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Sci Rep
2021 Feb 18;111:4121. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-83452-1.
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Pentaradial eukaryote suggests expansion of suspension feeding in White Sea-aged Ediacaran communities.
Cracknell K
,
García-Bellido DC
,
Gehling JG
,
Ankor MJ
,
Darroch SAF
,
Rahman IA
.
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Suspension feeding is a key ecological strategy in modern oceans that provides a link between pelagic and benthic systems. Establishing when suspension feeding first became widespread is thus a crucial research area in ecology and evolution, with implications for understanding the origins of the modern marine biosphere. Here, we use three-dimensional modelling and computational fluid dynamics to establish the feeding mode of the enigmatic Ediacaran pentaradial eukaryote Arkarua. Through comparisons with two Cambrian echinoderms, Cambraster and Stromatocystites, we show that flow patterns around Arkarua strongly support its interpretation as a passive suspension feeder. Arkarua is added to the growing number of Ediacaran benthic suspension feeders, suggesting that the energy link between pelagic and benthic ecosystems was likely expanding in the White Sea assemblage (~ 558-550 Ma). The advent of widespread suspension feeding could therefore have played an important role in the subsequent waves of ecological innovation and escalation that culminated with the Cambrian explosion.
Figure 1. (a) Cast of Arkarua adami (SAMP P 40310) from Devil's Peak, Flinders Ranges, South Australia. (b) Cast of Arkarua adami (SAM P 26768) from the Chace Range, Flinders Ranges, South Australia. (c) Three-dimensional digital model of Arkarua morphotype 1. (d) Three-dimensional digital model of Arkarua morphotype 2. (e) Three-dimensional digital model of Cambraster. (f) Three-dimensional digital model of Stromatocystites. Scale bars = 2 mm.
Figure 2. Two-dimensional surface plots (horizontal and vertical cross-sections) of velocity magnitude with flow vectors (size of arrows proportional to natural logarithm of flow velocity magnitude) at four different inlet velocities (0.05–0.20 m/s). (a) Arkarua morphotype 1. (b) Arkarua morphotype 2. (c) Cambraster. (d) Stromatocystites. Direction of ambient flow from left to right.
Figure 3. Three-dimensional isosurface plots of negative values of velocity component u (parallel to the x-axis) at three different inlet velocities (0.05–0.20 m/s). (a) Arkarua morphotype 1. (b) Arkarua morphotype 2. (c) Cambraster. (d) Stromatocystites. Direction of ambient flow from top left to bottom right.
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