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
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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In the citing paper
“As in early mollusc evolution, the evolutionary increase in mouth reinforcement begins with cartilaginous structures or other non-mineralized supports,carrying tooth-like structures in jawless vertebrates including conodonts sensu lato (protoconodonts; Missarzhevskij 1973, Bengtson 2002, Goudemand et al. 2011, Murdock et al. 2013).”
From Palaeozoic evolution of animal mouthparts (2017) · cites this paper as Bengtson 2002
In the citing paper
“In the Neoproterozoic, multicellular organisms added motile benthic modes of life including the first macroscopic predators in a broad sense (review in Bengtson 2002; see also Kelley et al. 2003).”
From Palaeozoic evolution of animal mouthparts (2017) · cites this paper as Bengtson 2002
In the citing paper
“The rapid increase in diversity and abundance of biomineralizing organisms during the early Cambrian is often attributed to predation and an evolutionary arms race.”
From Adaptive responses in Cambrian predator and prey highlight the arms race during the rise of animals (2025) · cites this paper as [14]
In the citing paper
“illustrating the importance of predation as a major ecological driver of early animal evolution.”
From Adaptive responses in Cambrian predator and prey highlight the arms race during the rise of animals (2025) · cites this paper as [14]
In the citing paper
“Nonetheless, our data, coupled with other available information from the fossil record, support the hypothesis that a metazoan arms race was firmly established during the early Cambrian”
From Adaptive responses in Cambrian predator and prey highlight the arms race during the rise of animals (2025) · cites this paper as [14]
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Erwin, D. H., Laflamme, M., Tweedt, S. M., Sperling, E. A., Pisani, D., & Peterson, K. J. (2011) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1206375 · Cited by 1,336
The Ediacara biota: Neoproterozoic origin of animals and their ecosystems
Narbonne, G. M. (2005) · Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences · doi:10.1146/annurev.earth.33.092203.122519 · Cited by 714
“There is little evidence of macrophagous predation until near the end of the Ediacaran, but Early Cambrian communities show abundant evidence of Phanerozoic-style predation on soft-bodied and skeletal organisms (e.g., Bengtson 2002).”
BackgroundThe Neoproterozoic oxygenation event: Environmental perturbations and biogeochemical cycling
Och, L. M., & Shields-Zhou, G. A. (2012) · Earth-Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2011.09.004 · Cited by 646
“, 2006) and changes in continental sediment accumulation during supercontinent amalgamation (Brasier and Lindsay, 2001); (2) developmental innovations, such as the evolution of Hox genes (Peterson and Davidson, 2000; Erwin and Davidson, 2002); and (3) ecological explanations, concerning new trophic capacities, like (a…”
BackgroundExplaining the Cambrian "Explosion" of Animals
Marshall, C. R. (2006) · Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences · doi:10.1146/annurev.earth.33.031504.103001 · Cited by 506
“Typically, these explanations center on the invention of new trophic capacities, whether predation (Evans 1912, Hutchinson 1961, Vermeij 1990, Bengtson 2002) or cropping (e.g., Stanley 1973, 1976), as a major cause of the Cambrian “explosion.””
BackgroundIntegrated records of environmental change and evolution challenge the Cambrian Explosion
Wood, R., Liu, A. G., Bowyer, F., Wilby, P. R., Dunn, F. S., Kenchington, C. G., Cuthill, J. F. H., Mitchell, E. G., & Penny, A. (2019) · Nature Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1038/s41559-019-0821-6 · Cited by 337
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
- 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
- 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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