Edited by
L.E. Babcock, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA
Description
The Neoproterozoic-Cambrian transition was a time of fundamental change in the biosphere. Between about 570 and 510 million years ago,
marine organisms underwent considerable evolutionary innovation during a time of shifting ecological setting. This dramatic activity
culminated in the first stratigraphic appearances of many recognizable groups of animals, an "event" often referred to as the "Cambrian
explosion". In addition, there was a major change from a microbial mat-dominated sediment-water interface to a more extensively burrowed
interface in shallow-marine settings. The early fossil record is a function not only of the rise or ecological diversification of marine
organisms, but also the development of taphonomic and sedimentary conditions suitable for the preservation of mineralizing and nonmineralizing
organisms.
This book is devoted to an exploration of some of the emerging concepts and techniques used to develop greater insight
into the early record of biologic diversification and the preservational record of that diversification during the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian
transition.
Audience:
Researchers in palaeobiology, palaeoclimatology and precambrain geology
