A new approach for investigating spatial relationships of ichnofossils: a case study of Ediacaran-Cambrian animal traces

doi:10.1017/pab.2022.16

	A new approach for investigating spatial relationships of ichnofossils: a case study of Ediacaran-Cambrian animal traces
	Mitchell, Emily G.4; Evans, Scott D.3; Chen, Zhe 1,2; Xiao, Shuhai 3
刊名	PALEOBIOLOGY
	2022-05-19
页码	19
ISSN号	0094-8373
DOI	10.1017/pab.2022.16
通讯作者	Mitchell, Emily G.(ek338@cam.ac.uk)
英文摘要	Trace fossils record foraging behaviors, the search for resources in patchy environments, of animals in the rock record. Quantification of the strength, density, and nature of foraging behaviors enables the investigation of how these may have changed through time. Here, we present a novel approach to explore such patterns using spatial point process analyses to quantify the scale and strength of ichnofossil spatial distributions on horizontal bedding planes. To demonstrate the utility of this approach, we use two samples from the terminal Ediacaran Shibantan Member in South China (between 551 and 543 Ma) and the early Cambrian Nagaur Sandstone in northwestern India (between 539 and 509 Ma). We find that ichnotaxa on both surfaces exhibited significant nonhomogeneous lateral patterns, with distinct levels of heterogeneity exhibited by different types of trace fossils. In the Shibantan, two ichnotaxa show evidence for mutual positive aggregation over a shared resource, suggesting the ability to focus on optimal resource areas. Trace fossils from the Nagaur Sandstone exhibit more sophisticated foraging behavior, with greater niche differentiation. Critically, mark correlation functions highlight significant spatial autocorrelation of trace fossil orientations, demonstrating the greater ability of these Cambrian tracemakers to focus on optimal patches. Despite potential limitations, these analyses hint at changes in the development and optimization of foraging at the Ediacaran/Cambrian transition and highlight the potential of spatial point process analysis to tease apart subtle differences in behavior in the trace fossil record.
资助项目	UKRI grant[NE/S014756/1] ; Agouron Institute Geobiology fellowship ; National Science Foundation[EAR-2021207] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China[41921002]
WOS关键词	FLIGHT SEARCH PATTERNS ; YANGTZE GORGES AREA ; MICROBIAL MATS ; LEVY FLIGHT ; FORAGING PATTERNS ; HERITAGE SITE ; FOSSIL ; HETEROGENEITY ; INFORMATION ; INSIGHTS
WOS研究方向	Biodiversity & Conservation ; Environmental Sciences & Ecology ; Evolutionary Biology ; Paleontology
语种	英语
出版者	CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
WOS记录号	WOS:000797718400001
资助机构	UKRI grant ; Agouron Institute Geobiology fellowship ; National Science Foundation ; National Natural Science Foundation of China
内容类型	期刊论文
源URL	[http://ir.nigpas.ac.cn/handle/332004/40825]
专题	中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所
通讯作者	Mitchell, Emily G.
作者单位	1.Chinese Acad Sci, Ctr Excellence Life & Paleoenvironm, Nanjing 210008, Peoples R China 2.Chinese Acad Sci, Nanjing Inst Geol & Palaeontol, State Key Lab Palaeobiol & Stratig, Nanjing 210008, Peoples R China 3.Virginia Tech, Dept Geosci, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA 4.Univ Cambridge, Dept Zool, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, England
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Mitchell, Emily G.,Evans, Scott D.,Chen, Zhe,et al. A new approach for investigating spatial relationships of ichnofossils: a case study of Ediacaran-Cambrian animal traces[J]. PALEOBIOLOGY,2022:19.
APA	Mitchell, Emily G.,Evans, Scott D.,Chen, Zhe,&Xiao, Shuhai.(2022).A new approach for investigating spatial relationships of ichnofossils: a case study of Ediacaran-Cambrian animal traces.PALEOBIOLOGY,19.
MLA	Mitchell, Emily G.,et al."A new approach for investigating spatial relationships of ichnofossils: a case study of Ediacaran-Cambrian animal traces".PALEOBIOLOGY (2022):19.