Phylum Porifera

El-Bawab, Fatma

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-814114-4.00004-7

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 30 publications

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“…This information is used to assess how the probability of passive pelagic propagule settlement changes along the x-axis in each simulation. DPM simulations were replicated for the range of the frond heights (1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 cm) and velocities (1, 5, 10 and 15 cm s −1 ) used in the CFD simulations, as well as for a range of particle sizes (50 μm, 200 μm, 500 μm, 1 mm and 5 mm), encompassing the range of sizes of extant parenchymella (demosponge) and planula (cnidarian) larvae [64,65].…”

Section: Discrete Phase Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Conga lines’ of Ediacaran fronds: insights into the reproductive biology of early metazoans

Delahooke,

Liu,

Stephenson

et al. 2024

R. Soc. Open Sci.

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Late Ediacaran strata from Newfoundland, Canada (~574–560 Ma) document near-census palaeocommunities of some of the earliest metazoans. Such preservation enables reproductive strategies to be inferred from the spatial distribution of populations of fossilized benthic organisms, previously revealing the existence of both propagule and stoloniferous reproductive modes among Ediacaran frondose taxa. Here, we describe ‘conga lines’: linear arrangements of more than three closely spaced fossil specimens. We calculate probabilistic models of point maps of 13 fossil-bearing bedding surfaces and show that four surfaces contain conga lines that are not the result of chance alignments. We then test whether these features could result from passive pelagic propagules settling in the lee of an existing frond, using computational fluid dynamics and discrete phase modelling. Under Ediacaran palaeoenvironmental conditions, preferential leeside settlement at the spatial scale of the conga lines is unlikely. We therefore conclude that these features are novel and do not reflect previously described reproductive strategies employed by Ediacaran organisms, suggesting the use of mixed reproductive strategies in the earliest animals. Such strategies enabled Ediacaran frondose taxa to act as reproductive generalists and may be an important facet of early metazoan evolution.

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Section: Discrete Phase Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%