The Cambrian Explosion

[Velo Princesse]

I'm reading about the Cambrian Explosion but I'm having a difficult time making sense of it. I don't doubt evolutionary theory from that point to now, but I can't find anything connecting the pre-Cambrian species to the Cambrian species.

Could someone please explain this?

 

[notto]

You might want to google 'precambrian fossils'. There are lots of pages about the topic.

A good example of how precambrian fossils lead to cambrian critters is the trilobite.

http://www.trilobites.info/origins.htm

 

[thaumaturgy]

I'm reading about the Cambrian Explosion but I'm having a difficult time making sense of it. I don't doubt evolutionary theory from that point to now, but I can't find anything connecting the pre-Cambrian species to the Cambrian species.

Could someone please explain this?

Also, keep in mind that the "explosion" is also in part the appearance of "hard parts". Prior to the Cambrian there were lots of lifeforms, mostly algal, bacterial or things that didn't leave much in the way of fossils. But there are fossils and there is evidence of life pre-Cambrian.

Shells make for really good fossils and the Cambrian was when a lot of things with shells start showing up.

 

[Dr.GH]

Also keep in mind that the "explosion" took around 80 million years.

 

[Nooj]

Pharyngula has a great post on this.