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Geosciences
Special Issues
Early Evolution of Complex Life
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Early Evolution of Complex Life

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Biogeosciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (23 August 2019) | Viewed by 19229

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Mark McMenamin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geology and Geography, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075, USA
Interests: evolution and history of life; evolution of the atmosphere; Ediacaran fossils; hypersea theory; Proterozoic supercontinent Rodinia; Vladimir Vernadsky's The Biosphere; convergent evolution; development and spread of biotic innovations

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The study of the origin and development of complex life can dramatically advance our understanding of both the role(s) that life plays on Earth and the process(es) of evolutionary change. From life’s origin to the origin of flight, we have much to learn about Earth’s early inhabitants. This research will help us to outline the parameters governing change in our biosphere through deep time.

This Special Issue will publish innovative research that addresses the following areas in the study of the history of life. Emphasis will be on critical, but relatively neglected groups, such as early eukaryotes, radiocyaths, zosterophylls, and chimaeroids, as follows:

  • origin of life,
  • origin of eukaryotes,
  • Ediacarans,
  • archaeocyaths, radiocyaths, and other sponge-like organisms,
  • early protostomous metazoa,
  • early deuterostomes,
  • Psilophyton and other early plants,
  • chimaeroids and other ancient fishes,
  • marine reptiles,
  • convergent evolution of flight.

We especially welcome submissions related to the keywords appearing at the bottom of this page, and invite authors to send me, as Guest Editor, a title and abstract of any manuscript they would like to submit to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Mark McMenamin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • origin of life
  • early fungi
  • early brachiopods and mickwitziids
  • cephalopod evolution
  • cambrian echinoderms
  • cambrian chordates
  • chimaeroids and other ancient fishes
  • zosterophylls
  • mesozoic marine reptiles
  • mesozoic flying vertebrates

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 14500 KiB  
Article
Traces of Locomotion of Ediacaran Macroorganisms
by Andrey Ivantsov, Aleksey Nagovitsyn and Maria Zakrevskaya
Geosciences 2019, 9(9), 395; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9090395 - 11 Sep 2019
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 5715
Abstract
We describe traces of macroorganisms in association with the body imprints of trace-producers from Ediacaran (Vendian) deposits of the southeastern White Sea region. They are interpreted as traces of locomotion and are not directly related to a food gathering. The complex remains belong [...] Read more.
We describe traces of macroorganisms in association with the body imprints of trace-producers from Ediacaran (Vendian) deposits of the southeastern White Sea region. They are interpreted as traces of locomotion and are not directly related to a food gathering. The complex remains belong to three species: Kimberella quadrata, Dickinsonia cf. menneri, and Tribrachidium heraldicum. They were found in three different burials. The traces have the form of narrow ridges or wide bands (grooves and linear depressions on natural imprints). In elongated Kimberella and Dickinsonia, the traces are stretched parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body and extend from its posterior end. In the case of the isometric Tribrachidium, the trace is directed away from the margin of the shield. A short length of the traces indicates that they were left by the organisms that were covered with the sediment just before their death. The traces overlaid the microbial mat with no clear signs of deformation under or around the traces. A trace substance, apparently, differed from the material of the bearing layers (i.e., a fine-grained sandstone or siltstone) and was not preserved on the imprints. This suggests that the traces were made with organic material, probably mucus, which was secreted by animals in a stressful situation. The mucus traced the movements of the organism before death. The discovered traces of locomotion are direct evidence of the ability of some Ediacaran macroorganisms to move independently. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Early Evolution of Complex Life)
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Review

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24 pages, 6673 KiB  
Review
Cambrian Chordates and Vetulicolians
by Mark A. S. McMenamin
Geosciences 2019, 9(8), 354; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9080354 - 11 Aug 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 12983
Abstract
Deuterostomes make a sudden appearance in the fossil record during the early Cambrian. Two bilaterian groups, the chordates and the vetulicolians, are of particular interest for understanding early deuterostome evolution, and the main objective of this review is to examine the Cambrian diversity [...] Read more.
Deuterostomes make a sudden appearance in the fossil record during the early Cambrian. Two bilaterian groups, the chordates and the vetulicolians, are of particular interest for understanding early deuterostome evolution, and the main objective of this review is to examine the Cambrian diversity of these two deuterostome groups. The subject is of particular interest because of the link to vertebrates, and because of the enigmatic nature of vetulicolians. Lagerstätten in China and elsewhere have dramatically improved our understanding of the range of variation in these ancient animals. Cephalochordate and vertebrate body plans are well established at least by Cambrian Series 2. Taken together, roughly a dozen chordate genera and fifteen vetulicolian genera document part of the explosive radiation of deuterostomes at the base of the Cambrian. The advent of deuterostomes near the Cambrian boundary involved both a reversal of gut polarity and potentially a two-sided retinoic acid gradient, with a gradient discontinuity at the midpoint of the organism that is reflected in the sharp division of vetulicolians into anterior and posterior sections. A new vetulicolian (Shenzianyuloma yunnanense nov. gen. nov. sp.) with a laterally flattened, polygonal anterior section provides significant new data regarding vetulicolians. Its unsegmented posterior region (‘tail’) bears a notochord and a gut trace with diverticula, both surrounded by myotome cones. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Early Evolution of Complex Life)
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