Biotic replacement and mass extinction of the Ediacara biota

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
Simon A F DarrochMarc Laflamme

Abstract

The latest Neoproterozoic extinction of the Ediacara biota has been variously attributed to catastrophic removal by perturbations to global geochemical cycles, 'biotic replacement' by Cambrian-type ecosystem engineers, and a taphonomic artefact. We perform the first critical test of the 'biotic replacement' hypothesis using combined palaeoecological and geochemical data collected from the youngest Ediacaran strata in southern Namibia. We find that, even after accounting for a variety of potential sampling and taphonomic biases, the Ediacaran assemblage preserved at Farm Swartpunt has significantly lower genus richness than older assemblages. Geochemical and sedimentological analyses confirm an oxygenated and non-restricted palaeoenvironment for fossil-bearing sediments, thus suggesting that oxygen stress and/or hypersalinity are unlikely to be responsible for the low diversity of communities preserved at Swartpunt. These combined analyses suggest depauperate communities characterized the latest Ediacaran and provide the first quantitative support for the biotic replacement model for the end of the Ediacara biota. Although more sites (especially those recording different palaeoenvironments) are undoubtedly needed, this study pro...Continue Reading

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Citations

Nov 4, 2015·Current Biology : CB·Marc Laflamme, Simon A F Darroch
Nov 21, 2015·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Graham E Budd, Sören Jensen
Mar 24, 2018·Scientific Reports·Seyed Hamid VaziriMarc Laflamme
Mar 16, 2018·Scientific Reports·Luis A BuatoisGerard J B Germs
Jun 26, 2018·Science Advances·Feifei ZhangAriel D Anbar
Sep 23, 2020·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Brandt M GibsonSimon A F Darroch
Sep 19, 2018·Nature Ecology & Evolution·Simon A F DarrochPeter J Wagner
Oct 9, 2018·Integrative and Comparative Biology·Erik A Sperling, Richard G Stockey
Mar 13, 2019·Nature Ecology & Evolution·Rachel WoodAmelia Penny
Nov 7, 2017·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Frances S DunnPhilip C J Donoghue
Mar 5, 2020·Science Advances·Graham E Budd, Richard P Mann
Jul 10, 2020·Interface Focus·M Gabriela Mángano, Luis A Buatois
Jul 8, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Alan D RooneyJustin V Strauss
Jan 7, 2021·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Bruno Becker-KerberMarc Laflamme

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