On the basis of topological criteria, metazoan traces can be classified as four ichnoorders (clusters) and twenty two ichnofamilies (kinds), which consist of nine basic and three combined topological configurations. At a topological level, the behavioral diversity and complexity indicated by metazoan traces have remained quite stable since the Early Cambrian. Dramatic changes of these traits took place in the Neoproterozoic, in which 75% (12/16) of the topoichnotaxa and all nine basic topological configurations of metazoan traces occurred, but the most complex and highest level topological configuration occurred in the Early Cambrian of the coelomate animal explosive evolution, showing that in the Neoproterozoic and Early Cambrian gestated not only the Ediacarian fauna and all the basic types of multi cellular animals known today, but also all the basic and the most complex metazoan traces through geological time.
Gong Yiming Faculty of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
