Cambrian - Wikipedia
The Cambrian ( / ˈkæmbri.ən, ˈkeɪm -/ KAM-bree-ən, KAYM-) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. [5] . The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordovician Period 485.4 Ma. [6]
Cambrian Period | Definition, Plants, & Animals | Britannica
Oct 4, 2024 · Cambrian Period, earliest time division of the Paleozoic Era and Phanerozoic Eon, lasting from 538.8 million to 485.4 million years ago. The Cambrian System, named by English geologist Adam Sedgwick for slaty rocks in southern Wales and southwestern England, contains the earliest record of abundant and varied life-forms.
Cambrian Period | National Geographic
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...
Cambrian Period - Natural History Museum
Oct 28, 2012 · The Cambrian* Period begins the Phanerozoic Eon, the last 542 million years during which fossils with hard parts have existed. It is the first division of the Paleozoic Era (542Ma -251Ma).
Cambrian explosion | Evolution, Paleontology & Geology
Oct 1, 2024 · Cambrian explosion, the unparalleled emergence of organisms between 541 million and approximately 530 million years ago at the beginning of the Cambrian Period. The event was characterized by the appearance of many of the major phyla (between 20 and 35) that make up modern animal life.
Cambrian Period - Fossils, Rocks, Animals | Britannica
Oct 4, 2024 · Cambrian rocks have a special biological significance, because they are the earliest to contain diverse fossils of animals. These rocks also include the first appearances of most animal phyla that have fossil records.
Cambrian Period: Facts & Information - Live Science
May 27, 2016 · The Cambrian Explosion was a dramatic burst of evolutionary changes in life on Earth. During the Cambrian Period, which began about 540 million years, trilobites were the dominant species.
Prehistoric Life During the Cambrian Period - ThoughtCo
Sep 7, 2018 · Before the Cambrian period, 542 million years ago, life on earth consisted of single-celled bacteria, algae, and only a handful of multicellular animals--but after the Cambrian, multi-celled vertebrate and invertebrate animals dominated the world's oceans.
The 12 Strangest Animals of the Cambrian Period - ThoughtCo
Jan 24, 2019 · The invertebrates of the Cambrian period, over 500 million years ago, were some of the most odd-looking animals on Earth. This gallery of Cambrian fauna ranges from the aptly named Hallucigenia to the even more strange-looking Aysheaia.
Cambrian explosion - Wikipedia
In On the Origin of Species, Darwin considered this sudden appearance of a solitary group of trilobites, with no apparent antecedents, and absent other fossils, to be "undoubtedly of the gravest nature" among the difficulties in his theory of natural selection.