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Cited by 174Paleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsEvolution and Paleontology StudiesProtist diversity and phylogeny

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 255 of the 269 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Origins and Early Evolution of Predation

Bengtson, Stefan·2002·The Paleontological Society Papers
DOI 10.1017/s1089332600001133
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Abstract

Predation, in the broad sense of an organism killing another organism for nutritional purposes, is probably as old as life itself and has originated many times during the history of life. Although little of the beginnings is caught in the fossil record, observations in the rock record and theoretical considerations suggest that predation played a crucial role in some of the major transitions in evolution. The origin of eukaryotic cells, poorly constrained to about 2.7 Ga by geochemical evidence, was most likely the ultimate result of predation among prokaryotes. Multicellularity (or syncytiality), as a means of acquiring larger size, is visible in the fossil record soon after 2 Ga and is likely to have been mainly a response to selective pressure from predation among protists. The appearance of mobile predators on bacteria and protists may date back as far as 2 Ga or it may be not much older than the Cambrian explosion, or about 600 Ma. The combined indications from the decline of stromatolites and the diversification of acritarchs, however, suggest that such predation may have begun around 1 Ga. The Cambrian explosion, culminating around 550 Ma, represents the transition from simple, mostly microbial, ecosystems to ones with complex food webs and second- and higher-order consumers. Macrophagous predators were involved from the beginning, but it is not clear whether they originated in the plankton or in the benthos. Although predation was a decisive selective force in the Cam…

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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 46

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Metadata

Authors
Bengtson, S.
Affiliations
Swedish Museum of Natural History (SE)
Corresponding author
Bengtson, Stefan
ORCID
Bengtson, Stefan
Venue
The Paleontological Society Papers
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2002-10
Volume
8
Pages
289-318
ISSN
  • 1089-3326 (ISSN-L)
  • 2399-7575
DOI
10.1017/s1089332600001133
OpenAlex
W2807075913
Cited by
174
References
269
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 3
FWCI
1.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 5407 d)
Locations
The Paleontological Society Papers (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Protist diversity and phylogeny
Keywords
predation, early evolution, eukaryotic origin, endosymbiosis, multicellularity, protist predation, bacterial predation, Cambrian explosion, stromatolites, acritarchs, food webs, evolutionary transitions

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