Darwin's Dilemma

              During this lab we watched the movie Darwin's Dilemma. Darwin was trying to give a plausible geological reasoning for the sudden emergence of many diverse and complex animal species that were appearing in the fossils found during the Cambrian explosion. The Cambrian fossil record contained an unusually high volume of fossils that preserved the soft tissue of the fossilized organisms which allowed the paleontologists to examine their anatomy. Many arthropods were found during this period. Many of these fossils were found in the Burgess Shale Formation. The Burgess Shale is located in British Columbia's Yoho National Park as well as in an area of the Canadian Rocky Mountains known as the Burgess Pass. The Burgess Shale contained one of the best records of the Cambrian fossils. Life was believed to be restricted to the world's oceans during this time. The land was unproductive and subject to erosion which led to mudslides where sediment intermittently rolled into the seas and buried marine organisms. The Burgess Shale was discovered by Charles D. Walcott.