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The Cambrian fecal revolution: Fueling the Cambrian Radiation
Julien Kimmig1, Russell D C Bicknell2
1Referat Paläontologie, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe, Erbprinzenstr. 13, 76133, Karlsruhe, Germany; Institute of Applied Geosciences, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Adenauerring 20b, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany; Harold Hamm School of Geology and Geological Engineering, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA.
None:
Coprolites-fossil material extruded from an animal's digestive system-represent a rare insight into trophic interactions in deep time. However, while the first animals appeared about 600 million years ago, the first coprolites are only observed in the earliest Cambrian. Conversely, in modern oceans, fecal pellets are an important part of the particulate organic carbon in the water column and the global flux of organic carbon to deep water. In this review, we analyze the impact of the advent of fecal matter on the Cambrian Radiation by examining coprolites, analyzing animal biology, and contextualizing this through the role of fecal pellets in the oceanic nutrient cycle. We illustrate the central position of coprolites in driving the Cambrian Radiation.
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