Flinders Study Ties 540-Million-Year-Old Through-Gut Shift to Cambrian Explosion
Updated
Updated · IFLScience · Aug 4
Flinders Study Ties 540-Million-Year-Old Through-Gut Shift to Cambrian Explosion
3 articles · Updated · IFLScience · Aug 4
Summary
Flinders University researchers argue the rise of the through-gut — an anus and separate exit for waste — helped trigger the Cambrian explosion about 540 million years ago.
That anatomical shift let early animals feed almost continuously, unlocking more energy for growth, more complex body plans and increasingly specialized digestive systems.
35 fossil deposits worldwide showed coprolites becoming more abundant and varied through the Cambrian, which the authors say tracks the rapid diversification of marine life.
The study says expanding feces and feeding strategies also pumped organic carbon and nutrients through ancient oceans, reshaping ecosystems and possibly contributing to an early mass extinction.
Published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, the work adds waste production to rising oxygen as a major driver behind evolution's 'big bang' and the foundations of modern oceans.