Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
Page 36
3.36 From D. E. G. Briggs, 1976. The arthropod Branchiocaris n. gen., Middle Cambrian, Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 264:1–29.
3.37 From D. E. G. Briggs, 1978. The morphology, mode of life, and affinities of Canadaspis perfecta (Crustacea: Phyllocarida), Middle Cambrian, Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B 281:439–87.
3.39, 3.40(A–C) From H. B. Whittington, 1977. The Middle Cambrian trilobite Naraoia, Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B 280:409–43.
3.42, 3.43 From H. B. Whittington, 1978. The lobopod animal Aysheaia pedunculata Walcott, Middle Cambrian, Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B 284:165–97.
3.44 From D. E. G. Briggs, 1981. The arthropod Odaraia alata Walcott, Middle Cambrian, Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B 291:541–85.
3.47, 3.50 From H. B. Whittington, 1981. Rare arthropods from the Burgess Shale, Middle Cambrian, British Columbia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B 292:329–57.
3.51, 3.52, 3.53 From D. L. Bruton and H. B. Whittington. 1983. Emeraldella and Leanchoilia, two arthropods from the Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B 300:553–85.
3.55 From D. E. G. Briggs and D. Collins, 1988. A Middle Cambrian chelicerate from Mount Stephen, British Columbia. Palaeontology 31:779–98.
3.56, 3.57, 3.59 From S. Conway Morris, 1985. The Middle Cambrian metazoan Wiwaxia corrugata (Matthew) from the Burgess Shale and Ogygopsis Shale, British Columbia, Canada. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B 307:507–82.
3.60, 3.61 From D. E. G. Briggs, 1979. Anomalocaris, the largest known Cambrian arthropod. Palaeontology 22:631–64.
3.63, 3.64 From H. B. Whittington and D. E. G. Briggs, 1985. The largest Cambrian animal, Anomalocaris, Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B 309:569–609.
3.65 From S. Conway Morris and H. B. Whittington, 1985. Fossils of the Burgess Shale. A national treasure in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada, Miscellaneous Reports 43:1–31.
3.67, 3.68, 3.69(A–B), 3.70 From H. B. Whittington and D. E. G. Briggs, 1985. The largest Cambrian animal, Anomalocaris, Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B 309:569–609.
3.73, 3.74 From D. E. G. Briggs and H. B. Whittington, 1985. Modes of life of arthropods from the Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 76:149–60.
4.1, 4.2, 4.3 Smithsonian Institution Archives, Charles D. Walcott Papers, 1851–1940 and undated. Archive numbers 82–3144, 82–3140, and 83–14157.
5.3 Drawing by Charles R. Knight: neg. no. 39443, courtesy of Department of Library Services, American Museum of Natural History.
5.5 Courtesy of A. Seilacher.
5.6 From R. C. Moore, C. G. Lalicker, and A. G. Fischer. Invertebrate Fossils. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc. Copyright 1952.
5.7 From A. Yu. Rozanov, “Problematica of the Early Cambrian,” in Problematic Fossil Taxa, ed. Antoni Hoffman and Matthew H. Nitecki. Copyright © 1986 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Reprinted by permission.
