Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Cambrian explosion of life: theBig Bang in metazoan evolution

  • General Article
  • Published:
Resonance Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Despite the protracted history of life on earth spanning well over 3.8 Ga, fossil record of the Precambrian (> 543 Ma) largely documents only microscopic life. The mostly simple Precambrian life forms were followed by a sudden explosive radiation of multicellular animals at the turn of the Cambrian period (543–490 Ma) between 530 and 520 Ma ago, when almost two-thirds of the animal phyla make their dramatic appearance in the fossil record. This unusual and amazing burst of macroevolutionary change is called the Cambrian explosion

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Suggested Reading

  1. J W Valentine, The prelude to the Cambrian explosion,Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 30, pp 285–306, 2002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. J W Valentine, D Jablonski and E Erwin, Fossils, molecules and embryos: New perspectives on the Cambrian explosion,Development, Vol. 126, pp. 851–859, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  3. C S Morris, The Cambrian “explosion”: Slow fuse or megatonnage,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, Vol. 97, pp. 4426–4429, 2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. A H Knoll and S B Caroll, Early animal evolution: Emerging views from comparative biology and geology,Science, Vol. 284, pp. 2129–2137, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. D Erwin, J W Valentine and D Jablonski, The origin of animal body plans,American Scientist, Vol. 85, pp. 126–137, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  6. G A Wrayet al., Molecular evidence for deep Precambrian divergence among metazoan phyla,Science, Vol. 274, pp. 568–573, 1996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. F J Ayalaet al., Origin of the metazoan phyla: Molecular clocks confirm palaeontological estimates,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, Vol. 95, pp. 606–611, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. A B Smith and K J Peterson, Dating the time of origin of major clades: Molecular clocks and the fossil record,Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 30, pp. 65–88, 2002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Survey of India, Alandi Road, 411 006, Pune

    P. V. Sukumaran

Authors
  1. P. V. Sukumaran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. V. Sukumaran.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sukumaran, P.V. Cambrian explosion of life: theBig Bang in metazoan evolution. Reson 9, 38–50 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02837591

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02837591

Keywords

Search

Navigation