The Advent of Animals: the View from the Ediacaran SPECIAL FEATURE
The advent of animals: The view from the Ediacaran SPECIAL FEATURE Mary L. Drosera,1 and James G. Gehlingb,c aDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521; bSouth Australia Museum, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia; and cUniversity of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia Edited by Neil H. Shubin, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, and approved December 9, 2014 (received for review April 15, 2014) Patterns of origination and evolution of early complex life on this relationships within the Ediacara Biota and, importantly, reveals the planet are largely interpreted from the fossils of the Precam- morphologic disparity of these taxa. brian soft-bodied Ediacara Biota. These fossils occur globally and However, although fossils of the Ediacara Biota are not easily represent a diverse suite of organisms living in marine environments. classified with modern taxa, they nonetheless provide the record Although these exceptionally preserved fossil assemblages are typi- of early animals. One of the primary issues is that they are soft- cally difficult to reconcile with modern phyla, examination of the bodied and preserved in a manner that is, in many cases, unique to morphology, ecology, and taphonomy of these taxa provides keys to the Ediacaran. An alternative venue for providing insight into these their relationships with modern taxa. Within the more than 30 million organisms and the manner in which they fit into early animal evo- y range of the Ediacara Biota, fossils of these multicellular organisms lution is offered by examination of the paleoecology, morphology, demonstrate the advent of mobility, heterotrophy by multicellular and taphonomy of fossils of the Ediacara Biota.
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