The end-Ediacaran extinction changed everything
Although sponges and other sea creatures didn’t disturb one another, not everything was peaches and cream for seafloor inhabitants. About 541 million years ago, most Ediacaran species disappeared without warning, signaling a significant environmental change that scientists thoroughly studied for decades.
A fossil record dating to the end of the Ediacaran reveals that worm-like animals had begun to excavate the ocean bottom, thus aerating the sediment. This phenomenon deteriorated the environmental conditions for some ocean inhabitants while improving them for others simultaneously, potentially leading to a change-over in marine species.
