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The digging and burrowing of prehistoric worms and other invertebrates along ocean bottoms sparked a chain of events that released oxygen into the ocean and atmosphere and helped kick-start what is known as the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, roughly 480 million years ago, according to new findings Johns Hopkins University researchers published in the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.

The extra oxygen likely contributed to the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, when new species rapidly flourished, the researchers said.

Spang further points out: "Insights into the role of both ancient and extant microbes in nutrient cycling can help to better understand and predict future biodiversification in a changing environment, including climate warming."

The newfound fossils also offer an unparalleled glimpse into a dynamic chapter of evolution called the great Ordovician biodiversification event.

Jawed fish now seem to have originated as early as the Great Ordovician Biodiversification, a period around 485 million to 445 million years ago when marine invertebrates ruled.