Cambrian explosion Flashcards
What occurs between the Ediacaran and the Cambrian?
A step up in phyla and classes (Cambrian explosion)
What is there very little of after the Cambrian?
Existence of new phyla and classes (inhibited by hard fossil bias)
How is the Cambrian divided?
Into stages due to their being no formal recognition of the boundaries
What is the main difference between the Ediacaran and present day environments?
No life in the upper water column or within the sediment
What is Cloudina?
Present on the boundary between Ediacaran and Fortunian it is the earliest mineralising organism (worm like)
What is couldina a precursor?
To small shelly fauna which diversify in Cambrian stage 2 (Tommotian)
What are some examples of ‘small shelly fossils’?
Stem brachiopod
Problematica
Palaeoscolid worm
What are examples of fauna from Chenjiang China?
Anomalocaris
Arthropods
What fauna are an indicator of the Cambrian explosion?
Domination of arthropods
What formation occurred after Chenjiang?
Sirius Passet - Greenland
What is the boundary like at Sirius Passet?
An unconformity between stage 3 Cambrian and the Upper most Ediacaran
What fossils are present at Sirius Passet?
Microbial mat trace fossils
What fauna are present in the Sirius Passet?
Anomalocarids
Palaeoscolecids
Vetulicolians
Halkieria
What is the anomalocarid thought to be have been like in the Sirius Passet?
A filter feeder of plankton
What are the 2 taphonomy types in Siriuspasset?
Typical Sirius Passet preservation
Burgess shale type