A paleoecological trophic network model of the Early Ordovician Lower Fezouata Shale (Morocco) fossil fauna
Abstract
The fauna of the Fezouata Shale, an Early Ordovician fossil Lagersta ¨tte from Morocco, is transitional between the Cambrian and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE). We compiled a comprehensive taxa list for the Lower Fezouata Shale and developed its empirical trophic network. We compared it to four modern marine networks and a modeling by the niche model, known for accurately representing modern trophic networks. The Fezouata network, compared with modern ones, had higher proportions of top, herbivore, and basal taxa, indicating a community defined by the coexistance of top predators typical of both the Cambrian and the Ordovician and the dominance of low-trophic-level taxa such as filter-feeders, whose expansion characterized the GOBE. These diversifying taxa were also mostly generalists. The Lower Fezouata trophic network did not significantly differ from its niche model prediction, suggesting that most elements of modern trophic network structure had already appeared by the Early Ordovician.
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BibTeX
@article{soucy2026paleoecological,
title = {{A paleoecological trophic network model of the Early Ordovician Lower Fezouata Shale (Morocco) fossil fauna}},
author = {Corinne P Soucy and Francis Banville and Emily Beasley and Bertrand Lefebvre and Juan Carlos Gutiérrez-Marco and Timothée Poisot and Christopher B Cameron},
journal = {iScience},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2026.116819},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05768148v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A paleoecological trophic network model of the Early Ordovician Lower Fezouata Shale (Morocco) fossil fauna
AU - Corinne P Soucy
AU - Francis Banville
AU - Emily Beasley
AU - Bertrand Lefebvre
AU - Juan Carlos Gutiérrez-Marco
AU - Timothée Poisot
AU - Christopher B Cameron
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/21
JO - iScience
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2026.116819
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05768148v1
AB - The fauna of the Fezouata Shale, an Early Ordovician fossil Lagersta ¨tte from Morocco, is transitional between the Cambrian and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE). We compiled a comprehensive taxa list for the Lower Fezouata Shale and developed its empirical trophic network. We compared it to four modern marine networks and a modeling by the niche model, known for accurately representing modern trophic networks. The Fezouata network, compared with modern ones, had higher proportions of top, herbivore, and basal taxa, indicating a community defined by the coexistance of top predators typical of both the Cambrian and the Ordovician and the dominance of low-trophic-level taxa such as filter-feeders, whose expansion characterized the GOBE. These diversifying taxa were also mostly generalists. The Lower Fezouata trophic network did not significantly differ from its niche model prediction, suggesting that most elements of modern trophic network structure had already appeared by the Early Ordovician.
SN - 2589-0042
ER -