Publication Date:
2014-06-28
Description:
Reef-building in metazoans represents an important ecological innovation whereby individuals collectively enhance feeding efficiency and gain protection from competitors and predation. The appearance of metazoan reefs in the fossil record therefore indicates an adaptive response to complex ecological pressures. In the Nama Group, Namibia, we found evidence of reef-building by the earliest known skeletal metazoan, the globally distributed Cloudina, ~548 million years ago. These Cloudina reefs formed open frameworks without a microbial component but with mutual attachment and cementation between individuals. Orientated growth implies a passive suspension-feeding habit into nutrient-rich currents. The characteristics of Cloudina support the view that metazoan reef-building was promoted by the rise of substrate competitors and predators.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Penny, A M -- Wood, R -- Curtis, A -- Bowyer, F -- Tostevin, R -- Hoffman, K-H -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Jun 27;344(6191):1504-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1253393.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK. a.m.penny@ed.ac.uk. ; School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK. ; Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. ; Geological Survey of Namibia, Private Bag 13297, Windhoek, Namibia.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24970084" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Animals
;
Carbonates
;
*Ecosystem
;
*Fossils
;
Invertebrates/anatomy & histology/*growth & development/physiology
;
Namibia
;
Predatory Behavior
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
Permalink