BIOL 215 Assignment I

Shayna Follington
260463495
1. The researchers involved in this experiment observed a period
in time characterized by a rapid diversification of species. This
study on polychaete worms was initiated to uncover the driving
mechanisms and unique conditions that facilitated opportunities
for such an incredible radiation of complexity. The question is:
what trigger can explain why life, which had been relatively
unchanging and simplistic for such a long period of time, began
diversifying at this specific point in time.
The authors discuss two possible hypotheses. The first and most
prominent is the hypothesis that rising oxygen levels in the
ocean environment were the abiotic drivers that resulted in a
shift of evolutionary relationships, thus triggering the radiation.
The second is an ecological hypothesis that suggests the
radiation was a result of increased pressure to develop new body
plans brought on by the emergence of predation.
2. In this study, internal controls refer to animal-animal
interactions and other ecological and genetic changes. External
controls differ in that they refer to the abiotic drivers, such as
environmental changes, that indirectly influence the evolutionary
relationships. For example, an external control discussed in the
study is the increase in oceanic oxygen levels. This
environmental change could possibly be linked to an example of
an internal control: the arms race between newly developed
predators and their prey.
Internal controls were insufficient in fully outlining the unique
conditions providing the opportunity for radiation. Although some
genetic changes can be directly linked to the increase in disparity
during the radiation, there is no evidence to explain the timing at
which it occurred.
3. The maximum estimates for nemerteans and priapulids are
based on molecular clock ages that constrain the evolution of
carnivory. Minimum estimates for nemerteans are confidently
constrained at the origin of the crown group of Nemertea since
all extant species are carnivores. Priapulids are believed to have
evolved carnivory around the Proterozoic-Cambrian transition,

but the minimum estimate is safely based upon their divergence

from the common ancestor. Early Cambrian priapulid fossils are
also used as evidence because the gut contents indicate
carnivorous feeding.
The qualitative mapping of feeding strategies in the study of the
origin of carnivory, which has been time-calibrated, suggests that
the last common ancestors of these superclades lacked
carnivory. The evolution of carnivory can only be confidently
mapped at the origin of crown group Nemertea.
4. In order to avoid bias in this experiment, the ideal test organism
would already have the ability to fare well in low oxygen environments.
Polychaetes are some of the most tolerant species of low oxygen
concentrations in the ocean. This adaptation allowed the study to take
place in a modern oxygen minimum zone, imitating more closely the
habitats of organisms during the radiation period. Polychaetes were
also chosen out of convenience due to their abundance in the lowoxygen test environment. Other advantages include their diverse and
well-understood feeding habits, more specifically their carnivorous and
non-carnivorous strategies.
5. There are not a high percentage of carnivorous individuals in suboxic
habitats, although some can survive. Carnivores are completely absent
from half of the suboxic habitats. As oxygen levels increase to severe
hypoxia, there is a dramatic surge in percentage of carnivorous
individuals. It is possible that a reason for this difference is the fact
that prey densities are lower in low oxygen habitats, resulting in a lack
of carnivores. There is a small, but relatively insignificant difference in
percent carnivorous individuals reported in moderate hypoxia and mild
hypoxia. In regards to number of carnivorous taxa, the community is
significantly less represented in lower suboxic environments.
6. The authors explain that the most likely reason carnivores are more
suited to oxygen rich environments is because of the high energetic
cost of a carnivorous lifestyle. Carnivores sustain the metabolic cost of
digesting large food items. It is also energetically costly to catch and
subdue prey. The energy required to carry out a carnivorous lifestyle is
coupled with a high oxygen demand. Carnivores are more likely to live
in environments where they can balance energy expended vs. energy
gained. The second reason is the relationship between oxygen levels
and maximum permissible body size. Predators are typically larger
than their prey. At low oxygen levels, organisms may have constraints
that dont allow for them to be larger than their prey. Since carnivores
do sometimes survive in low oxygen levels, this explanation is not as
likely. It is more likely that the metabolic cost of carnivory is a usually
insurmountable debt in low oxygen environments.

7. The authors do not exclude developmental genetics, rather it is

suggested that the effects of rising oxygen levels influenced
evolutionary relationships that spurred genetic change. It is suggested
that with the new availability of oxygen, larger organisms were able to
exist. This existence prompted the evolutionary arms race that
fundamentally explains the rapid expansion.
8. I think that the results may have been different if different
boundaries for oxygen concentration bins were used because I think it
is clear that there is a very explicit relationship between oxygen
concentrations and number of taxa. I would predict that there is a
certain threshold oxygen concentration that dictates the ability of a) a
carnivore to have the ability to afford its lifestyle energetically and b)
the ability of a carnivore to exist physically.
9. I think that the reason for this is that energetic cost for carnivory in
both moderate and mild hypoxic oxygen concentration bins was
satisfied by the oxygen levels in each environment. I think that
although oxygen levels were lower in moderate hypoxia the carnivores
were still able to carry out their lifestyle with a significant gain.