© 2003 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Exceptional Fossil Preservation and the Cambrian Explosion1
1 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
Exceptionally preserved, non-biomineralizing fossils contribute importantly to resolving details of the Cambrian explosion, but little to its overall patterns. Six distinct "types" of exceptional preservation are identified for the terminal Proterozoic-Cambrian interval, each of which is dependent on particular taphonomic circumstances, typically restricted both in space and time. Taphonomic pathways yielding exceptional preservation were particularly variable through the Proterozoic-Cambrian transition, at least in part a consequence of contemporaneous evolutionary innovations. Combined with the reasonably continuous record of "Doushantuo-type preservation," and the fundamentally more robust records of shelly fossils, phytoplankton cysts and trace fossils, these taphonomic perturbations contribute to the documentation of major evolutionary and biogeochemical shifts through the terminal Proterozoic and early Cambrian.
Appreciation of the relationship between taphonomic pathway and fossil expression serves as a useful tool for interpreting exceptionally preserved, often problematic, early Cambrian fossils. In shale facies, for example, flattened non-biomineralizing structures typically represent the remains of degradation-resistant acellular and extracellular "tissues" such as chaetae and cuticles, whereas three-dimensional preservation represents labile cellular tissues with a propensity for attracting and precipitating early diagenetic minerals. Such distinction helps to identify the acuticular integument of hyolithids, the chaetae-like nature of Wiwaxia sclerites, the chaetognath-like integument of Amiskwia, the midgut glands of various Burgess Shale arthropods, and the misidentification of deposit-feeding arthropods in the Chengjiang biota. By the same reasoning, putative lobopods in the Sirius Passet biota and putative deuterostomes in the Chengiang biota are better interpreted as arthropods.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  P. J. Orr, D. E.G. Briggs, and S. L. Kearns Taphonomy of Exceptionally Preserved Crustaceans from the Upper Carboniferous of Southeastern Ireland Palaios, May 1, 2008; 23(5): 298 - 312. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. J. Butterfield An Early Cambrian Radula Journal of Paleontology, May 1, 2008; 82(3): 543 - 554. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. C. Morris A Redescription of a Rare Chordate, Metaspriggina Walcotti Simonetta and Insom, from the Burgess Shale (Middle Cambrian), British Columbia, Canada Journal of Paleontology, March 1, 2008; 82(2): 424 - 430. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. R. SCHWIMMER and W. M. MONTANTE EXCEPTIONAL FOSSIL PRESERVATION IN THE CONASAUGA FORMATION, CAMBRIAN, NORTHWESTERN GEORGIA, USA Palaios, July 1, 2007; 22(4): 360 - 372. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. Xiao, J. W. Hagadorn, C. Zhou, and X. Yuan Rare helical spheroidal fossils from the Doushantuo Lagerstatte: Ediacaran animal embryos come of age? Geology, February 1, 2007; 35(2): 115 - 118. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J.-P. Lin, A. C. Scott, C.-W. Li, H.-J. Wu, W. I. Ausich, Y.-L. Zhao, and Y.-K. Hwu Silicified egg clusters from a Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale-type deposit, Guizhou, south China Geology, December 1, 2006; 34(12): 1037 - 1040. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J.-B. CARON and D. A. JACKSON TAPHONOMY OF THE GREATER PHYLLOPOD BED COMMUNITY, BURGESS SHALE Palaios, October 1, 2006; 21(5): 451 - 465. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. A. Merz and S. A. Woodin Polychaete chaetae: Function, fossils, and phylogeny Integr. Comp. Biol., August 1, 2006; 46(4): 481 - 496. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Q. DORNBOS, D. J. BOTTJER, J.-Y. CHEN, F. GAO, P. OLIVERI, and C.-W. LI Environmental Controls on the Taphonomy of Phosphatized Animals and Animal Embryos from the Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation, Southwest China Palaios, February 1, 2006; 21(1): 3 - 14. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. J. Peterson Macroevolutionary interplay between planktic larvae and benthic predators Geology, December 1, 2005; 33(12): 929 - 932. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 X. L. ZHANG and H. HUA Soft-bodied fossils from the Shipai Formation, Lower Cambrian of the Three Gorge area, South China Geological Magazine, November 1, 2005; 142(6): 699 - 709. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 B. Hubert, J. J. Alvaro, and J.-Y. Chen Microbially mediated phosphatization in the Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Lagerstatte, South China Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France, July 1, 2005; 176(4): 355 - 361. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. J. Peterson, M. A. McPeek, and D. A. D. Evans Tempo and mode of early animal evolution: inferences from rocks, Hox, and molecular clocks Paleobiology, June 1, 2005; 31(2_Suppl): 36 - 55. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. E. G. Briggs and R. A. Fortey Wonderful strife: systematics, stem groups, and the phylogenetic signal of the Cambrian radiation Paleobiology, June 1, 2005; 31(2_Suppl): 94 - 112. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Probable Proterozoic fungi Paleobiology, January 1, 2005; 31(1): 165 - 182.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Preservation of Early Cambrian animals of the Chengjiang biota Geology, October 1, 2004; 32(10): 901 - 904.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. Martin, D. Martin, D. E.G. Briggs, and R. J. Parkes Experimental attachment of sediment particles to invertebrate eggs and the preservation of soft-bodied fossils Journal of the Geological Society, September 1, 2004; 161(5): 735 - 738. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A vaucheriacean alga from the middle Neoproterozoic of Spitsbergen: implications for the evolution of Proterozoic eukaryotes and the Cambrian explosion Paleobiology, June 1, 2004; 30(2): 231 - 252.
|
|