Learn more about a time period marked by an intense burst of evolution. 3 min read The Cambrian period, part of the Paleozoic era, produced the most intense burst of evolution ever known.

Internal, genetic factors were also crucial. Recent research suggests that the period prior to the Cambrian explosion saw the gradual evolution of a "genetic tool kit" of genes that govern ...

and was the worst biological catastrophe that Earth has endured since the Cambrian period. Scientists had previously thought that the land ecosystems experienced extinction from the same volcanic ...

3 min read During the Ordovician period, part of the Paleozoic era, a rich variety of marine life flourished in the vast seas and the first primitive plants began to appear on land—before the ...

visitors can follow fossil evidence tracing the evolution of life during the Cambrian period — the first geological period of the Paleozoic era — which lasted from 541 million to 485 million ...

Visitors at the Miraculous Life in the Ancient Oceans: Exhibition of Premium Fossils from the Cambrian Chengjiang Biota, held at the Natural History Museum of China in Beijing. WANG QIAN/CHINA ...