Does the term 'Cambrian Explosion' still hold up? Was it really an 'explosion' of life?
We've learned a lot since naming the Cambrian Explosion, such as the fact that animals not only existed but became quite complex before the Cambrian. We now know that Ediacaran Fauna (animals that characterize the Ediacaran period just before the Cambrian boundary) as well as early representatives of major animal groups on modern Earth predate the Cambrian boundary. However, the evolution of the latter may have contributed to the extinction of the Ediacaran Fauna. However, we don't yet know whether it was abiotic climate and environmental changes or biological competition and predation that caused the Ediacaran mass extinction. All we know for sure is that the extinction of these early 'experimental' animals paved the way for the evolution of the modern animal groups.
Ediacaran and Cambrian fauna differ in many ways, but the major differences were the larger size and greater abudance & complexity of shells and skeletons in Cambrian animals. Cambrian fauna was also much more diverse than Ediacaran fauna with many more animal phyla evolving in the Cambrian compared to the lonely soft bodied corals, jellies, and sponges of the Ediacaran. However, some of the major reef building organisms in the Cambrian underwent mysterious extinctions throughout the period, suggesting that the trend of experimental evolution & abrupt extinction of certain animal groups was not over.
So what was the major cause of the Cambrian Explosion (or the increase in diversity, complexity, and skeletonization in the Pre- and Early Cambrian)? Likely, increased oxygen concentrations [O2]. However, other factors, like increased predation and calcium & phosphate flux to the ocean also contributed to increased skeletonization in benthic animals.
References: Geomicrobiology: amzn.to/2WAloTR
Earth System History: amzn.to/3v1Iy0G
(1) doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.0...
(2) doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aan8983
(3) doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1003
(4) doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature07072
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0:00 Was it really an Explosion?
1:45 Since Naming the Cambrian Explosion…
4:06 Ediacaran Fauna
5:39 Major Animal Groups Predate Cambrian
6:26 Mass Extinction of Ediacaran Fauna
7:32 What Caused Ediacaran Extinction?
9:18 Patchy Fossil Record Makes it Difficult…
11:27 Ediacaran vs Cambrian Fauna
15:05 New Cambrian Life
17:26 Huge Cambrian Predators
18:01 Mysterious Cambrian Extinctions
19:36 Major Cause of Cambrian Explosion
20:43 Why Low Diversity for First 4 ~Billion Yrs on Earth?
23:38 Why High Diversity After ~600 Ma?
25:55 What Caused O2 increase ~600 Ma?
27:10 Summary of Ediacaran to Cambrian Events
28:08 Related Videos & References
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9 июн 2024