Darwin's dilemma: the realities of the Cambrian ‘explosion’

@article{morris_06, abstract = {The Cambrian ‘explosion’ is widely regarded as one of the fulcrum points in the history of life, yet its origins and causes remain deeply controversial. New data from the fossil record, especially of Burgess Shale-type Lagerst\"{a}tten, indicate, however, that the assembly of bodyplans is not only largely a Cambrian phenomenon, but can already be documented in fair detail. This speaks against a much more ancient origin of the metazoans, and current work is doing much to reconcile the apparent discrepancies between the fossil record, including the Ediacaran assemblages of latest Neoproterozoic age and molecular ‘clocks’. Hypotheses to explain the Cambrian ‘explosion’ continue to be generated, but the recurrent confusion of cause and effect suggests that the wrong sort of question is being asked. Here I propose that despite its step-like function this evolutionary event is the inevitable consequence of Earth and biospheric change.}, author = {Morris, Simon C. }, citeulike-article-id = {2805794}, doi = {10.1098/rstb.2006.1846}, journal = {Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences}, keywords = {cambrian, evolution, molecular\_clock}, month = {June}, number = {1470}, pages = {1069--1083}, posted-at = {2008-05-16 21:02:17}, priority = {2}, title = {Darwin's dilemma: the realities of the Cambrian ‘explosion’}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2006.1846}, volume = {361}, year = {2006} }

TY - JOUR ID - morris_06 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2805794 TI - Darwin's dilemma: the realities of the Cambrian ‘explosion’ JF - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences VL - 361 IS - 1470 SP - 1069 EP - 1083 N2 - The Cambrian ‘explosion’ is widely regarded as one of the fulcrum points in the history of life, yet its origins and causes remain deeply controversial. New data from the fossil record, especially of Burgess Shale-type Lagerstätten, indicate, however, that the assembly of bodyplans is not only largely a Cambrian phenomenon, but can already be documented in fair detail. This speaks against a much more ancient origin of the metazoans, and current work is doing much to reconcile the apparent discrepancies between the fossil record, including the Ediacaran assemblages of latest Neoproterozoic age and molecular ‘clocks’. Hypotheses to explain the Cambrian ‘explosion’ continue to be generated, but the recurrent confusion of cause and effect suggests that the wrong sort of question is being asked. Here I propose that despite its step-like function this evolutionary event is the inevitable consequence of Earth and biospheric change. KW - cambrian KW - evolution KW - molecular_clock AU - Morris, Simon PY - 2006/06/29/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2006.1846 ER -