Cambrian Substrate Revolution - The Early Cambrian Diversification of Burrow Forms

The Early Cambrian Diversification of Burrow Forms

From the very start of the Cambrian period (about 542 million years ago) many new types of traces first appear, including well-known vertical burrows such as Diplocraterion and Skolithos, and traces normally attributed to arthropods, such as Cruziana and Rusophycus. The vertical burrows indicate that worm-like animals acquired new behaviours, and possibly new physical capabilities. Some Cambrian trace fossils indicate that their makers possessed hard (although not necessarily mineralised) exoskeletons.

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