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Peer-reviewedCC BYScience Advances

Metazoan diversification characterized by elevated rates of evolution during the middle Ediacaran to earliest Cambrian

  • Zhiqing Guo1
  • Thomas J. Roper-Smith1,2
  • James W. Clark3
  • Jordi Paps1
  • Ruolin Wu1
  • Davide Pisani1
  • Philip C. J. Donoghue1
  1. 1Bristol Palaeobiology Group, Schools of Earth and Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK.
  2. 2Oxford University Museum of Natural History, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK.
  3. 3Centre for Evolution, Department of Life Sciences, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
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Abstract

To test causal hypotheses for the emergence of animal body plans, we analyze rates of molecular and phenotypic evolution across Opisthokonta, focusing on divergences within the Tonian-Ordovician interval. Both molecular and phenotypic rates increase through the Ediacaran, peaking in an Ediacaran and earliest Cambrian interval before declining thereafter. Partitioning phenotypic characters into categories relating to development, feeding, fossilization potential, locomotion, and nervous systems reveals distinct temporal patterns, with developmental traits contributing disproportionately to elevated rates in the metazoan stem lineage. Rate patterns show a temporal lag between the ecological changes integral to hypotheses of developmental evolution and the Cambrian agronomic, substrate, and information revolutions and earlier peaks in the evolution of the associated phenotypic characters. These patterns are largely independent of the timescale used. Overall, our results indicate that the primary phase of elevated evolutionary novelty occurred during the Ediacaran and culminated in the late Ediacaran-earliest Cambrian, providing the foundation for later ecological and taxonomic innovation.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{guo2026metazoan,
  title = {{Metazoan diversification characterized by elevated rates of evolution during the middle Ediacaran to earliest Cambrian}},
  author = {Zhiqing Guo and Thomas J. Roper-Smith and James W. Clark and Jordi Paps and Ruolin Wu and Davide Pisani and Philip C. J. Donoghue},
  journal = {Science Advances},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aeh7099},
  url = {https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/sciadv.aeh7099},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Metazoan diversification characterized by elevated rates of evolution during the middle Ediacaran to earliest Cambrian
AU  - Zhiqing Guo
AU  - Thomas J. Roper-Smith
AU  - James W. Clark
AU  - Jordi Paps
AU  - Ruolin Wu
AU  - Davide Pisani
AU  - Philip C. J. Donoghue
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/30
JO  - Science Advances
DO  - 10.1126/sciadv.aeh7099
UR  - https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/sciadv.aeh7099
AB  - To test causal hypotheses for the emergence of animal body plans, we analyze rates of molecular and phenotypic evolution across Opisthokonta, focusing on divergences within the Tonian-Ordovician interval. Both molecular and phenotypic rates increase through the Ediacaran, peaking in an Ediacaran and earliest Cambrian interval before declining thereafter. Partitioning phenotypic characters into categories relating to development, feeding, fossilization potential, locomotion, and nervous systems reveals distinct temporal patterns, with developmental traits contributing disproportionately to elevated rates in the metazoan stem lineage. Rate patterns show a temporal lag between the ecological changes integral to hypotheses of developmental evolution and the Cambrian agronomic, substrate, and information revolutions and earlier peaks in the evolution of the associated phenotypic characters. These patterns are largely independent of the timescale used. Overall, our results indicate that the primary phase of elevated evolutionary novelty occurred during the Ediacaran and culminated in the late Ediacaran-earliest Cambrian, providing the foundation for later ecological and taxonomic innovation.
SN  - 2375-2548
ER  -