Before we get started, I guess we should actually distinguish, ‘What IS the Burgess Shale?’ Well, it is said to be a “shrouded legend” deep in the Canadian Rockies discovered in the early 1900s by Charles D. Walcott, notorious Smithsonian Secretary (Adler 2013). According to Haug, Caron, and Haug in their research article ‘Demecology in the Cambrian: Synchronized Molting in Arthropods from the Burgess Shale’ the Burgess is “arguably the best-known Konservat-Lagerstätte”. While the Burgess Shale is primarily known for the intricate preservation of soft-bodied creatures dating from the early Cambrian Period (Haug, Caron, Haug 2013); furthermore, what seems to make this specific site so special is the fact that not only the soft parts of these early bodies were found – there were some organisms found almost in full tact – eyes, tissues, and other soft parts that are normally not seen in fossils of this time period (Adler 2013).
Since Walcott’s discovery in 1901, due to extraordinary preservation, these restricted yet still widespread assemblages still remain slightly confusing; biologists, geologists, and me included research and wonder how these amazing specimens have been kept so well for millions of years (Gaines 2012). Academic Journal ‘Mechanism for Burgess Shale-type Preservation’ Robert Gaines along with many other infamous authors explain exactly that – they demonstrate in great detail just what the title says, the mechanisms of Burgess Shale-type preservation using many possibilities such as geochemical and sediment data from six different principal Burgess shale-type deposits and compare the different areas and the things and sediment found there (Gaines 2012).
Because the preservation of these specific soft organic ti...
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...however, with further research, it came to light that this was not just a “unique species” but an entire phyla that was new to science (Adler 2013). Why a new phyla? “What made the creatures seem new is they have no living descendants. They represent entire lineages, major branches on the tree of life, left behind by evolution…” (Adler 2013). While other lineages did survive-actually a collateral predecessor of the vertebrates, and that means us! (Adler 2013).
Gould saw this as an opening-a mystery even, which later inspired his book ‘Wonderful Life: Why Us?’ (Adler 2013). Finally, the realization has come: due to such things in the Burgess Shale, for whatever reason, we (humans) are here-living and thriving- and we are more than lucky to be here, because without the unique conditions, reconstruction, and years of evolution, we would most definitely not be here.
Skehan, J.W., Rast, N., Kohut, E., Hepburn, J.C., and Grimes, S.W. (1998) Precambrian and Paleozoic Mylonites of the Boston Avalon, NEIGC Field Trip Guide.
The Kimmeridge Clay Formation is the penultimate formation of the onshore British Jurrasic Succession. William Smith was the first to document this distinct formation on his map of 1815, and to name as the Oaktree Soil. In 1817, he gave the name Oaktree Clay for the layers of clay between the “Portland Rock” and “Coral Rag and Pisolite” but in 1816 Webster was the first to describe in details the formation and changed to the name now known as kimmeridge Clay Formation after the English village of Kimmeridge on Dorset’s “Jurassic Coast” a place frequently visited by fossil hunters. (Cox and Gallois, 1981).
: The Plesiadapiforms are tiny mouse like creatures that lived during the 10 million period between the extinction of dinosaurs and appearance of humans. This could be our primate ancient ancestor. This primate has around more than 120 different species of its kind.
Martin is confident that the extinctions must have been caused by “something outside the normal experience of mammals.”
Kamiak Butte is one of the few areas near Pullman that reflect the many geologic terms learned in class. This area is an example of an area that is extinct to the surrounding landforms. This butte is located in Whitman County, in between the cities of Colfax and Pullman, Washington. With an elevation of 3, 641 feet above sea level, Kamiak Butte has one of the highest elevations in all of Whitman County (1). The county park covers about 298 acres, and consists mainly of woodlands. Once one has climbed to the top of the butte, the sights become endless and breathe taking. To the north is Steptoe Butte, and southeast is Paradise Ridge and Moscow Mountain. Surrounding the top is endless views of loess dunes, and Blue Mountains that can be seen far into, to the southeast. The breath taking views, and short ten-minute drive from the Washington State University campus, make for Kamiak Butte being one of the most visited hikes in Whitman county (3). The hike offers the option for both those wanting to take a leisurely walk through nature, or a more rigorous adventure. The first hiking trail, that only consists of one mile, opens into a 3.5-mile trail that leads to the ridge of Kamiak Butte.
