Macroscopic organisms from the late Ediacaran period have often been described as failed experiments in the history of life. We argue that the field of Ediacaran palaeobiology should dispense with unhelpful historical classification schemes and embrace phylogenetic systematics if we are to establish the evolutionary relevance of these fossils.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to Nature+
Get immediate online access to Nature and 55 other Nature journal
$29.99
monthly
Subscribe to Journal
Get full journal access for 1 year
$119.00
only $9.92 per issue
All prices are NET prices.
VAT will be added later in the checkout.
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.
Buy article
Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.
$32.00
All prices are NET prices.
D. Grazhdankin (a), M. Laflamme (d) and J. Vinther (e).
References
Shen, B., Dong, L., Xiao, S. & Kowalewski, M. Science 319, 81–84 (2008).
Ford, T. D. Proc. Yorkshire Geol. Soc. 31, 211–217 (1958).
Glaessner, M. F. & Wade, M. Palaeontology 9, 599–628 (1966).
Wade, M. F. Mem. Queensland Mus. 16, 171–190 (1972).
Pflug, H. D. Paläontol. Z. 46, 56–67 (1972).
Pflug, H. D. Palaeontogr. A 139, 166–202 (1973).
Hoyal Cuthill, J. F. & Han, J. Palaeontology 61, 813–823 (2018).
Fedonkin, M. A. Phil. Trans. R Soc. Lond. B 311, 27–45 (1985).
Fedonkin, M. A. Itogi Nauk. Tekh. Ser. Stratigr. Paleontol. 12, 1–127 (1983).
Edgecombe, G. D. Evol. Educ. Outreach 2, 178–190 (2009).
Seilacher, A. Lethaia 22, 229–239 (1989).
Seilacher, A. J. Geol. Soc. 149, 607–613 (1992).
Buss, L. W. & Seilacher, A. Paleobiology 20, 1–4 (1994).
Seilacher, A., Grazhdankin, D. & Legouta, A. Paleontol. Res. 7, 43–54 (2003).
Seilacher, A. Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Publ. 286, 387–397 (2007).
Runnegar, B. N. Jb. Geol. Paläont. Abh. 195, 303–318 (1995).
Xiao, S. & Laflamme, M. Trends Ecol. Evol. 24, 31–40 (2018).
Erwin, D. H. et al. Science 334, 1091–1097 (2011).
Ivantsov, A.Y. & Malakhovskaya, Y. E. Dokl. Earth Sci. 385A, 618–622 (2002).
Gold, D. A., Runnegar, B., Gehling, J. G. & Jacobs, D. K. Evol. Dev. 17, 315–324 (2015).
Hoekzema, R. S., Brasier, M. D., Dunn, F. S. & Liu, A. G. Proc. R. Soc. B 284, 20171348 (2017).
Bobrovskiy, I. et al. Science 361, 1246–1249 (2018).
Kolesnikov, A. V. et al. Precambrian Res. 316, 24–37 (2018).
Bobrovskiy, I., Hope, J. M., Krasnova, A., Ivantsov, A. & Brocks, J. J. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 2, 437–440 (2018).
Bamforth, E. L. & Narbonne, G. M. J. Paleontol. 83, 897–913 (2009).
Gould, S. J. Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History (WW Norton, New York, London, 1989).
Brysse, K. Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. C 39, 298–313 (2008).
Chipman, A. D. Bioessays 32, 60–70 (2010).
Grazhdankin, D. J. Paleontol. 88, 269–283 (2014).
Tarhan, L. G., Droser, M. L., Cole, D. B. & Gehling, J. G. Integr. Comp. Biol. 58, 688–702 (2018).
Mitchell, E. G. & Butterfield, N. J. Paleobiology 44, 40–57 (2018).
Darroch, S. A., Laflamme, M. & Wagner, P. J. High ecological complexity in benthic Ediacaran communities. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 2, 1541–1547 (2018).
Ivantsov, A. Y. Paleontol. J. 41, 113–122 (2007).
Williams, T. A., Foster, P. G., Cox, C. J. & Embley, T. M. Nature 504, 231–236 (2013).
Baldauf, S. L. & Palmer, J. D. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 90, 11558–11562 (1993).
Acknowledgements
The authors thank D. Grazhdankin and P. Donoghue for constructive discussion.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dunn, F.S., Liu, A.G. Viewing the Ediacaran biota as a failed experiment is unhelpful. Nat Ecol Evol 3, 512–514 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0815-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0815-4
