Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Science

Huayuan biota decodes Earth's first Phanerozoic mass extinction

Around 540 million years ago, Earth's biosphere underwent a pivotal transformation, shifting from a microbe-dominated world to one teeming with animal life, as nearly all major animal phyla appeared abruptly in the fossil record over a very short geological time interval. This landmark evolutionary...

Huayuan biota decodes Earth's first Phanerozoic mass extinction
Image: Phys.org
Around 540 million years ago, Earth's biosphere underwent a pivotal transformation, shifting from a microbe-dominated world to one teeming with animal life, as nearly all major animal phyla appeared abruptly in the fossil record over a very short geological time interval. This landmark evolutionary event is known as the Cambrian Explosion.

Originally published at Phys.org

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