Paleodictyon mystery: arthropods may have built ancient honeycombs
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Andrea Baucon and colleagues investigated the origins of Paleodictyon, a honeycomb-like pattern found in ancient marine sediments, and now propose that arthropods created the structures.
For over 150 years, scientists puzzled over these formations, previously suggesting worms, chemical processes, or algae as possible causes. Baucon’s team examined existing research and fossils, including a 530-million-year-old Paleodictyon discovered in Portugal, to test their arthropod hypothesis.
The researchers determined that the sharp corners within the Paleodictyon network would have been difficult for soft-bodied worms to excavate, but well within the capabilities of arthropods with their rigid exoskeletons and jointed limbs. They also noted that the earliest Paleodictyon fossils appear in the geologic record at the same time as the first evidence of arthropods, around 530 million years ago during the Cambrian Period.
Stephen Hasiotis, a geologist not involved in the study, cautioned that more evidence is needed to definitively link arthropods to all Paleodictyon formations. Baucon’s team suggests establishing underwater observatories and using artificial intelligence to monitor modern seafloors for the creatures currently constructing these patterns.
