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Ecospace Utilization During the Ediacaran Radiation and the Cambrian Eco-explosion

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Quantifying the Evolution of Early Life

Part of the book series: Topics in Geobiology ((TGBI,volume 36))

Abstract

A theoretical ecospace is a multi-parameter system for classifying the ecological properties of organisms; because they are viewed in terms of their ecological and functional capabilities, morphologically and phylogenetically disparate organisms can be compared and contrasted. In the ecospace used here, marine animals are classified according to three parameters that can be determined relatively easily from fossils: tiering (position relative to the sediment-water interface), motility level, and feeding mechanism. Analyses of faunas from the Ediacaran, Cambrian, and Recent suggest that the ecological richness (number of ecological lifestyles) of the marine fauna rose through time, although the pace of increase slowed after the early Phanerozoic. However, the Ediacaran biota was quite distinct from Phanerozoic faunas in terms of which tiers, motility levels, and feeding mechanisms were employed; thus, the rise to dominance of bilaterians during the Cambrian Explosion caused a fundamental transformation in marine ecology. Changes in marine animal ecology since the Cambrian Explosion were of lesser magnitude.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to P. Novack-Gottshall, R. Krause, and M. Laflamme for helpful reviews and comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Center for Integrative Geosciences, University of Connecticut, 75 North Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT, 06269-3043, USA

    Andrew M. Bush

  2. Department of Paleobiology, MRC-121, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 37012, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA

    Richard K. Bambach & Douglas H. Erwin

  3. Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA

    Douglas H. Erwin

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Correspondence to Andrew M. Bush .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellow, Departm, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum, Washington, 20013-7012, Washington, USA

    Marc Laflamme

  2. , Department of Geosciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Derring Hall 4044, Blacksburg, 24061, Virginia, USA

    James D. Schiffbauer

  3. , Department of Geosciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, 53201-0413, Wisconsin, USA

    Stephen Q. Dornbos

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Bush, A.M., Bambach, R.K., Erwin, D.H. (2011). Ecospace Utilization During the Ediacaran Radiation and the Cambrian Eco-explosion. In: Laflamme, M., Schiffbauer, J., Dornbos, S. (eds) Quantifying the Evolution of Early Life. Topics in Geobiology, vol 36. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0680-4_5

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