Page 112 - Introduction to Paleobiology and The Fossil Record
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PALEOECOLOGY AND PALEOCLIMATES  99



















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                               (e)
               Figure 4.19  Selection of fossils from ancient hydrothermal vent sites. All specimens are pyritized
               and are contained within a matrix of sulfide minerals. (a) Gastropod: Francisciconcha


               maslennikovi from the Lower Jurassic Figueroa sulfide deposit, California. (b) Small worm tubes

               from the Upper Cretaceous Memi sulfide deposit, Cyprus. (c) Bivalve: Sibaya ivanovi from the
               Middle Devonian Sibay sulfide deposit, Russia. (d, e) From the Lower Silurian Yaman Kasy

               sulfide deposit, Russia: (d) monoplacophoran, Themoconus shadlunae and (e) vestimentiferan

               worm tube, Yamankasia rifeia. Scale bars: 5 mm (a, b), 20 mm (c–e). (Courtesy of Crispin Little.)


             the substrate. Through time animals and         and trends through geological time. Why, for
             plants have developed innovative ways to        example, were Cambrian food chains so short,
             exist in new habitats. The exciting, relatively   with few guilds, and why were tiering

             new field of evolutionary paleoecology seeks     levels both above and below the sediment
             to tackle some large-scale ecological patterns   so restricted? In marine environments,
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