Engineering the Cambrian explosion: The role of reef environments as drivers of early animal evolution

The earliest metazoans evolved during the Cambrian Explosion (555 – 520 Ma) when the first representatives of almost all animal lineages appeared, simultaneously with the evolution of the first animal dominated reefs.

Coral reefs are among the most diverse ecosystems in the world today and throughout the Phanerozoic, reef environments are known to have promoted diversification.

The aim of the proposed project is to explore the potential role of the first reefs as drivers of animal evolution during the Cambrian Explosion.

The interaction of animals and substrates will be examined at different scales; within a single reef body and between reefs and surrounding environments. Finally, links between changes in reef architecture and animal evolution will be analyzed on a global scale.

Reef architecture and associated assemblages of Small Shelly Fossils (SSF, representing the oldest known animal shells) collected from well constrained reefs and other environments in Mongolia, Canada and Australia will be examined.

Reef architecture will be investigated in the field and through high resolution sections using modern analytical instruments. SSF will be extracted using acids and documented using SEM/EDS and µCT methods.

The project will apply ecological concepts that are well understood in modern reefs to questions about early animal evolution, offering the first opportunity to link the diversification of the earliest animal communities with their living environments.