Quantifying the global biodiversity of Proterozoic eukaryotes

The global diversity of Proterozoic eukaryote fossils is poorly quantified
despite its fundamental importance to the understanding of
macroevolutionary patterns and dynamics on the early Earth. Here we report
a new construction of fossil eukaryote diversity from the Paleoproterozoic
to early Cambrian based on a comprehensive data compilation and
quantitative analyses. The resulting taxonomic richness curve verifies
Cryogenian glaciations as a major divide that separates the “Boring
Billion” and Ediacaran Period, with the former characterized by a
remarkable stasis and the latter by greater diversity, more rapid
turnover, and multiple radiations and extinctions. These contrasting
evolutionary patterns and dynamics provide a framework to test competing
hypotheses on biosphere and geosphere co-evolution in the Proterozoic Eon.