The Fezouata Biota (Morocco) is a Burgess Shale-type (BST) assemblage that provides a wealth of information on Early Ordovician ecosystems. Much work has been done to compare the preservation of the Fezouata Biota to other BSTs. However, studies investigating preservation variations within the Fezouata Biota are rare. Here, we use probabilities to investigate the preservation of various ecological categories of Fezouata eumetazoans. Complex taphonomic processes and phylum-specific constraints have led to the better preservation of predators/scavengers in this biota. However, no differences in preservation are observed between vagile and sessile taxa. Importantly, Tremadocian taxa are better preserved than Floian ones. As such, this study highlights the gradual closure of the BST window of preservation in the Zagora region of Morocco and constitutes a benchmark for future palaeoecological and evolutionary studies on the Fezouata Biota.

Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Geology Rozvojová 269 165 00 Prague 6 Czech Republic

Department of Natural Sciences National Museums Scotland Edinburgh EH1 1JF UK

Institute of Earth Sciences University of Lausanne Géopolis 1015 Lausanne Switzerland

Spatial Ecology and Paleontology Laboratory School of Biological Sciences Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta GA USA

Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 École Normale Supérieure de Lyon CNRS UMR5276 LGL‑TPE Villeurbanne France

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