This sedimentary rock has hardened over the many years with sand shells, small pebbles, grains of sand and rocks of various sizes. In comparison to our 4.5 billion year old Earth, these sand shells might as well be brand new, when in reality they could be up to 1,000 years old. If the sandstone were to be replaced with calcite it would completely change the subclass of rock, it would then be chemical & organic limestone. The variation in sand stone is due to different rates of deposition and change in patterns of the sediment movement (Mc Knight, p. 384). These tightly compacted varying stones and shells will be weathered away by wind and waves over time and could eventually be reduced to a rock the size of your hand.
...These rocks include indurated conglomerates, coarse-grain granites, and Arkosic and breciated granites. Furthermore, there are evidences to indicate that faulting took place in the area. Hydrothermal and epithermal action must have intruded the rocks in the Goldfield area forming small stringers of quartz. There are also evidences of sedimentary rocks such as sandstones, limestone and conglomerates found near Roosevelt Lake (Eppinga, 2006).
The species A. afarensis is one of the better known australopithecines, with regards to the number of samples attributed to the species. From speculations about their close relatives, the gorilla and chimpanzee, A. afarensis’ probable social structure can be presumed. The species was named by Johanson and Taieb in 1973. This discovery of a skeleton lead to a heated debate over the validity of the species. The species eventually was accepted by most researchers as a new species of australopithecine and a likely candidate for a human ancestor.
In not being a science major, or really having much interest in science at all it was difficult for me to fully immerse myself into this subject. I was under the impression that the only idea of evolution was that of forward progress, the one that we all see in advertisements and on Google when you type in “evolution”. In stark contrast to this idea of evolution, Stephen J Gould presents a less restricted idea of evolution. He left some of the decision up to chance and showed this theory by discussing it within the Cambrian Burgess Shale. More specifically, there are two main themes represented in this book by Stephen J Gould: showing evolution as a ladder or cone, and if it were possible to “replay the tape of evolution” the results would be considerably different and specifically that humans may not come out of that result.
He realized that snake embryos had bumps where there should be legs. Which mean they probably evolved from a creature with legs. He noticed that whale embryos had teeth, but adult whales did not have teeth. The most shocking of his embryotic studies involved human embryos. He noted that the human embryos as slits around the neck, the same in fish. The difference is that in fish the develop into gills, and in human the become the bones of the inner ear. This showed that humans must be descended from fish. This led him to the conclusion that all species were somehow connected. He theorized that beginning with a common ancestor, species had changed dramatically over generations. Some species may add new body features, or lose them. He called this descent with
Snelling, D. (1999). Dating Dilemma: Fossil Wood in “Ancient” Sandstone. [online] Answers in Genesis. Available at: https://answersingenesis.org/fossils/dating-dilemma-fossil-wood-in-ancient-sandstone/ [Accessed 7 Aug.
Morris, S. C. (2009). Walcott, the Burgess Shale and rumours of a post-Darwinian world. Department of Earth Sciences University of Cambridge, 19(20). Retrieved from DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2009.08.046
There are several theories about how the Cambrian Explosion started. There were major changes in marine environments and chemistry from the late Precambrian into the Cambrian, and these also may have impacted the rise of mineralized skeletons among previously soft-bodied organisms. One theory as to what happened is that oxygen in the atmosphere, with the contribution of photosy...
Hussey, Russell C. Historical Geology: The Geologic History of North America. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1947. 379. Print