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How to preserve a jellyfish: a jelly mold How to preserve a jellyfish: a jelly mold

Was there a death mask involved in the Was there a death mask involved in the
preservation of the Ediacaran biota? preservation of the Ediacaran biota?

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Homo sapiens Homo habilis Australopithecus

era of the hom inids

Phanerozoic time lines

era of Hominid divergence
us
the era of the m am m als

Permian Cambrian
extinction explosion
era of era of the
era of the dinosaurs era of the fish
mammals trilobites

Ediacaran radiation first stromatolites

era of the m icrobes
Devonian
extinction
Precam brian

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Cephalon

540,000,000 to 250,000,000 years Hallucigenia (Burgess Shale)

5.4 X 108 – 2.5 X 108

Thorax

Palaeozoic (ancient life) Pygidium Trilobite

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The Cambrian explosion

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The Cambrian explosion

545,000,000 years
or
5.45 X 108 years
Cambrian (Cambria: Roman
Name for Wales)

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The Cambrian explosion

progressive oxygenation of the atmosphere by life itself
Dawn of the Phanerozoic: Small Shelly
Fauna and Trilobites
the Cambrian extremophile
explosion refugia

softbodied 1st chemical The Cambrian explosion

metazoans Prokaryotes signals
(Ediacara) (Gunflint) (Isua)

exoskeletons Multicellular Single cell Prokaryotes

everywhere Eukaryotes Eukaryotes (Pilbara) oldest minerals
(Bitter Springs) (Jack Hills)

last of the
Fe-formations

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Events around the Precambrian Phanerozoic Diversity

Cambrian boundary

Burgess Shale fossils

Chengjiang fossils
The Cambrian explosion
Small Shelly Fauna

Ediacaran Fossils

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SHAPE ORNAMENT THICKNESS

conical
smooth

The Cambrian explosion elongate

asymmetry
crenulate
symmetry

Microdictyon

WHY SHELLS?
Small Shelly fauna
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WHY SHELLS?

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The Cambrian explosion

Burgess Shale

Charles Doolittle Walcott

(1850-1927)

Archeocyathans - colonial animal

with a coral like lifestyle -now extinct

Constructed reefs

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Burgess Life

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The great Hallucigenia flip-out

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Hallucigenia
Presently classified as onychophoran

Hallucigenia

Hallucigenia sparsa

Modern “velvet worms” (onychophorans): in tropical rainforests

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Unassigned forms

Anomalocaris canadensis Wiwaxia corrugata

Thaumaptilon walcotti

Sidneyia inexpectans

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Canadia spinosa

Ottoia prolifica Aysheaia

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Pikaia
earliest known Chordate

millipede

onychophoran

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Sanctacaris
(Santa Claws)
Opabinia
(Lobopod ?)

An undoubted arthropod

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Why did the Cambrian Explosion happen?

Cambrian Explosion is real –
very rapid appearance of skeletons
Why?

Oxygen…..
Shells for protection….
Evolutionary arms race…
Co-evolution of predators and prey……
Evolution of experimental body types and
organisms

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Why did the Cambrian Explosion happen? Why did the Cambrian Explosion happen?
Opportunistic species
adaptation Opportunistic species
which one will win? adaptation

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Phanerozoic Diversity
The Phanerozoic
K-T boundary, end Permian extinction
impact related, probable climate change,
ended the dinosaurs ~95% of all marine species

Holocene end Triassic late Devonian end Ordovician

extinction extinction extinction extinction

Cainozoic Mezozoic Palaeozoic

‘new’ life ‘middle’ life ‘ancient’ life
PALAEOZOIC

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a timescale for mass extinctions

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What is a Vertebrate?
All animals with:
• internal skeleton made of bone (apatite) (with exceptions)

• a backbone made of multiple elements (vertebrae)

PALAEOZOIC

Diplodocus
• a head housing a skull enclosing sense organs

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Homo floresiensis

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Vertebrate Palaeontology (VP)

Who are the Vertebrates?
WHAT IS VP?
CHONDRICHTHYES (sharks + rays)
Vertebrate palaeontology is the study
of fossil vertebrates (animals with
backbones).
ACTINOPTERYGII
Vertebrate fossils may include: (ray-finned fish)
• skeletons/bones/teeth;
• egg shell;
• soft tissue impressions;
coelacanth
• coprolites;
• footprints, burrows, etc.
TETRAPODA
• original soft tissues; SARCOPTERYGII
(4-legged vertebrates)
• molecules (e.g. DNA, proteins) (lobe-finned fish)

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Vertebrate Palaeontology Today:

Interdisciplinary!
EARTH SCIENCES BIOLOGY
Sedimentology Zoology
Stratigraphy Anthropology
Palaeoecology Anatomy/Histology
Climatology Molecular Biology
Geochemistry
Geochronology
VP Biomechanics
Biogeography
Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
OTHER... Medicine
Visual Arts Pathology
Archaeology
Engineering
Physics
Math. & Stats Extinct?
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Extinct https://www.britannica.com/animal/megalodon
Extinct https://www.britannica.com/animal/megalodon

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Extinct https://www.britannica.com/animal/megalodon
Extinct https://www.britannica.com/animal/megalodon

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EARLY PALAEOZOIC LIFE

Vertebrates
Fish
Icthyostega : 340 million years ago Placodermi (Placoderms)
1st land
Mammals plants
Birds
Dunkleosteus
Dinosaurs
Reptiles
Amphibians
Fish

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The vertebrates

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THE DEVONIAN THE DEVONIAN

Life in the Devonian Life in the Devonian
Fish Fish
cartilagenous fish bony or ray-finned fish

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THE DEVONIAN Vertebrate History

• Earliest vertebrates are jawless
Life in the Devonian
fish-like animals: Early Cambrian,
Fish China.
Osteichthyan fish – lobe-finned fish
Led to tetrapods • Jaws were key innovation,
evolving in Ordovician.

• Fishes diversify towards end of

Silurian; by Devonian fishes are
diverse and abundant.

• Vertebrates major component of

diversity and biomass in last ~250
Ma.
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THE DEVONIAN
Life in the Devonian
Primitive Plants

PALAEOZOIC

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THE DEVONIAN THE DEVONIAN

Life in the Devonian Life in the Devonian
Plants Plants
Lycopsids
Pteridophytes (seed ferns)
Sphenopsids (Calamites)

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EARLY PALAEOZOIC LIFE THE DEVONIAN

Metazoan Invertebrates Life in the Devonian
Arthropoda Eurypterids Eurypterids
Swimming or crawling
arthropods
up to 3 m length
Ord to Perm
Mostly Sil & Dev

Extinct Extinct
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Mega millipedes
Extinct Mega dragonflies Extinct
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