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Ordovician faunas of Burgess Shale type

Nature volume 465, pages 215–218 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

The renowned soft-bodied faunas of the Cambrian period, which include the Burgess Shale, disappear from the fossil record in the late Middle Cambrian, after which the Palaeozoic fauna1 dominates. The disappearance of faunas of Burgess Shale type curtails the stratigraphic record of a number of iconic Cambrian taxa. One possible explanation for this loss is a major extinction2,3, but more probably it reflects the absence of preservation of similar soft-bodied faunas in later periods4. Here we report the discovery of numerous diverse soft-bodied assemblages in the Lower and Upper Fezouata Formations (Lower Ordovician) of Morocco, which include a range of remarkable stem-group morphologies normally considered characteristic of the Cambrian. It is clear that biotas of Burgess Shale type persisted after the Cambrian and are preserved where suitable facies occur. The Fezouata biota provides a link between the Burgess Shale communities and the early stages of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event.

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Figure 1: Exceptionally preserved Burgess Shale-type organisms from the Early Ordovician Fezouata biota.
Figure 2: Exceptionally preserved post-Cambrian elements of the Fezouata biota.

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Acknowledgements

S. Butts (Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History), A. Prieur (Lyon 1 University), D. Berthet (Natural History Museum of Lyon), A. Médard-Blondel and S. Pichard (Natural History Museum of Marseille), G. Fleury (Natural History Museum of Toulouse), the National Museums of Scotland and the Sedgwick Museum provided access to specimens. M. Ben Said Ben Moula, W. and D. De Winter, B. MacGabhann, R. and V. Reboul-Baron, C. Upton, B. Van Bocxlaer, and D. and K. Van Damme assisted with fieldwork, and B. Tahiri arranged logistical support. E. Champion helped with the preparation of figures. J. De Grave and B. Van Bocxlaer (Ghent University) provided photographic equipment, and the Palaeontology and Petrology Research Units of Ghent University allowed use of their imaging facilities. P. and O. Van Roy-Lassaut financially aided fieldwork. This research was funded by an Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT) doctoral fellowship and by an Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) – EMPOWER postdoctoral fellowship awarded to P.V.R. Fieldwork was supported by a National Geographic Society Research and Exploration grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, PO Box 208109, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA,

    Peter Van Roy, Jakob Vinther & Derek E. G. Briggs

  2. UCD School of Geological Sciences, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland ,

    Peter Van Roy & Patrick J. Orr

  3. Leeds Museum Discovery Centre, Carlisle Road, Leeds LS10 1LB, UK ,

    Joseph P. Botting

  4. 42 Birkhouse Lane, Moldgreen, Huddersfield HD5 8BE, UK ,

    Lucy A. Muir

  5. UMR CNRS 5125 PEPS, bât. Géode, Université Lyon 1, Campus de la Doua, 2 Rue Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex, France ,

    Bertrand Lefebvre

  6. Département Sciences de la Terre, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques-Guéliz, Université Cadi Ayyad, Avenue Abdelkrim el Khattabi BP 549, 40000 Marrakech, Morocco,

    Khadija el Hariri

  7. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA ,

    Derek E. G. Briggs

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  1. Peter Van Roy
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  8. Derek E. G. Briggs
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Contributions

All authors carried out field work and contributed to the interpretation of the fossils. P.V.R., P.J.O., J.P.B. and D.E.G.B. wrote the paper with input from the other authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Peter Van Roy or Derek E. G. Briggs.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Van Roy, P., Orr, P., Botting, J. et al. Ordovician faunas of Burgess Shale type. Nature 465, 215–218 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09038

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