4 research outputs found
The Fezouata fossils of Morocco; an extraordinary record of marine life in the Early Ordovician
<p>The discovery of the Fezouata biota in the latest Tremadocian of southeastern Morocco has significantly changed our understanding
of the early Phanerozoic radiation. The shelly fossil record shows a well-recognized pattern of macroevolutionary stasis between
the Cambrian Explosion and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, but the rich soft-bodied Fezouata biota paints a
different evolutionary picture. The Fezouata assemblage includes a considerable component of Cambrian holdovers alongside
a surprising number of crown group taxa previously unknown to have evolved by the Early Ordovician. Study of the Fezouata
biota is in its early stages, and future discoveries will continue to enrich our view of the dynamics of the early Phanerozoic
radiation and of the nature of the fossil record.
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Supplementary data file: generic presence/absence matrix. The Weeks Formation Konservat–Lagerstätte and the evolutionary transition of Cambrian marine life
Generic presence/absence data matrix used for the similarity analyses of the Cambrian exceptionally-preserved faunas of Utah
Supplementary tables. The Weeks Formation Konservat–Lagerstätte and the evolutionary transition of Cambrian marine life
Supplementary tables: compositions of the lower and upper Weeks faunas, structure of the upper Weeks fauna, and results of the similarity analyses