TY - JOUR

T1 - Doushantuo-pertatataka-type acanthomorphs and ediacaran ecosystem stability

AU - Grazhdankin, Dmitriy

AU - Nagovitsin, Konstantin

AU - Golubkova, Elena

AU - Karlova, Galina

AU - Kochnev, Boris

AU - Rogov, Vladimir

AU - Marusin, Vasiliy

PY - 2020/7/1

Y1 - 2020/7/1

N2 - Large (100 to ~700 μm diameter) spheroidal carbonaceous microfossils ornamented with regularly arranged spinose or branched processes are globally distributed in the Ediacaran (635-542 Ma). These microfossils, collectively known as the Doushantuo-Pertatataka-type acanthomorphs, have been variously interpreted as a polyphyletic assortment of resting stages of eukaryotes, including animals. The stratigraphic range of the acanthomorphs has long been thought to be restricted to the interval between the uppermost Cryogenian glacial deposits and the largest-known carbon isotope excursion in Earth's history, the Shuram event. The mid-Ediacaran disappearance of the acanthomorphs was puzzling until they were discovered in younger strata in south China, in northwestern Russia, and in Mongolia. Here, we report Doushantuo-Pertatataka-type acanthomorphs coeval with Cambrian-type small skeletal fossils. It appears that neither the Shuram event nor the emergence of macroorganisms, eumetazoans, and biologically controlled mineralization significantly affected the acanthomorphs, suggesting a marked stability of Ediacaran ecosystems up to the very beginning of the Cambrian.

AB - Large (100 to ~700 μm diameter) spheroidal carbonaceous microfossils ornamented with regularly arranged spinose or branched processes are globally distributed in the Ediacaran (635-542 Ma). These microfossils, collectively known as the Doushantuo-Pertatataka-type acanthomorphs, have been variously interpreted as a polyphyletic assortment of resting stages of eukaryotes, including animals. The stratigraphic range of the acanthomorphs has long been thought to be restricted to the interval between the uppermost Cryogenian glacial deposits and the largest-known carbon isotope excursion in Earth's history, the Shuram event. The mid-Ediacaran disappearance of the acanthomorphs was puzzling until they were discovered in younger strata in south China, in northwestern Russia, and in Mongolia. Here, we report Doushantuo-Pertatataka-type acanthomorphs coeval with Cambrian-type small skeletal fossils. It appears that neither the Shuram event nor the emergence of macroorganisms, eumetazoans, and biologically controlled mineralization significantly affected the acanthomorphs, suggesting a marked stability of Ediacaran ecosystems up to the very beginning of the Cambrian.

KW - MICROFOSSILS

KW - UPLIFT

KW - ACRITARCHS

KW - OXIDATION

KW - EXCURSION

KW - SECTION

KW - SHURAM

KW - SLOPE

KW - PART

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089230195&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1130/G47467.1

DO - 10.1130/G47467.1

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85089230195

VL - 48

SP - 708

EP - 712

JO - Geology

JF - Geology

SN - 0091-7613

IS - 7

ER -