Learn more about a time period marked by an intense burst of evolution. 3 min read The Cambrian period, part of the Paleozoic era, produced the most intense burst of evolution ever known.

visitors can follow fossil evidence tracing the evolution of life during the Cambrian period — the first geological period of the Paleozoic era — which lasted from 541 million to 485 million ...

Internal, genetic factors were also crucial. Recent research suggests that the period prior to the Cambrian explosion saw the gradual evolution of a "genetic tool kit" of genes that govern ...

A fossil analysis suggests that the yunnanozoan, a wormlike fish that flourished around 520 million years ago, sported structures that were the precursors of the head and jaws of modern vertebrates. A ...

Environmental stress in evolution can be reframed as a powerful engine of innovation, not simply a barrier to survival.

Some animals could likely tell the difference between light and dark, but they never knew whether that looming shadow was a friend or foe. Then, at the beginning of the Cambrian Period, life opened ...

Internal, genetic factors were also crucial. Recent research suggests that the period prior to the Cambrian explosion saw the gradual evolution of a "genetic tool kit" of genes that govern ...

These tiny creatures, known as Lapworthella fasciculata, were the first tangible evidence of predation as one of the drivers of evolutionary innovation during the Cambrian period. This discovery ...

A new study reveals that a region in China’s Turpan-Hami Basin served as a refugium, or “Life oasis” for terrestrial plants ...