Chloe Arwood, Ryan Jun and Yue Wen Oxygenation and Evolution Chloe Arwood, Ryan Jun and Yue Wen
Introduction Early evolution is closely linked to Earth's oxygenation Fossil records reveal important events in evolutionary history Concentrations of certain elements in sedimentary rock are indicative of oxygenation levels The featured study uses this method with the element Mo (Dahl et al. 2010) Ediacaran(630-542 Ma) 1st clearly multicellular life forms Cambrian(542-488.3 Ma) “Cambrian Explosion” Devonian(416-359.2 Ma) Deversification of vascular plants
Data δ98Mo levels were highest during two episodes (highlighted in blue and green on the graph) ~550 Ma: levels rose from 1.1‰ to 1.6‰ ~430-390 Ma: rose to 2.0‰
Discussion The episodes of highest Mo values correlate with time periods associated with significant evolution The first episode corresponds with the “Cambrian Explosion” which introduced bilaterian animals The second episode corresponds with the Devonian period, which produced diversification of vascular plants and large predatory fish
Conclusion “Increased Oxygenation is correlated with events of significant evolution.”
Literature Cited Dahla, Tais W. "Devonian Rise in Atmospheric Oxygen Correlated to the." N.p., 17 Aug. 2010. Web. Freeman, Scott, and Healy Hamilton. “27.” Biological Science. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. 482. Knoll, Andrew, Karl Niklas, Patricia Gensel, and Bruce Tiffney. 1984. Paleobiology, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Winter 1984): pp. 34-47.