The utility of height for the Ediacaran organisms of Mistaken Point.

Ediacaran fossil communities consist of the oldest macroscopic eukaryotic organisms. Increased size (height) is hypothesized to be driven by competition for water column resources, leading to vertical/epifaunal tiering and morphological innovations such as stems. Using spatial analyses, we find no c...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mitchell, Emily G, Kenchington, Charlotte G
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2018
Subjects:
Animals
Body Size
Competitive Behavior
Eukaryota
Fossils
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland
Mistaken Point
Online Access:https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/283142
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.30505
Description
Summary:Ediacaran fossil communities consist of the oldest macroscopic eukaryotic organisms. Increased size (height) is hypothesized to be driven by competition for water column resources, leading to vertical/epifaunal tiering and morphological innovations such as stems. Using spatial analyses, we find no correlation between tiering and resource competition, and that stemmed organisms are not tiered. Instead, we find that height is correlated with greater offspring dispersal, demonstrating the importance of colonization potential over resource competition. Gibbs Travelling Fellowship from Newnham College, University of Cambridge Henslow Research Fellowship, Cambridge Philosophical Society.

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