The Life and Legend of the Ediacaran Biota with Marc Laflamme

Imagine if you lived in a world where some humans evolved the ability to fly, use one hundred percent of their brainpower, or the ability to reproduce at twice the normal rate. These evolved humans would certainly have an evolutionary advantage over the rest of us, and likely outcompete us in the long-term. What if a similar situation happened around 541 million years ago? Around this time, in the late Neoproterozoic, the Ediacaran biota, mostly filter-feeding and immobile organisms, faced the threat of extinction from their more agile, burrowing, and mobile competitors that evolved during the late Ediacaran and early Cambrian. A mass extinction ensued, but the definite causes are still being debated. We talk to Associate Professor Marc Laflamme, an expert on Paleoclimate and Paleontology about this fascinating time period. 

Primary Sources Discussed: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825220304815