Exploring the nexus between global palaeogeography and the rise of animals

埃迪卡拉-寒武纪时期（6.35 - 4.85亿年前）是生命史上最重要的事件之一，但很少成为全球规模古地理建模的焦点。通过采用综合大量化石和地质数据集的整体，多代理方法，该项目旨在重建大陆位置，以确定移动的陆地如何影响第一批复杂动物的进化。预期成果和惠益包括一个新的、生动的全球大陆演变模型，可用于广泛的领域，特别是用于调查地球系统过程和生物圈在深时的发展的研究，并可能应用于资源勘探。

The Ediacaran–Cambrian periods (635–485 million years ago) capture one of the most critical events in the history of life, but are rarely the focus of global-scale palaeogeographic modelling. By employing a holistic, multi-proxy approach that synthesises vast fossil and geological datasets, this project aims to reconstruct continental positions to determine how shifting landmasses influenced the evolution of the first complex animals. Expected outcomes and benefits include a new, animated global model of continental evolution that can be used across a broad range of fields, particularly for studies investigating the development of Earth System processes and the biosphere in deep time, with potential applications in resource exploration.