Cargando…
Trace fossils associated with Burgess Shale non-biomineralized carapaces: bringing taphonomic and ecological controls into focus
The association of trace fossils and non-biomineralized carapaces has been reported from Cambrian Lagerstätten worldwide, but the abundance, ichnodiversity, taphonomy and ecological significance of such associations have yet to be fully investigated. Two main end-member hypotheses are explored based...
Autores principales: | , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
The Royal Society
2019
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6366168/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30800334 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.172074 |
_version_ | 1783393567963611136 |
---|---|
author | Mángano, M. Gabriela Hawkes, Christopher David Caron, Jean-Bernard |
author_facet | Mángano, M. Gabriela Hawkes, Christopher David Caron, Jean-Bernard |
author_sort | Mángano, M. Gabriela |
collection | PubMed |
description | The association of trace fossils and non-biomineralized carapaces has been reported from Cambrian Lagerstätten worldwide, but the abundance, ichnodiversity, taphonomy and ecological significance of such associations have yet to be fully investigated. Two main end-member hypotheses are explored based on the study of a relatively wide variety of trace fossils preserved associated to Tuzoia carapaces from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale in British Columbia. In the ecological Tuzoia garden hypothesis, the bacterially enriched surface of carapaces provides opportunities for intricate ecologic interactions among trophic levels. In the taphonomic shielding hypothesis, the trace fossil–carapace association results from preferential preservation of traces as controlled by compaction independent of any association in life. In an attempt to better understand the role of the carapace as a medium for preservation of trace fossils and to evaluate the effects of mechanical stress related to burial, a numerical model was developed. Results indicate that the carapace can shield underlying sediment from mechanical stress for a finite time, differentially protecting trace fossils during the initial phase of burial and compaction. However, this taphonomic model alone fails to fully explain relatively high-density assemblages displaying a diversity of structures spatially confined within the perimeter of carapaces or branching patterns recording re-visitation. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6366168 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | The Royal Society |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-63661682019-02-22 Trace fossils associated with Burgess Shale non-biomineralized carapaces: bringing taphonomic and ecological controls into focus Mángano, M. Gabriela Hawkes, Christopher David Caron, Jean-Bernard R Soc Open Sci Earth Science The association of trace fossils and non-biomineralized carapaces has been reported from Cambrian Lagerstätten worldwide, but the abundance, ichnodiversity, taphonomy and ecological significance of such associations have yet to be fully investigated. Two main end-member hypotheses are explored based on the study of a relatively wide variety of trace fossils preserved associated to Tuzoia carapaces from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale in British Columbia. In the ecological Tuzoia garden hypothesis, the bacterially enriched surface of carapaces provides opportunities for intricate ecologic interactions among trophic levels. In the taphonomic shielding hypothesis, the trace fossil–carapace association results from preferential preservation of traces as controlled by compaction independent of any association in life. In an attempt to better understand the role of the carapace as a medium for preservation of trace fossils and to evaluate the effects of mechanical stress related to burial, a numerical model was developed. Results indicate that the carapace can shield underlying sediment from mechanical stress for a finite time, differentially protecting trace fossils during the initial phase of burial and compaction. However, this taphonomic model alone fails to fully explain relatively high-density assemblages displaying a diversity of structures spatially confined within the perimeter of carapaces or branching patterns recording re-visitation. The Royal Society 2019-01-16 /pmc/articles/PMC6366168/ /pubmed/30800334 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.172074 Text en © 2019 The Authors. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Earth Science Mángano, M. Gabriela Hawkes, Christopher David Caron, Jean-Bernard Trace fossils associated with Burgess Shale non-biomineralized carapaces: bringing taphonomic and ecological controls into focus |
title | Trace fossils associated with Burgess Shale non-biomineralized carapaces: bringing taphonomic and ecological controls into focus |
title_full | Trace fossils associated with Burgess Shale non-biomineralized carapaces: bringing taphonomic and ecological controls into focus |
title_fullStr | Trace fossils associated with Burgess Shale non-biomineralized carapaces: bringing taphonomic and ecological controls into focus |
title_full_unstemmed | Trace fossils associated with Burgess Shale non-biomineralized carapaces: bringing taphonomic and ecological controls into focus |
title_short | Trace fossils associated with Burgess Shale non-biomineralized carapaces: bringing taphonomic and ecological controls into focus |
title_sort | trace fossils associated with burgess shale non-biomineralized carapaces: bringing taphonomic and ecological controls into focus |
topic | Earth Science |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6366168/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30800334 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.172074 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT manganomgabriela tracefossilsassociatedwithburgessshalenonbiomineralizedcarapacesbringingtaphonomicandecologicalcontrolsintofocus AT hawkeschristopherdavid tracefossilsassociatedwithburgessshalenonbiomineralizedcarapacesbringingtaphonomicandecologicalcontrolsintofocus AT caronjeanbernard tracefossilsassociatedwithburgessshalenonbiomineralizedcarapacesbringingtaphonomicandecologicalcontrolsintofocus |