Ediacaran survivors in the Cambrian: suspicions, denials and a smoking gun

The relative timing of extinctions and originations is a foundation for reconstructing evolutionary causes. However, there has been a tendency to dismiss reported Ediacaran holdovers in favour of effective extinction around the Cambrian boundary. Here, focusing on the classically Ediacaran frondose biota (Petalonamae), I suggest four main reasons why proposed Ediacaran survivors have previously been denied the acceptance they deserve: denials based on mistaken identity, doppelgangers, a last gasp or dead clades walking. I then point to the lower Cambrian species Stromatoveris psygmoglena as a key example which simultaneously meets these objections. Collectively, Cambrian survivors are a 'smoking gun' showing that extinction of the classically Ediacaran frondose biota did not occur until at least 30 Ma after the end of the Ediacaran period, registered by phylogenetic petalonamid Thaumaptilon from the Burgess Shale. Therefore, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of their earlier demise have been greatly exaggerated. Causes of their ultimate extinction should instead be sought in their total range and diversity dynamics. Overall, the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition shows extremely low numbers of recorded survivors, but diversity dynamics are dominated by the Cambrian explosion. In this context, recorded occurrences for the classically Ediacaran frondose biota are compatible with at least two extinction events, one within a possible mass extinction near the Cambrian boundary, and later, their ultimate extinction in, or after, the middle Cambrian (Miaolingian Series, Wuliuan Stage). There is, however, no correlative basis for a causal link between the Cambrian transition and the effective or final demise of the classically Ediacaran soft-bodied biota.

Automated summary

The timing of extinctions and originations plays a crucial role in understanding evolution. In this study, the author argues that previous reports of Ediacaran survivors have been dismissed due to mistaken identity, similarities to other organisms, or assumptions about their extinction. By using the example of the lower Cambrian species Stromatoveris psygmoglena, the author demonstrates that extinction of the Ediacaran frondose biota did not occur until at least 30 million years after the end of the Ediacaran period. The study concludes that the classically Ediacaran frondose biota experienced multiple extinction events, but there is no direct evidence linking their extinction to the Cambrian transition.