Early Neoproterozoic origin of the metazoan clade recorded in carbonate rock texture

Abstract

Research Article| May 01, 2009 Early Neoproterozoic origin of the metazoan clade recorded in carbonate rock texture Fritz Neuweiler; Fritz Neuweiler 11Département de Géologie et Génie géologique, Université Laval, 1065 Avenue de la Médecine, Québec, Quebec G1V 0A6, Canada Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Elizabeth C. Turner; Elizabeth C. Turner 22Department of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 2C6, Canada Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar David J. Burdige David J. Burdige 33Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (2009) 37 (5): 475–478. https://doi.org/10.1130/G25621A.1 Article history received: 22 Oct 2008 rev-recd: 22 Dec 2008 accepted: 15 Jan 2009 first online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share MailTo Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Fritz Neuweiler, Elizabeth C. Turner, David J. Burdige; Early Neoproterozoic origin of the metazoan clade recorded in carbonate rock texture. Geology 2009;; 37 (5): 475–478. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G25621A.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Early Neoproterozoic reefs (older than 779, younger than 1083 Ma) contain a carbonate rock texture, already familiar from sponge-rich Phanerozoic limestones, characterized by authigenic Ca carbonate and irregular, secondary voids containing internal sediment (poly-mud fabric). In Holocene sediment, this texture develops by calcification of degrading extra-cellular collagenous matrix (ECM) of siliceous sponges. ECM calcification of siliceous sponges is evident throughout the Phanerozoic, and the related polymud fabric is a diagnostic petrographic feature of Phanerozoic sponge-rich carbonate mudmounds. The authigenic Ca carbonate of polymuds is interpreted to result from connective tissue calcification just beneath the seafloor, that, in a kind of taphonomic race, takes place at the same time as tissue oxidation and associated void formation. It is intriguing that ECM is a fundamental character of the metazoan clade, and so the presence in Early Neoproterozoic rocks of a texture directly associated with it implies the existence of metazoan-grade organisms at that time. This observation pushes back the earliest geological evidence for animals by about 200 m.y. The timing corroborates results of an integrated phylochronology and supports the concept of a biosphere that persisted through the snowball Earth interval. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.