Page 78 - The Cambrian Evidence that Darwin Failed to Comprehend
P. 78

The Cambrian Evidence That Darwin Failed to Comprehend

                   Walcott discovered the remains of certain soft-bodied organisms
                   that at first sight appeared very mysterious. He tried to identify
                   them and to understand why he had found them there, since accord-
                   ing to the state of knowledge at the time, no such fossils should have
                   been present. Realizing that his findings were extraordinarily im-
                   portant, Walcott immediately set to studying the exceedingly well
                   preserved specimens he had uncovered.
                        The oldest Cambrian strata contained animal fossils that dis-
                   played a magnificent variety and complexity, opening a window on-
                   to a period hundreds of millions of years in the past. Although these
                   fossils belonged to soft-bodied organisms, they were exceptionally
                   well preserved. The fossils enclosed between the very thin layers of
                   rock were like miniature X-rays, revealing details of even their soft
                   tissues. He found fossils belonging to various known groups, of ma-
                   rine creatures, most of them soft-bodied, including brachiopods,
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