Upper Cambrian to Middle Ordovician radiolarian chert successions from Kazakhstan were studied to clarify the history of the emergence of benthic animals in ocean floor sediments. Radiolarian tests and clay were deposited for a period of 30 Myr without experiencing an influx of continent‐derived coarse clastic materials. Red, grey and black cherts of the Upper Cambrian to the upper mid‐Darriwilian are thinly laminated, and no trace of benthic animal activity is recognized in that time interval. Bioturbation structures and burrow traces in mid‐Darriwilian stage red chert in Kazakhstan suggest that benthic animals colonized the location where radiolarian chert formed, but that there was a significant delay in colonization when compared with similar reported occurrences in Australia and Canada.