The Poop That Changed the World: Unpacking the Surprising Driver of Evolution The Cambrian explosion, a period of rapid evolution that gave rise to most animal phyla and ecosystems we see today, has long been shrouded in mystery.
Scientists have proposed various explanations for this phenomenon, but recent research suggests that a crucial contributor was the production of fecal pellets by early animals.
According to paleontologists Julien Kimming and Russell Bicknell, the first animals on Earth evolved digestive systems that allowed them to produce nutrient rich fecal pellets.