What is the Cambrian Explosion and why is it important to animal evolution?

The Cambrian period, part of the Paleozoic era, produced the most intense burst of evolution ever known. The Cambrian Explosion saw an incredible diversity of life emerge, including many major animal groups alive today. Among them were the chordates, to which vertebrates (animals with backbones) such as humans belong.

How does the Cambrian Explosion relate to evolution?

The beginning of the Cambrian Period is marked by the evolution of hard body parts such as calcium carbonate shells. These body parts fossilize more easily than soft tissues, and thus the fossil record becomes much more complete after their appearance.

Why did scientists believe that life began in the Cambrian Explosion?

Given the importance of oxygen for animals, researchers suspected that a sudden increase in the gas to near-modern levels in the ocean could have spurred the Cambrian explosion. This supported the idea of oxygen as a key trigger for the evolutionary explosion.

What are the consequences of the Cambrian explosion?

In a word, the Cambrian explosion happened when environmental changes crossed critical thresholds, led to the initial formation of the metazoan-dominated ecosystem through a series of knock-on ecological processes, i.e., “ecological snowball” effects.

What was the Cambrian explosion when did it occur?

541 (+/- 1) million years ago – 485.4 (+/- 1.9) million years ago
Cambrian/Occurred

When did Cambrian explosion happen?

Why did the Cambrian explosion end?

Just as the first complex animals were settling into Earth’s oceans, oxygen levels fell dramatically and wiped many of them out. The finding shows that the birth of complex life was beset with dangers.

What are the causes of the Cambrian explosion?

The Cambrian explosion, otherwise known as the Cambrian radiation, occurred during the Paleozoic era . Scientists believe that various factors may have triggered the sudden change, including an increase in oxygen levels, a shift in climatic conditions and the creation of more habitable environments.

What sparked the Cambrian explosion?

The intense modern interest in this “Cambrian explosion” was sparked by the work of Harry B. Whittington and colleagues, who, in the 1970s, reanalysed many fossils from the Burgess Shale and concluded that several were as complex as, but different from, any living animals.

What animals lived in the Cambrian explosion?

The Cambrian Explosion of Animal Life. Echinoderms, mollusks, worms, arthropods, and chordates arose during this period. One of the most dominant species during the Cambrian period was the trilobite, an arthropod that was among the first animals to exhibit a sense of vision.

Did consciousness cause the Cambrian evolutionary explosion?

The place of consciousness in evolution is unknown, but the actual course of evolution itself may offer a clue. Fossil records indicate that animal species as we know them today including conscious humans all arose from a burst of evolutionary activity some 540 million years ago (the “Cambrian explosion”).