See more from this Division: Pardee Keynote Sessions
See more from this Session: Breakthroughs in Paleontology: The Paleontological Society Centennial Symposium
Abstract:
The Ediacara fauna is found in strata as old as 575 Ma, but in the past decade molecular clock studies have indicated that animals evolved even earlier. This has focused much recent interest on the Doushantuo fauna of southwest China, which could be as much as 25 million years older than the Ediacara fauna. The microscopic Doushantuo fauna includes specimens interpreted as representing various types of animals. This implied complexity indicates that a significant period of metazoan evolution occurred before the Doushantuo, which warrants future searches for animal fossils from deeper in time.
By 542 million years ago numerous fossils with significant biomineralized skeletons had evolved, signaling the onset of the Phanerozoic fossil record. Much more on life during the Cambrian has been learned since Darwin's day, exemplified by intense study over the past several decades of the Burgess Shale and Chengjiang lagerstätte, with their remarkable soft-bodied faunas. Coupled with studies of body fossils have been those on the dramatically increasing bioturbation record, and the affect that increasing bioturbation had on the evolution of other benthic animals, termed the Cambrian substrate revolution.
Further fossil studies, combined with new approaches in molecular biology, particularly genomics, promise continued extraordinary advances in our understanding of the early evolution of animals.
See more from this Division: Pardee Keynote Sessions
See more from this Session: Breakthroughs in Paleontology: The Paleontological Society Centennial Symposium