Index
Actaeus, 180–81
ecology of, 221
Leanchoilia and, 183
administrators, 241, 245
Agassiz, Louis, 212–13, 242
Aitken, J. D., 77
Alalcomenaeus, 180–81, 221–22
Allmon, Warren, 114
Alvarez, Luis, 280–81, 305
American Anthropological Association, 256–57
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 242
Amiskwia, 150–53, 222
Amoeba, 58
Amphioxus, 321–22
analogy, 213, 231
anatomy of arthropods, 103–6
animals:
origin of, 55–60
phyla of, 99
as polyphyletic group, 38n soft tissue of, 60–61
see also particular animals Annelida, 127, 137
Onychophora and, 168
Pikaia as, 321
Anomalocaris, 14, 194–206, 213–14, 217, 218, 225, 239
earlier animals similar to, 227
extinction of, 236–37
in Knight’s and current illustrations, 25–26
monograph on, 82
outside of Burgess Shale, 224
reclassification of, 109
reinterpreted as appendage of larger animal, 157
Anomalocaris canadensis, 201
Anomalocaris nathorsti, 201
anostracans, 129
antennae:
on Marrella, 117–20
on Sidneyia, 177
Anthropological Society of Washington, 256
Aphrodita (see mouse), 189
Aplacophora, 193n
archaeocyathids, 314–15
Archaeopteryx, 63–64
arthropods:
Anomalocaris and, 194, 206
bivalved, 158
in Burgess Shale, 25, 188, 208–9
in Burgess Shale, ecology of, 219–22
in Burgess Shale, genealogies of, 216–17
in Burgess Shale, rare, 178–81
in Burgess Shale, reexamination of, 138–39
classification and anatomy of, 102–6
elimination of Trilobitoidea class of, 167–68
groups within, 137
Onychophora and, 168
Opabinia as, 127–29, 131–32
Walcott’s ordering of, 271
see also particular arthropods artifact theory, 271–74
Atdabanian stage, 226, 316
Aysheaia, 25, 91, 168–72, 188, 238, 292
as ancestor of insects, 237
ecology of, 221
Backus, David, 17–18
Bailey, George, 14
Bakker, Bob, 141
Banffia, 212
Barrois, Charles, 251
beetles, 47
benthic organisms, 219
Bidentia, 109
bilateral symmetry, 289, 290
biramous limbs, 104–5
birds:
Diatryma gigantea, 296–97
phororhacids, 298–99
bivalved arthropods, 158
Branchiocaris as, 158–61
Canadaspis as, 161–63
Odaraia as, 173–76
Boas, Franz, 255–57
borhyaenids, 298–99
bracts, 149
brain, linear theories of evolution of, 29–31
Branchiocaris pretiosa, 94, 158–61, 219–20
branchiopods, 109
Opabinia as, 125–26
Yohoia as, 121, 122n Brandon Bridge fauna, 63
Briggs, Derek E. G., 14, 17, 83–84, 121
on Alalcomenaeus, 221–22
on Anomalocaris, 196, 198–206
bivalved arthropods studied by, 157–58
on Branchiocaris, 158–61
after Burgess Shale studies, 207
on Canadaspis, 161–63
on classification of Burgess arthropods, 217
on conodonts, 149
on diversification and competition, 235
on ecology of Burgess arthropods, 219
on Odaraia, 173–76
problem species at Burgess Shale listed by, 212
on reaction to Opabinia interpretation, 126
on Sanctacaris, 187
on Sidneyia, 195
Sidneyia counterpart found by, 96
on specialization of Burgess animals, 237
as Whittington’s student, 141, 144
Bruton, David, 83
on Emeraldella and Leanchoilia, 181, 183–84
“merostomoids” studied by, 137–38
on Sidneyia, 87–91, 176–78
three�
��dimensional models made by, 96
Bryan, William Jennings, 261, 262
Burgess, 69n
Burgessia, 121
ecology of, 219
Hughes on, 138–39
Burgess Shale, 13–19
alternative outcomes for fauna of, 293–99
arthropods in, 103, 188
Atdabanian fauna in, 317
bivalved arthropods in, 158
coelomates in, 38n
cone of diversity in misinterpretations of, 45–48
contingency in, 51–52, 288–89, 292
