| Cambrian | ||
| Paleozoic Era | Nekton and plankton |
| Timescale | Tommotian Biota |
| Paleozoic Cambrian Early Cambrian Middle Cambrian Late Cambrian |
Home Cambrian Period Cambrian Lagerstätten Cambrian Nektonic Marine Ecosystems Cambrian Terrestrial Ecosystems References |
note: the following passage is from Benchley and Harper, Palaeoecology, pp.125-8
Relatively little is known of Cambrian nekton. Some molluscs such as the hyoliths may have been pelagic, together with primitive jawless fishes. The Cambrian plankton was more abundant and diverse than that of the Precambrian oceans. The acritarchs radiated during the Cambrian, radiolarians occupied tropical latitudes, whereas chitinozoans were present in Cambrian plankton but not abundant. Larval phases of benthic organisms together with the agnostic trilobites (illustration above) dominated a zooplankton still apparently free of macrophagous predators.