Highly resolved taphonomic variations within the Early Ordovician Fezouata Biota.
Sci Rep
; 14(1): 20807, 2024 Sep 06.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39242693
ABSTRACT
The Fezouata Biota (Morocco) is a Burgess Shale-type (BST) assemblage that provides a wealth of information on Early Ordovician ecosystems. Much work has been done to compare the preservation of the Fezouata Biota to other BSTs. However, studies investigating preservation variations within the Fezouata Biota are rare. Here, we use probabilities to investigate the preservation of various ecological categories of Fezouata eumetazoans. Complex taphonomic processes and phylum-specific constraints have led to the better preservation of predators/scavengers in this biota. However, no differences in preservation are observed between vagile and sessile taxa. Importantly, Tremadocian taxa are better preserved than Floian ones. As such, this study highlights the gradual closure of the BST window of preservation in the Zagora region of Morocco and constitutes a benchmark for future palaeoecological and evolutionary studies on the Fezouata Biota.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Biota
Limits:
Animals
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
En
Journal:
Sci Rep
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Switzerland
Country of publication:
United kingdom