decimation of fauna of, 233–39
disparity followed by decimation in, 207–12
diversity and disparity of life in, 49
ecology of arthropods of, 219–22
ecology of fauna of, 222–24
environmental conditions creating, 62
Hallucigenia as symbolic of, 153–54
history of discovery of, 70–78
importance of, 280
importance of Canadaspis in, 162–63
importance of fossils of, 23
importance of transformation in interpretation of, 79–81
Knight’s illustration of life in, 25–26
life following, 63–64
life preceding, 55–60
location of, 65–69
Marrella fossils in, 107–21
Opabinia fossils in, 124–36
origins of fauna of, 228–33
other sites similar to, 224–27
pattern of maximal initial proliferation in, 301–4
phyla found in, 99–100
Pikaia in, 321–23
polychaetes in, 163–64
preservation of fossils in, 69–70
relationships between organisms in, 212–18
shift in interpretation of fossils of, 172–73
Sidneyia fossil in, 85–96
three–dimensionality of fossils of, 84–85, 101
types of fossils in, 25
as typical of Cambrian period, 218
Walcott’s intent to examine, 251–52
Walcott’s shoehorn error on, 244–53, 260–63, 266–77
Waptia fossils in, 138–39
“worms” in, 142–43
Yohoia fossils in, 121–24
Butler, Nicholas Murray, 256
calyx, 149
Cambrian explosion, 24, 55–60, 208, 225, 226, 234, 310
Chinese fossils of, 226
first fauna of, 314–16
life following, 64
modern fauna in, 316–17
theories of origins of, 228–30
Walcott on, 263–77
Cambrian period:
Burgess Shale fossils as typical of, 218
ecology of, 222–24
camera lucida, 85
Canadaspis perfecta, 109, 121, 161–63, 188
ecology of, 219, 223
Canadia, 154
Canadia sparsa (Hallucigenia), 154
cannibalism, 96
Capra, Frank, 14, 287
carbon:
in fossils of soft-bodied animals, 84–85
isotopes of, 58
replaced by silica in fossils, 101
Carboniferous period, 61
Camarvonia, 109
Carnegie, Andrew, 242, 253
Carnegie Institution, 242
carnivores, 96
Cathedral Escarpment (Burgess Shale), 69
Cenozoic era, 54
chaetognaths, 151
Chamberlin, T. C, 247
chelicerates (Chelicerata), 25, 103, 106, 177
Sanctacaris as, 187–88
chimpanzees, 29
Chordata, 321
chordates, Pikaia as, 321–22
Civil War, 284–85
Clark, D. L., 307
coelomates, 38
Coleman, Al, 17–18
Collins, Desmond, 18, 77, 185–86, 224–25
Collins, Marianne, 18
competition, 229
decimation of Burgess fauna and, 234
cone of diversity of life, 39–42, 223
Haeckel’ s, 263–67
in misinterpretation of Burgess Shale, 45–50, 268–69
Conklin, Edwin Grant, 262
Conodontophorida, 149
conodonts, 148–49
continental drift, 279
contingency:
in Burgess Shale, 288–89, 292, 301–4
Darwin on, 290
historical, 284–85
in human origins, 291
in mass extinctions, 306
patterns illustrating, 299–301
portrayed in fiction, 285–86
portrayed in films, 287–88
Conway Morris, Simon, 14, 17, 83–84, 293
on Amiskwia, 150–53
Anomalocaris and, 196
on Burgess polychaetes, 163–64
after Burgess Shale studies, 207
on Dinomischus, 149–50
on diversification and competition, 234–35
on ecology of Burgess fauna, 222–24, 230
on Hallucigenia, 153–57
on Laggania and Peytoia, 197–98
on Nectocaris, 145–47
on Odontogriphus, 147–49
on Ottoia, 225
on Pikaia, 321, 322
on polychaetes, 294, 295
problem species at Burgess Shale listed by, 212
on reaction to Opabinia interpretation, 126
on survival of Burgess fauna, 237–38
Walcott’s specimens reexamined by, 80, 142–45
as Whittington’s student, 141
on Wiwaxia, 189–93
