When did abundant fossil evidence first appear in the geologic record?
1 Answer
In the Cambrian Era strata.
Explanation:
One of the mysteries of the history of life is the so called Cambrian explosion. "Gaylord Simpson The Meaning of Evolution ( p 18 ) Most of major phylum appear suddenly as fossils in the Cambrian strata. There is no evidence of transitional forms leading to the appearance of the vast variety of fossils found in the Cambrian Era.
D Axelrod Science 128:7 1958
If any event if life's history resembles man's creation myths it is this sudden diversification of marine life when multicellular organisms took over as the dominant actors in evolution. Baffling and embarrassing to Darwin this event still dazzles us and stands as a major biological revolution on a par with the invention of self-replicatoin and the origin of the eukariotic cell. the animal phyla emerged out of the Precambrian mist with most of the attributes of their modern descendants. ( Stefan Bengtson Nature 345:765 1990)
From almost no fossils to a vast abundance of fossils of seven major phylum the Cambrian Era was truly an explosion in the geological record.
