FOSSILS OF BURGESS SHALE PBSince its discovery in 1909 by Charles Doolittle Walcott, then Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the Burgess Shale in the Canadian Rocky Mountains has fascinated both scientists and the public with its plethora of weird wonders - life forms of the past so unfamiliar they cannot easily be assigned to known taxonomic groups. This century's most significant invertebrate fossil discovery, the Burgess Shale provides an unprecedented window into the explosive evolution during the Cambrian period that began about 540 million years ago, one of the most enigmatic episodes in the history of life. This book provides the first comprehensive set of illustrations of the extraordinary life forms revealed in the Burgess Shale. In addition to the more common fossilized hard skeletons, the Burgess Shale preserved the soft parts of these organisms, which provide a key to understanding the early evolution of the major groups of animals that inhabit the earth today. The Fossils of the Burgess Shale shows much remarkable detail - including digestive tracts and other internal organs - of creatures preserved in particles of mud fine enough to penetrate every crack and unevenness. The book begins with the history of exploration and research in the Burgess Shale, the geologic setting and preservation of the fossils, and a discussion of the Cambrian radiation, the period when almost all the major phyla of animals evolved. These introductory chapters are followed by 199 high-quality photographs and line drawings with detailed species accounts that describe important features of each specimen, as well as the ecology and taxonomy of each group. A complete list of all currently accepted species described from the Burgess Shale and a comprehensive bibliography follow the illustrations. The Fossil of the Burgess Shale is a compendium of fascinating Cambrian treasures that offer a rare glimpse into the nature of early life on our planet. They have figured prominently in recent evolutionary debates. The National Museum of Natural History, which houses more than 65,000 fossils collected by Walcott from the Burgess Shale, will open a new exhibition of the specimens in 1995. |
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affinities algae Amiskwia Anomalocaris appendages arthropods assemblage in terms Aysheaia brachiopods Branchiocaris brian Briggs British Columbia Burgess Shale animals Burgess Shale assemblage Burgess Shale fauna Burgess Shale fossils burgessensis burrows Cambrian radiation Cambrian Stephen Formation Canada Canadaspis carapace Cathedral Escarpment Chancelloria chelicerates Description Ediacaran Eldonia evidence Formation Burgess Shale Fossil Ridge genus Geological gess Shale Hallucigenia Hazelia head shield important reference Isham reconstruction Isoxys Leanchoilia Lethaia limbs lived Lower Cambrian Marianne Collins reconstruction Marrella metazoans Middle Cam Middle Cambrian Stephen morphology Mount Stephen Museum Naraoia numbers of individuals Occurrence Ogygopsis Shale Olenoides Opabinia organisms Ottoia pair Paleontology Phylum preserved priapulids proboscis Proportion of total range Rasetti Resser Rigby Scenella sclerites seafloor sediment setae shell Sidneyia Simonetta skeleton species spicules spines sponge Stephen Formation Burgess taxa telson terms of numbers Thaumaptilon tion tissues total Burgess Shale trilobites trunk Tuzoia USNM valves Vauxia Walcott Quarry Waptia Whittington Wiwaxia worms