The fecal matter ranges from microscopic pellets through to centimetre-scale coprolites containing crushed shells and other animal fragments. As fecal pellets sink, they carry nutrition to support life well beyond the sunlit surface ocean. Our research suggests the widespread appearance of fecal matter during the Cambrian may represent the evolutionary origin of this process. As animal diversity and biomass increased during the Cambrian, so too would have the production of fecal pellets. Greater animal diversity resulted in greater production of fecal matter, increasing the redistribution of organic carbon and nutrients through marine ecosystems.