Every so often, life on Earth steps onto a nearly empty playing field and faces a spectacular opportunity. Something major changes—in the atmosphere or in the oceans, or in the organisms themselves ...

A recent study published in Biology Letters examines how the evolution of bivalves—which are a class of invertebrates frequently comprised of oysters, clams, scallops, and mussels—might have ...

Ancient fossils unearthed in Morocco reveal parasitic worms burrowing into mollusc shells approximately 480 million years ago ...

The Cambrian explosion was an extraordinary phenomenon in the evolution of life on the planet that led to the emergence of many animal phyla and the diversification of species. During this period, ...

An evolutionary burst 540 million years ago filled the seas with an astonishing diversity of animals. The trigger behind that revolution is finally coming into focus. A series of dark, craggy ...

A spiky worm with legs like noodles. A giant predator that looks like a cross between a walrus and a housefly. Many animals that evolved during the Cambrian period, 541 million to 485 million years ...

Early animals formed complex ecological communities more than 550 million years ago, setting the evolutionary stage for the Cambrian explosion, according to a new study. Early animals formed complex ...

The Cambrian Period is the first geological time period of the Paleozoic Era (the "time of ancient life"). This period lasted from 541 million to 485.4 million years ago, or more than 55 million years ...