Cambrian explosion

(noun)

the relatively rapid appearance (over a period of many millions of years), around 530 million years ago, of most major animal phyla as demonstrated in the fossil record

Related Terms

Examples of Cambrian explosion in the following topics:

  • The Cambrian Explosion of Animal Life

    • During the Cambrian period, the most rapid evolution of new animal species occurred, but the cause of this explosion is still unknown.
    • It is believed that most of the animal phyla in existence today had their origins during this time, often referred to as the Cambrian explosion .
    • The causes of the Cambrian explosion are still debated.
    • Yet other theories claim genetic and developmental reasons for the Cambrian explosion.
    • Theories that attempt to explain why the Cambrian explosion happened must be able to provide valid reasons for the massive animal diversification, as well as explain why it happened when it did.

  • The Evolution of Craniata and Vertebrata

    • Both fossil and genomic evidence suggests that vertebrates arose during the Cambrian explosion.The Cambrian explosion was the relatively brief span of time during the Cambrian period during which many animal groups appeared and rapidly diversified.
    • Most modern animal phyla originated during the Cambrian explosion.

  • Carbon Dating and Estimating Fossil Age

    • For example, they are not sufficiently precise and reliable for estimating when the groups that feature in the Cambrian explosion first evolved, and estimates produced by different approaches to this method may vary as well.

  • Post-Cambrian Evolution and Mass Extinctions

    • The post-Cambrian era was characterized by animal evolution and diversity where mass extinctions were followed by adaptive radiations.
    • The periods that followed the Cambrian during the Paleozoic Era were marked by further animal evolution and the emergence of many new orders, families, and species.
    • During the Ordovician period, which followed the Cambrian period, plant life first appeared on land.
    • The warm and stable climatic conditions of the ensuing Mesozoic Era promoted an explosive diversification of dinosaurs into every conceivable niche in land, air, and water.

  • Pre-Cambrian Animal Life

    • Early animal life (Ediacaran biota) evolved from protists during the pre-Cambrian period, which is also known as the Ediacaran period.
    • The time before the Cambrian period is known as the Ediacaran period (between 635-543 million years ago), the final period of the late Proterozoic Neoproterozoic Era .
    • The Ediacaran period was the final period of the Proterozoic Era which ended in the Cambrian period of the Phanerozoic Era.

  • Characteristics of the Animal Body

    • Body plans have been considered to have evolved in a geologically-sudden flash during the Cambrian Explosion (roughly 542 million years ago).

  • Chytridiomycota: The Chytrids

    • The evolutionary record shows that the first, recognizable chytrids appeared during the late pre-Cambrian period, more than 500 million years ago.

  • Phylum Arthropoda

    • Trilobites are an extinct group of arthropods found chiefly in the pre-Cambrian Era that are probably most closely related to the Chelicerata.
    • Acadoparadoxides, possibly A. briareus, a large trilobite from about 500 million years ago from Morocco, North Africa (Middle Cambrian)

  • Evolution of Land Plants

    • It starts with the Cambrian period, followed by the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian.

  • Chordates and the Evolution of Vertebrates

    • Pikaia fossils were recovered from the Burgess shales of Canada and dated to the middle of the Cambrian age, making them more than 500 million years old.