'Conga Lines' of Ediacaran fronds: insights into the reproductive biology of early metazoans
Late Ediacaran strata from Newfoundland, Canada (~574–560 Ma) document near-census palaeocommunities of some of the earliest metazoans. Such preservation enables reproductive strategies to be inferred from the spatial distribution of populations of fossilised benthic organisms, previously revealing...
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2024
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ftunivcam:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/369035 2024-06-23T07:54:46+00:00 'Conga Lines' of Ediacaran fronds: insights into the reproductive biology of early metazoans Delahooke, Katie 2024-05-31T23:31:36Z application/pdf https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/369035 eng eng The Royal Society Department of Earth Sciences Student Royal Society Open Science https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/369035 Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Article 2024 ftunivcam 2024-06-04T23:55:52Z Late Ediacaran strata from Newfoundland, Canada (~574–560 Ma) document near-census palaeocommunities of some of the earliest metazoans. Such preservation enables reproductive strategies to be inferred from the spatial distribution of populations of fossilised benthic organisms, previously revealing the existence of both propagule and stoloniferous reproductive modes amongst Ediacaran frondose taxa. Here we describe ‘conga lines’: linear arrangements of more than three closely spaced fossil specimens. We calculate probabilistic models of point maps of 13 fossil-bearing bedding surfaces, and show that four surfaces contain conga lines that are not the result of chance alignments. We then test whether these features could result from passive pelagic propagules settling in the lee of an existing frond, using computational fluid dynamics and discrete phase modelling. Under Ediacaran palaeoenvironmental conditions, preferential leeside settlement at the spatial scale of the conga lines is unlikely. We therefore conclude that these features are novel and do not reflect previously described reproductive strategies employed by Ediacaran organisms, suggesting the use of mixed reproductive strategies in the earliest animals. Such strategies enabled Ediacaran frondose taxa to act as reproductive generalists, and may be an important facet of early metazoan evolution. Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository Canada |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcam |
language |
English |
description |
Late Ediacaran strata from Newfoundland, Canada (~574–560 Ma) document near-census palaeocommunities of some of the earliest metazoans. Such preservation enables reproductive strategies to be inferred from the spatial distribution of populations of fossilised benthic organisms, previously revealing the existence of both propagule and stoloniferous reproductive modes amongst Ediacaran frondose taxa. Here we describe ‘conga lines’: linear arrangements of more than three closely spaced fossil specimens. We calculate probabilistic models of point maps of 13 fossil-bearing bedding surfaces, and show that four surfaces contain conga lines that are not the result of chance alignments. We then test whether these features could result from passive pelagic propagules settling in the lee of an existing frond, using computational fluid dynamics and discrete phase modelling. Under Ediacaran palaeoenvironmental conditions, preferential leeside settlement at the spatial scale of the conga lines is unlikely. We therefore conclude that these features are novel and do not reflect previously described reproductive strategies employed by Ediacaran organisms, suggesting the use of mixed reproductive strategies in the earliest animals. Such strategies enabled Ediacaran frondose taxa to act as reproductive generalists, and may be an important facet of early metazoan evolution. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Delahooke, Katie |
spellingShingle |
Delahooke, Katie 'Conga Lines' of Ediacaran fronds: insights into the reproductive biology of early metazoans |
author_facet |
Delahooke, Katie |
author_sort |
Delahooke, Katie |
title |
'Conga Lines' of Ediacaran fronds: insights into the reproductive biology of early metazoans |
title_short |
'Conga Lines' of Ediacaran fronds: insights into the reproductive biology of early metazoans |
title_full |
'Conga Lines' of Ediacaran fronds: insights into the reproductive biology of early metazoans |
title_fullStr |
'Conga Lines' of Ediacaran fronds: insights into the reproductive biology of early metazoans |
title_full_unstemmed |
'Conga Lines' of Ediacaran fronds: insights into the reproductive biology of early metazoans |
title_sort |
'conga lines' of ediacaran fronds: insights into the reproductive biology of early metazoans |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/369035 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland |
op_relation |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/369035 |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
_version_ |
1802647046115557376 |