行为学上的差异可以深刻地改变代谢途径。特别是保存完好的软体生物，记录了寒武纪大爆发和奥陶纪辐射期间动物进化的最早阶段。本文提出了一种基于概率模型的数据划分新方法，用于研究加拿大Burgess页岩Walcott采石场（510Ma）和摩洛哥Fezouata页岩（c. 475Ma）。模拟结果表明，在沃尔科特采石场的软组织保护机制是生态选择性的，有利于endobenthos。这在Fezouata页岩中找不到。与生物扰动数据相一致，一个新的模式，比较保存的基础上沉积流动动力学。这表明，在寒武纪大爆发和奥陶纪辐射期间，最特殊的化石遗址仍然必须相互校准，以了解正在展开的进化事件和古代动物群落的生态结构。
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.