Reconstruction of the first consumer-driven marine ecosystem on Earth, perspectives from early Cambrian small skeletal fossils from China
Biological activity was the major triggering factor driving Earthâs organic and inorganic cycles across the biosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere. A key question in the evolution of Earthâs ecosystem is when and how different animals emerged and flourished and how their appearance impacted the hydr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Estonian Academy Publishers
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://kirj.ee/wp-content/plugins/kirj/pub/earth-1-2023-169_20230614080047.pdf |
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| author | Zhifei Zhang Yue Liang Fan Liu Yazhou Hu Lars E. Holmer |
| author_facet | Zhifei Zhang Yue Liang Fan Liu Yazhou Hu Lars E. Holmer |
| author_sort | Zhifei Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Biological activity was the major triggering factor driving Earthâs organic and inorganic cycles across the biosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere. A key question in the evolution of Earthâs ecosystem is when and how different animals emerged and flourished and how their appearance impacted the hydrosphere-atmosphere-lithosphere cycles. The Cambrian Explosion of metazoans in the EdiacaranâCambrian boundary interval resulted in sudden appearance of most of the readily fossilizable modern animal groups as macro-consumers in the Earthâs oceans. This explosive radiation event led for the first time to the emergence and diversification of animals on Earth, to the establishment of complex trophic webs with animals as consumers, and marks the onset of the Phanerozoic oceanic ecosystem. Our presentation aims to discuss the at least half-billion-year-old world of tubular and conical shelled organisms (sponges, conulariids, chancelloriids, hyoliths, mollusks, tommotiids, and other lophotrochozoans) that are unseen in the present-day oceans but were recovered by us from the siliciclastic and carbonate rocks in and outside of China. Additionally, to study the body fossils of exceptionally preserved biotas (Konversat-Lagerstätten) across China, efforts are underway to understand how the early animals, notably early bilaterians, created the over 500-million-year-old oceanic ecosystems without the influence of land plants, which appeared later. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:36:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b9000449801d4872bc268fb9f07b3603 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1736-4728 1736-7557 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:36:50Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Estonian Academy Publishers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-b9000449801d4872bc268fb9f07b36032023-06-14T07:33:29ZengEstonian Academy PublishersEstonian Journal of Earth Sciences1736-47281736-75572023-06-017211690https://doi.org/10.3176/earth.2023.40https://doi.org/10.3176/earth.2023.40Reconstruction of the first consumer-driven marine ecosystem on Earth, perspectives from early Cambrian small skeletal fossils from ChinaZhifei Zhang0Yue Liang1Fan Liu2Yazhou Hu3Lars E. Holmer4State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Early Life & Environments, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069 ChinaState Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Early Life & Environments, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069 China; Institute of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden; State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Early Life and Environments, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Early Life and Environments, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi\'an 710069, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Early Life and Environments, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Early Life & Environments, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069 China; Institute of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, SE-752 36 Uppsala, SwedenBiological activity was the major triggering factor driving Earthâs organic and inorganic cycles across the biosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere. A key question in the evolution of Earthâs ecosystem is when and how different animals emerged and flourished and how their appearance impacted the hydrosphere-atmosphere-lithosphere cycles. The Cambrian Explosion of metazoans in the EdiacaranâCambrian boundary interval resulted in sudden appearance of most of the readily fossilizable modern animal groups as macro-consumers in the Earthâs oceans. This explosive radiation event led for the first time to the emergence and diversification of animals on Earth, to the establishment of complex trophic webs with animals as consumers, and marks the onset of the Phanerozoic oceanic ecosystem. Our presentation aims to discuss the at least half-billion-year-old world of tubular and conical shelled organisms (sponges, conulariids, chancelloriids, hyoliths, mollusks, tommotiids, and other lophotrochozoans) that are unseen in the present-day oceans but were recovered by us from the siliciclastic and carbonate rocks in and outside of China. Additionally, to study the body fossils of exceptionally preserved biotas (Konversat-Lagerstätten) across China, efforts are underway to understand how the early animals, notably early bilaterians, created the over 500-million-year-old oceanic ecosystems without the influence of land plants, which appeared later.https://kirj.ee/wp-content/plugins/kirj/pub/earth-1-2023-169_20230614080047.pdfmarine ecosystemsmall skeletal fossilscambrian explosionchinakonversat-lagerstätten |
| spellingShingle | Zhifei Zhang Yue Liang Fan Liu Yazhou Hu Lars E. Holmer Reconstruction of the first consumer-driven marine ecosystem on Earth, perspectives from early Cambrian small skeletal fossils from China Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences marine ecosystem small skeletal fossils cambrian explosion china konversat-lagerstätten |
| title | Reconstruction of the first consumer-driven marine ecosystem on Earth, perspectives from early Cambrian small skeletal fossils from China |
| title_full | Reconstruction of the first consumer-driven marine ecosystem on Earth, perspectives from early Cambrian small skeletal fossils from China |
| title_fullStr | Reconstruction of the first consumer-driven marine ecosystem on Earth, perspectives from early Cambrian small skeletal fossils from China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reconstruction of the first consumer-driven marine ecosystem on Earth, perspectives from early Cambrian small skeletal fossils from China |
| title_short | Reconstruction of the first consumer-driven marine ecosystem on Earth, perspectives from early Cambrian small skeletal fossils from China |
| title_sort | reconstruction of the first consumer driven marine ecosystem on earth perspectives from early cambrian small skeletal fossils from china |
| topic | marine ecosystem small skeletal fossils cambrian explosion china konversat-lagerstätten |
| url | https://kirj.ee/wp-content/plugins/kirj/pub/earth-1-2023-169_20230614080047.pdf |
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