An early Cambrian greenhouse climate
The oceans of the early Cambrian (~541 to 509 million years ago) were the setting for a marked diversification of animal life. However, sea temperatures—a key component of the early Cambrian marine environment—remain unconstrained, in part because of a substantial time gap in the stable oxygen isotope (d18O) record before the evolution of euconodonts. We show that previously overlooked sources of fossil biogenic phosphate have the potential to fill this gap.