1. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Advent of the Metazoans
Multicellular organisms begin to become common
in fossil record of Neoproterozoic
Fossils found on every continent
Fossils are impressions of soft bodied organisms
Metazoans are multicellular organisms the possess
more than one kind of cell and cells are
organized into organs and tissue.

2. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Advent of the Metazoans
Ediacaran Fauna – Rawnsley Quartzite – myBP
first found in Ediacara Hills of Australia

3. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Advent of the Metazoans Ediacaran Fauna
Cyclomedusa
Jellyfish?

4. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Advent of the Metazoans Ediacaran Fauna
Dickinsonia
Flatworms or annelids

5. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Advent of the Metazoans Ediacaran Fauna
Spriggina sp.

6. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Advent of the Metazoans Ediacaran Fauna
Charniodiscus
Sea pen or soft coral?

7. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Advent of the Metazoans Ediacaran Fauna
Kimberella sp.
Mollusc?

8. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Advent of the Metazoans Ediacaran Fauna
Parvancorina
Prototrilobite?

9. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Advent of the Metazoans Ediacaran Fauna
Parvincorina to
Trilobite?

10. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE
Advent of the Metazoans
Ediacaran Fauna

11. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Advent of the Metazoans
Organisms with Skeletons - Proterozoic
Cloudina
Tube (CaCO3)-dwelling worm?

12. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Advent of the Metazoans
Other Proterozoic Advances
Metazoan embryos (~570 myBP)
Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation, China

13. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells
Organisms with Skeletons – Paleozoic
Tommotian Fauna
Found in Siberia
Small shelly fossils
Shells are phosphatic
Primarily molluscs and
sponges

14. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells
Organisms with Skeletons – Paleozoic

15. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells
THE BURGESS SHALE Mt. Wapta, near Field, BC

16. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Part of the Cambrian Stephen Formation
Mt. Wapta, near Field, BC
First studied by Charles D. Walcott beg. 1909
Secretary of Smithsonian Institution
Later studied by Harry B. Whittington in 1960s
Geological Survey of Canada
Preserved as carbonized remains
Many soft parts preserved

17. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells THE BURGESS SHALE Walcott
Whittington

18. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE
Animals with Shells
THE BURGESS SHALE

19. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE
Animals with Shells
THE BURGESS SHALE

20. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE
Animals with Shells
THE BURGESS SHALE

21. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Extraordinary assemblage of fossils
Four major groups of arthropods
trilobites, crustaceans, scorpions, insects
Sponges Molluscs
Onycophorans Crinoids
Three phyla of worms
Corals
Chordates
Organisms that defy classification!

22. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Vauxia (sponge)

23. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Olenoides (trilobite)

24. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Sidneyia (arthropod)

25. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Waptia (arthropod)

26. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Opabinia (arthropod)

27. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Haplophrentis (gastropod)

28. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Wiwaxia (mollusc?)

29. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals without Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Aysheaia (onycophoran or velvet worm)

30. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals without Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Hallucigenia (?)

31. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals Related to US! THE BURGESS SHALE
Pikaia (Chordata)
Notochord and V-shaped
muscles

32. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals with Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Canadaspis (crustacean)

33. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals With Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Anomalocaris (crustacean)
60 cm long

34. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Animals With Shells THE BURGESS SHALE
Marrella (crustacean) most common Burgess Shale fossil

35. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE
Animals with Shells
THE BURGESS SHALE

36. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE
Animals with Shells
THE BURGESS SHALE

37. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE
Animals with Shells
THE BURGESS SHALE

38. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE
Animals With Shells
CHENGJIANG FAUNA

39. EARLY PALEOZOIC LIFE Lagerstätten
Lagerstätten [meaning "(fossil) deposit places" in
German] are geological fossil deposits that are rich
with varied, well-preserved fossils, representing a
wide variety of life from a particular era.
These spectacular fossil deposits represent an
amazing "snapshot" in time.
Ediacaran, Burgess and Chengjiang deposits are
good examples.