Articles on Cambrian explosion

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Here’s the fossil… what can you tell about how this animal lived? Matteo De Stefano/MUSE-Science Museum

June 21, 2017

Reverse engineering mysterious 500-million-year-old fossils that confound our tree of life

Simon Darroch, Vanderbilt University and Imran Rahman, University of Oxford

With no identifiable body parts, it's hard to know how these fossilized creatures lived. A new approach models how the ocean's water would interact with their unique shapes – hinting at their lifestyle.

September 28, 2016

World’s oldest muscle-fibre fossil reveals the origin of legs

Martin R. Smith, Durham University

Were legs a quirk of genetic mutation rather than an evolutionary inevitability?

September 28, 2016

‘Penis worm’ mouth monster: how we solved a prehistoric mystery

Jakob Vinther, University of Bristol and Greg Edgecombe, Natural History Museum

Uncovering the monsters of the prehistoric deep.

The cycles of nutrients into the oceans following the building of mountains may have been a prime driver of evolutionary change. John Long, Flinders University

July 16, 2015

Plate tectonics may have driven the evolution of life on Earth

Ross Large, University of Tasmania and John Long, Flinders University

The rise and fall of the essential elements for life could have influenced the way life evolved over many millions of years.

June 17, 2015

Five amazing extinct creatures that aren’t dinosaurs

Charlotte Stephenson, University of Hull

There's a lot more to palaeontology than just dinosaurs, as these incredible lifeforms demonstrate.

Sweeper feeders. Rob Nicholls, Palaeocreations

April 7, 2014

Scientists at work: revealing strange fossils from the first carnival of animals on Earth

David Harper, Durham University

In a recent paper in Nature, we described a strange marine animal, called Tamisiocaris. They were giants that swam in the oceans over 500 million years ago. They had strange looking appendages on their…

Marine life during the Cambrian explosion. A giant *Anomalocaris* investigates a trilobite, while *Opabinia* looks on from the right, and the ‘walking cactus’ *Diania* crawls underneath. Katrina Kenny & Nobumichi Tamura

September 13, 2013

Evolution’s ‘big bang’ explained (and it’s slower than predicted)

Mike Lee, University of Adelaide

The sudden appearance of a range of modern animals about half a billion years ago, during evolution’s “big bang”, has intrigued and puzzled generations of biologists from Charles Darwin onwards. A new…

Top contributors

Mike Lee
Professor in Evolutionary Biology (jointly appointed with South Australian Museum), Flinders University
John Long
John Long is a Friend of The Conversation.

Strategic Professor in Palaeontology, Flinders University
Martin R. Smith
Lecturer in Palaeontology, Durham University
Ross Large
Distinguished Professor of Geology, University of Tasmania
David Harper
Professor of Paleontology, Durham University
Charlotte Stephenson
PhD Candidate in Palaeoenvironments and Palaeobotany, University of Hull
Jakob Vinther
Lecturer in macroevolution, University of Bristol
Greg Edgecombe
Merit Researcher, Natural History Museum
Simon Darroch
Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vanderbilt University
Imran Rahman
Junior Research Fellow, University of Oxford