The Weng'an Biota (Doushantuo Formation): an Ediacaran window on soft-bodied and multicellular microorganisms

Cunningham, John A.; Vargas, Kelly; Yin, Zongjun; Bengtson, Stefan; Donoghue, Philip C. J.

doi:10.1144/jgs2016-142

Cited by 56 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 90 publications

(153 reference statements)

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“…Synchrotron‐radiation X‐ray tomography of Lower Cambrian microfossils reveals details of interior structures such as Markuelia spines and a possible digestive tract (Donoghue, Bengtson et al., ), and Chen et al. contributed synchrotron X‐ray microtomography and propagation phase contrast‐based imaging analysis of numerous Doushantuo microfossils as indicative of an apparent diverse metazoan community (Chen et al., ), although claims of metazoan affinities remain controversial (Cunningham et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This assemblage of reworked phosphoclasts includes apparent cell clusters that have been variously interpreted as metazoan diapause-stage embryos, sulfide-oxidizing bacteria, and protists (Bailey, Joye, Kalanetra, Flood, & Corsetti, 2007;Cunningham et al, 2011;Huldtgren et al, 2011;Xiao, Zhang, & Knoll, 1998;Yin et al, 2007). Some characteristics claimed to represent evidence of animal affinities, including reductive cell division, Y-shaped cell junctions, and the enrobement of some specimens in textured enveloping precipitates, are not diagnostic characteristics (Cunningham, Vargas, Yin, Bengtson, & Donoghue, 2017) even if they do represent primary biological features. In addition, it is now known that some features initially interpreted as biological in origin, may instead result from non-biological processes, including those that result from diagenetic changes following initial authigenic mineral precipitation (Bengtson & Budd, 2004;Cunningham et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experimental precipitation of apatite pseudofossils resembling fossil embryos

Crosby

Bailey

2017

Geobiology

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Certain phosphatic grains preserved in the rock record are interpreted as microfossils representing a diversity of microorganisms from bacteria to fossil embryos. In addition to bona fide primary biological features, phosphatic microfossils and fossil embryos commonly exhibit features that result from abiotic precipitation or diagenetic alteration. Distinguishing between abiotic and primary biological features can be difficult, and some features thought to represent biological tissue could instead be artifacts that are unrelated to the original morphology of a preserved organism. Here, we present experimentally generated, abiotically produced mineral precipitates that morphologically resemble biologically produced features, some of which may be observed in the rock record or noted in extant organisms, including embryos. These findings extend the diversity of biomorphic features known to result from abiotic precipitation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental precipitation of apatite pseudofossils resembling fossil embryos

Crosby

Bailey

2017

Geobiology

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“…Following best practise for digital morphology (Davies et al, 2017), our tomographic datasets and models are available from http://dx.doi.org/ 10.5523/bris.2v3sw3xjkaum724prs1ziow4u0. We follow Yin et al (2004) and Cunningham et al (2017) in considering Megasphaera and Parapandorina as junior synonyms of Tianzhushania.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclei and nucleoli in embryo-like fossils from the Ediacaran Weng’an Biota

Yin

Cunningham

Vargas

et al. 2017

Precambrian Research

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General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pure/about/ebr-terms A R T I C L E I N F OKeywords: Fossil embryo Doushantuo Animal Evolution Ediacaran A B S T R A C TThe embryo-like microfossils from the Ediacaran Weng'an Biota (ca. 609 million years old) are among the oldest plausible claims of animals in the fossil record. Fossilization frequently extends beyond the cellular, to preserve subcellular structures including contentious Large Intracellular Structures (LISs) that have been alternately interpreted as eukaryote nuclei or organelles, degraded remains, or abiological structures. Here we present new data on the structure, morphology, and development of the LISs in these embryo-like fossils, based on Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Tomographic Microscopy (SRXTM) and quantitative computed tomographic analysis. All the lines of evidence, including consistency in the number, shape, position, and relative size (LIS-tocytoplasm ratio) of the LISs, as well as their occurrence within preserved cytoplasm, support their interpretation as cell nuclei. Our results allow us to reject the view that nuclei cannot be preserved in early eukaryote fossils, offering new potential for interpreting the fossil record of early eukaryote evolution.

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“…The possible causal relationship between oxygenation events and early animal evolution is a topic of broad interest. Molecular clock and sponge biomarker studies suggest that multicellular animals diverged in the Cryogenian Period (~720–635 Myr ago) or earlier (Cunningham et al, ; Sperling and Stockey, ; Zumberge et al, , but see Nettersheim et al, ). However, Cryogenian animals may have been morphologically simple sponge‐like creatures and likely required little oxygen (Mills, Lenton, & Watson, ; Sperling et al, ).…”

Section: Global Marine Redox Change Drove the Rise And Fall Of The Edmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global marine redox changes drove the rise and fall of the Ediacara biota

et al. 2019

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The role of O2 in the evolution of early animals, as represented by some members of the Ediacara biota, has been heavily debated because current geochemical evidence paints a conflicting picture regarding global marine O2 levels during key intervals of the rise and fall of the Ediacara biota. Fossil evidence indicates that the diversification the Ediacara biota occurred during or shortly after the Ediacaran Shuram negative C‐isotope Excursion (SE), which is often interpreted to reflect ocean oxygenation. However, there is conflicting evidence regarding ocean oxygen levels during the SE and the middle Ediacaran Period. To help resolve this debate, we examined U isotope variations (δ238U) in three carbonate sections from South China, Siberia, and USA that record the SE. The δ238U data from all three sections are in excellent agreement and reveal the largest positive shift in δ238U ever reported in the geologic record (from ~ −0.74‰ to ~ −0.26‰). Quantitative modeling of these data suggests that the global ocean switched from a largely anoxic state (26%–100% of the seafloor overlain by anoxic waters) to near‐modern levels of ocean oxygenation during the SE. This episode of ocean oxygenation is broadly coincident with the rise of the Ediacara biota. Following this initial radiation, the Ediacara biota persisted until the terminal Ediacaran period, when recently published U isotope data indicate a return to more widespread ocean anoxia. Taken together, it appears that global marine redox changes drove the rise and fall of the Ediacara biota.

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The Weng'an Biota (Doushantuo Formation): an Ediacaran window on soft-bodied and multicellular microorganisms

Cited by 56 publications

References 90 publications

Experimental precipitation of apatite pseudofossils resembling fossil embryos

Experimental precipitation of apatite pseudofossils resembling fossil embryos

Nuclei and nucleoli in embryo-like fossils from the Ediacaran Weng’an Biota

Global marine redox changes drove the rise and fall of the Ediacara biota

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