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Animal emergence 540 mln years ago not an "explosion": study
Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-22 03:54:57|Editor: yan
WASHINGTON, May 21 (Xinhua) -- A research from the University of Oxford suggested a new theory that for most animals the Cambrian Explosion around 540 to 550 million years ago was a gradual process, but happened no earlier than 550 million years ago.
According to a paper published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team at Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the University of Lausanne carried out a comprehensive analysis of early fossil euarthropods from every different possible type of fossil preservation.
The Cambrian Explosion produced the largest and most diverse grouping of animals Earth has ever seen, namely the euarthropods.
Euarthropoda contains the insects, crustaceans, spiders, trilobites, and a huge diversity of other animal forms alive and extinct. They comprise over 80 percent of all animal species on the planet and are key components of all of Earth's ecosystems.
More:
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-05/22/c_137196000.htm