Wiwaxia studied by, 92, 96
coral, 38n
counterparts of fossils, 93–96
coxa, 105
creationism:
Cambrian explosion and, 56
Scopes trial and, 261
Cretaceous mass extinction, 54, 278
diatoms’ survival during, 307–8
extraterrestrial–impact theory of, 280
small animals surviving, 307
crustaceans (Crustacea), 25, 103, 106, 109
Anomalocaris as, 194
bivalved arthropods as, 158–59
Canadaspis, 161–63
Marrella as precursor of, 120
Naraoia, 164–67
cyanophytes, 58
Darwin, Charles, 16, 107, 263, 282
on Cambrian explosion, 271–72
on contingency, 290
on extinctions, 300
on fitness and survival, 236
on incomplete fossil record, 60
on mass extinctions, 305
on origins of multicellular animals, 56–57
on Precambrian life, 270
Walcott on, 257–59
wedge metaphor used by, 299
Darwinism:
competition in, 229
decimation of Burgess fauna and, 234
filling of ecological niches in, 228
portrayed in fiction, 285–86
tautology argument and, 236
Davis, N. C, 225
Day, Bill, 32
decimation, 47n, 302n of Burgess fauna, 233–39
disparity followed by, 207–12
problem of origins of, 227
Devonian period, fossils of, 61, 63
diatoms, 307–8
Diatryma gigantea, 296–97
Diceros, 68
Dinomischus, 149–50
dinosaurs, 280
Knight’s illustrations of, 23
mammals and, 318
disparity in anatomy, 49
in Burgess fauna, origins of, 228–33
followed by decimation, 207–12
problem of origins of, 227
diversity of life, 49
in Burgess Shale, 45–47
cone of, 39–42
decimation in, 47n
dorsal side, 105
Dzik, J., 227
earth:
age of, 45n, 57
age of, Kelvin’s estimate of, 279
origin of life on, 289, 309
echinoderms, 302
Haeckel on, 265–66
ecology:
of Burgess arthropods, 219–22
of Burgess Shale, competition in, 229
of Burgess Shale fauna, 222–24
in theories of origins of Burgess fauna, 228
Ediacara fauna, 58–60, 231, 311–14
edrioasteroids, 302
elasipods, 156
Eldonia, 195–96, 212
Eldredge, Niles, 81n
Emeraldella, 181–84, 219
Eno, W. P., 254
Entoprocta, 149–50
environment, filling of niches in, 228
Eocene epoch, 296
Eohippus (Hyracotherium), 36
Equus (horse), 36
eras, geological, 54
eukaryotic cells, 58
evolution of, 309–11
evolution:
alternative outcomes of, 293–99
Cambrian explosion seen as disproof of, 56–57
chain of being theory of, 28–29
cone of diversity illustration of, 39–42
decimation of Burgess fauna and, 233–39
of eukaryotic cells, 309–11
expressed in taxonomy, 97
homology and analogy in, 213
of horses, 36
of humans, 319–21
linear theories of, 29–31
of mammals, 318
“march of progress” illustrations of, 31–35
mass extinctions in, 305–8
monophyly and divergence in, 38
of multicellular animals, 311–14
origins of Burgess fauna and, 228–33
origins of disparity and decimation in, 227
portrayed in fiction, 285–86
taxonomy in, 98–100
Walcott on, 257–63
exoskeletons, 104
extinctions:
of Burgess fauna, 233–39
Darwin on, 300
decimation in, 47n
“inverted cone” model of, 47–48
mass, 305–8
eyes:
of Odaraia, 173–74
of Opabinia, 127, 132
on Sarotrocercus, 179
Field (British Columbia), 65
Fieldia, 109
fieldwork, myth of, 80
fish, 317
fitness, Darwinian, 236
food grooves, 105
of Sidneyia inexpectans, 93
Fortier, Y. O., 114
Fosdick, R. B., 261
fossils.
of Actaeus, 180
of Alalcomenaeus, 180–81
of Amiskwia, 150–53
of Anomalocaris, 194–206, 199
of Aysheaia, 168–72
of Branchiocaris, 157–61
of Burgess Shale, 23, 24
at Burgess Shale, preservation of, 69–70
of Canadaspis, 161–63
of Diatryma gigantea, 296–97