Environmental flexibility across dynamic Cambrian ecosystems fueled trilobite success
Abstract
Trilobites, Paleozoic arthropods, have been viewed as marine animals. Using multiproxy geochemical analyses, we suggest that Cambrian Series 2 to early Miaolingian strata in Morocco, preserving three-dimensional trilobites, record deposition within a river- and wave-influenced delta with variable salinity and episodic freshwater influence, including brackish conditions. These populations persisted through environmental transitions, spanning cool, oxic, low-salinity arid conditions with periodic freshwater input during Cambrian Stage 3-4 to warmer, more humid, increasingly saline, and anoxic settings at the transition to Wuliuan. This transition coincides with an increase in trilobite body-size and the emergence of more stable, deeper, and marine salinity environments that could have contributed to enhanced biomineralization, ecological specialization, and habitat broadening. Smaller-bodied Stage 3–4 trilobites appear adapted to dynamic shelves, whereas larger-bodied Wuliuan forms exploited increasingly stable conditions that may have favored size enlargement and exoskeletal thickening. These patterns suggest a potential link between environmental conditions and body-size distribution, with possible implications for ecological structuring across Cambrian ecosystems.
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BibTeX
@article{chraiki2026environmental,
title = {{Environmental flexibility across dynamic Cambrian ecosystems fueled trilobite success}},
author = {Ibtissam Chraiki and Ernest Chi Fru and El Hafid Bouougri and M. Gabriela Mángano and Luis A. Buatois and Claude Fontaine and Anna El Khoury and Arnaud Mazurier and Loubna Terhzaz and Lalla Amina Ouzzaouit and Larbi Boudad and Beatriz G. Waisfeld and Abderrazak El Albani},
journal = {Communications Earth \& Environment},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1038/s43247-026-04205-4},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-026-04205-4},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Environmental flexibility across dynamic Cambrian ecosystems fueled trilobite success
AU - Ibtissam Chraiki
AU - Ernest Chi Fru
AU - El Hafid Bouougri
AU - M. Gabriela Mángano
AU - Luis A. Buatois
AU - Claude Fontaine
AU - Anna El Khoury
AU - Arnaud Mazurier
AU - Loubna Terhzaz
AU - Lalla Amina Ouzzaouit
AU - Larbi Boudad
AU - Beatriz G. Waisfeld
AU - Abderrazak El Albani
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/02
JO - Communications Earth & Environment
DO - 10.1038/s43247-026-04205-4
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-026-04205-4
AB - Trilobites, Paleozoic arthropods, have been viewed as marine animals. Using multiproxy geochemical analyses, we suggest that Cambrian Series 2 to early Miaolingian strata in Morocco, preserving three-dimensional trilobites, record deposition within a river- and wave-influenced delta with variable salinity and episodic freshwater influence, including brackish conditions. These populations persisted through environmental transitions, spanning cool, oxic, low-salinity arid conditions with periodic freshwater input during Cambrian Stage 3-4 to warmer, more humid, increasingly saline, and anoxic settings at the transition to Wuliuan. This transition coincides with an increase in trilobite body-size and the emergence of more stable, deeper, and marine salinity environments that could have contributed to enhanced biomineralization, ecological specialization, and habitat broadening. Smaller-bodied Stage 3–4 trilobites appear adapted to dynamic shelves, whereas larger-bodied Wuliuan forms exploited increasingly stable conditions that may have favored size enlargement and exoskeletal thickening. These patterns suggest a potential link between environmental conditions and body-size distribution, with possible implications for ecological structuring across Cambrian ecosystems.
SN - 2662-4435
ER -