| Title |
Suspension feeding in the enigmatic Ediacaran organism Tribrachidium demonstrates complexity of Neoproterozoic ecosystems
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Science Advances, November 2015
|
| DOI | 10.1126/sciadv.1500800 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Imran A. Rahman, Simon A. F. Darroch, Rachel A. Racicot, Marc Laflamme |
| Abstract |
The first diverse and morphologically complex macroscopic communities appear in the late Ediacaran period, 575 to 541 million years ago (Ma). The enigmatic organisms that make up these communities are thought to have formed simple ecosystems characterized by a narrow range of feeding modes, with most restricted to the passive absorption of organic particles (osmotrophy). We test between competing feeding models for the iconic Ediacaran organism Tribrachidium heraldicum using computational fluid dynamics. We show that the external morphology of Tribrachidium passively directs water flow toward the apex of the organism and generates low-velocity eddies above apical "pits." These patterns of fluid flow are inconsistent with osmotrophy and instead support the interpretation of Tribrachidium as a passive suspension feeder. This finding provides the oldest empirical evidence for suspension feeding at 555 to 550 Ma, ~10 million years before the Cambrian explosion, and demonstrates that Ediacaran organisms formed more complex ecosystems in the latest Precambrian, involving a larger number of ecological guilds, than currently appreciated. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 67 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 8 | 12% |
| United Kingdom | 5 | 7% |
| Japan | 5 | 7% |
| Argentina | 2 | 3% |
| Mexico | 1 | 1% |
| Canada | 1 | 1% |
| India | 1 | 1% |
| Australia | 1 | 1% |
| Indonesia | 1 | 1% |
| Other | 4 | 6% |
| Unknown | 38 | 57% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 54 | 81% |
| Scientists | 12 | 18% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 59 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 1 | 2% |
| Germany | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 57 | 97% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 12 | 20% |
| Researcher | 12 | 20% |
| Student > Bachelor | 4 | 7% |
| Professor > Associate Professor | 4 | 7% |
| Student > Master | 4 | 7% |
| Other | 8 | 14% |
| Unknown | 15 | 25% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 20 | 34% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 9 | 15% |
| Environmental Science | 4 | 7% |
| Engineering | 4 | 7% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 2 | 3% |
| Other | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 19 | 32% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 471. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 December 2022.
All research outputs
#58,063
of 25,959,914 outputs
Outputs from Science Advances
#706
of 12,449 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#736
of 399,981 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Science Advances
#11
of 84 outputs
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