Is the fossil record of complex animal behaviour a stratigraphical analogue for the Anthropocene?

Williams, M.; Zalasiewicz, J.A.; Waters, C.N.; Landing, E.. 2014 Is the fossil record of complex animal behaviour a stratigraphical analogue for the Anthropocene? In: Waters, C.N.; Zalasiewicz, J.A.; Williams, M.; Ellis, M.; Snelling, A.M., (eds.) A stratigraphical basis for the Anthropocene. London, UK, Geological Society of London, 143-148. (Geological Society Special Publication, 395, 395).

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1144/SP395.8

Abstract/Summary

The base of the Cambrian System is recognized by a characteristic (marine) trace fossil suite assigned to the Treptichnus pedum Biozone, which signals increasing complexity of animal behaviour and demarcates the Cambrian from the (older) Ediacaran System (Proterozoic Eonathem). Ichnotaxa of the T. pedum Biozone are not the earliest trace fossils, and are preceded in the latest Proterozoic by a progressive increase in the diversity of trace-producing organisms and the communities they comprised, the structural and behavioural complexity of the trace fossils, and even the depth of burrowing in sediments. Parallels can be drawn with the increasing complexity of subsurface structures associated with human cities, which also reflect evolution of an increasingly complex community. Before the nineteenth century, these structures were limited and simple, but beginning with the development of London in the mid-nineteenth century as the world's first megacity, subsurface structures have become increasingly complex, reflecting the technology-driven behaviour of twentieth- and twenty-first-century humans.

Item Type:	Publication - Book Section
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1144/SP395.8
ISSN:	0305-8719
Additional Keywords:	Cambrian, Anthropocene, trace fossils, animal behaviour
NORA Subject Terms:	Earth Sciences
Date made live:	15 Apr 2014 13:19 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/506921

Item Type:

Publication - Book Section

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1144/SP395.8

ISSN:

0305-8719

Additional Keywords:

Cambrian, Anthropocene, trace fossils, animal behaviour

NORA Subject Terms:

Earth Sciences

Date made live:

15 Apr 2014 13:19 +0 (UTC)