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SUMMARY:Illuminating the origins of complex life: Spatial analysis of Edia
 caran ecosystems  - Dr Emily Mitchell (Department of Earth Sciences\, Univ
 ersity of Cambridge)
DTSTART:20180212T173000Z
DTEND:20180212T183000Z
UID:TALK101107@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Charlie Eardley
DESCRIPTION:Ediacaran macro-organisms occupy a crucial position in the his
 tory of life on Earth\, marking the transition between the microbially dom
 inated Proterozoic and the Cambrian explosion of modern animals.   The old
 est Ediacaran macro-organisms exhibit unique morphologies\, making it diff
 icult to resolve their phylogenetic relationships or their basic ecology. 
  However\, the sessile nature of these Ediacaran macro-organisms\, coupled
  with their in-situ preservation\, means that their spatial positions refl
 ect the biological and ecological processes that they were subject to in-l
 ife.  As a result\, detailed spatial analyses moves beyond descriptive sta
 tistics\, enabling verifiable predictions to be made and ecological hypoth
 eses to be tested.  \n\nUsing a high-resolution tripod-mounted Laser Line 
 Probe\, we have comprehensively mapped 18 of the most diverse and abundant
  Ediacaran communities across Newfoundland\, Canada and Charnwood Forest\,
  UK\, to a resolution of ~40 µm.  By analysing the relationship of specim
 en height with spatial distributions\, we found that competition for water
 -column resources did not structure these ecosystems\, with the key advant
 age of large body-size limited to greater dispersal\, contrary to previous
  suggestions. Furthermore\, stemmed organisms do not exhibit any tiering\,
  in contrast to non-stemmed organisms\, illustrating that this morphologic
 al differentiation was also not driven by resource competition but by repr
 oductive concerns.  \n
LOCATION: Harker 1\, Department of Earth Sciences\, Downing Street
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