Environmental flexibility across dynamic Cambrian ecosystems fueled trilobite success

Chraiki, Ibtissam, Chi Fru, Ernest ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2673-0565, Bouougri, El Hafid, Mángano, M. Gabriela, Buatois, Luis A., Fontaine, Claude, Khoury, Anna El, Mazurier, Arnaud, Terhzaz, Loubna, Ouzzaouit, Lalla Amina, Boudad, Larbi, Waisfeld, Beatriz G. and Albani, Abderrazak El 2026. Environmental flexibility across dynamic Cambrian ecosystems fueled trilobite success. Communications Earth & Environment 10.1038/s43247-026-04205-4

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Abstract

Trilobites, Paleozoic arthropods, have been viewed as marine animals. Using multiproxy geochemical analyses, we suggest that Cambrian Series 2 to early Miaolingian strata in Morocco, preserving three-dimensional trilobites, record deposition within a river- and wave-influenced delta with variable salinity and episodic freshwater influence, including brackish conditions. These populations persisted through environmental transitions, spanning cool, oxic, low-salinity arid conditions with periodic freshwater input during Cambrian Stage 3-4 to warmer, more humid, increasingly saline, and anoxic settings at the transition to Wuliuan. This transition coincides with an increase in trilobite body-size and the emergence of more stable, deeper, and marine salinity environments that could have contributed to enhanced biomineralization, ecological specialization, and habitat broadening. Smaller-bodied Stage 3–4 trilobites appear adapted to dynamic shelves, whereas larger-bodied Wuliuan forms exploited increasingly stable conditions that may have favored size enlargement and exoskeletal thickening. These patterns suggest a potential link between environmental conditions and body-size distribution, with possible implications for ecological structuring across Cambrian ecosystems.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Earth and Environmental Sciences Schools > Physical, Chemical & Environmental Sciences
Publisher:	Nature Research
ISSN:	2662-4435
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	12 November 2026
Date of Acceptance:	14 October 2026
Last Modified:	12 Nov 2026 13:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/190886

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