Darwin's Lost World: The Hidden History of Animal Life (Popular Science)

It greatly puzzled Darwin that the most ancient rocks, those dating before the Cambrian period, seemed to be barren of fossils when he would expect them to be teeming with life. Decades of work by modern paleontologists have indeed brought us amazing fossils from far beyond the Cambrian, from the depths of the Precambrian. Yet hidden in these depths is a great mystery--something happened around the Cambrian to dramatically speed up evolution and produce many of the early forms of animals we know today--and scientists don't really know what provided that spark. In this vibrantly written book, Martin Brasier, a leading paleontologist working on early life, takes us into the deep, dark ages of the Precambrian to explore Darwin's Lost World. Brasier is a master storyteller. As he explains what we now know of the strange creatures of these truly ancient times--540 million years ago--he takes readers to many far flung places around the globe, interweaving an engaging account of cutting-edge science with colorful and amusing anecdotes from his expeditions to Siberia, Outer Mongolia, and other remote places. As he shows, decoding the evidence in these ancient rocks--piecing together the puzzle of the Cambrian Explosion--is very challenging work. What they have discovered is that, just at the beginning of the Cambrian period, animals (mostly worms) began burrowing into the mud. Why they suddenly began burrowing, and how this might have changed the atmosphere, may be important clues to the mystery. Brasier gives his own take on the emerging answers, as one of the leading players in the field. A richly readable account of exciting expeditions and leading-edge science, Darwin's Lost World is a must-have book for all natural history buffs. "A rollicking account of Brasier's adventures seeking an answer to a question that vexed Charles Darwin." --Library Journal "Engaging." --New Scientist "If there is one book in this crop that Darwin himself would surely have appreciated, it is Darwin's Lost World." --Financial Times Darwin made a powerful argument for evolution in the Origin of Species, based on all the evidence available to him. But a few things puzzled him. One was how inheritance works - he did not know about genes. This book concerns another of Darwin's Dilemmas, and the efforts of modern palaeontologists to solve it. What puzzled Darwin is that the most very ancient rocks, before the Cambrian, seemed to be barren, when he would expect them to be teeming with life. Darwin speculated that this was probably because the fossils had not been found yet. Decades of work by modern palaeontologists have indeed brought us amazing fossils from far beyond the Cambrian, from the depths of the Precambrian, so life was certainly around. Yet the fossils are enigmatic, and something does seem to happen around the Cambrian to speed up evolution drastically and produce many of the early forms of animals we know today. In this book, Martin Brasier, a leading palaeontologist working on early life, takes us into the deep, dark ages of the Precambrian to explore Darwin's Lost World. Decoding the evidence in these ancient rocks, piecing together the puzzle of what happened over 540 million years ago to drive what is known as the Cambrian Explosion, is very difficult. The world was vastly different then from the one we know now, and we are in terrain with few familiar landmarks. Brasier is a master storyteller, and combines the account of what we now know of the strange creatures of these ancient times with engaging and amusing anecdotes from his expeditions to Siberia, Outer Mongolia, Barbuda, and other places, giving a vivid impression of the people, places, and challenges involved in such work. He ends by presenting his own take on the Cambrian Explosion, based on the picture emerging from this very active field of research. A vital clue involves worms - burrowing worms are one of the key signs of the start of the Cambrian. This is fitting: Darwin was inordinately fond of worms. It greatly puzzled Darwin that the most ancient rocks, those dating before the Cambrian period, seemed to be barren of fossils when he would expect them to be teeming with life. Decades of work by modern paleontologists have indeed brought us amazing fossils from far beyond the Cambrian, from the depths of the Precambrian. Yet hidden in these depths is a great mystery--something happened around the Cambrian to dramatically speed up evolution and produce many of the early forms of animals we know today--and scientists don't really know what provided that spark. In this vibrantly written book, Martin Brasier, a leading paleontologist working on early life, takes us into the deep, dark ages of the Precambrian to explore Darwin's Lost World. Brasier is a master storyteller. As he explains what we now know of the strange creatures of these truly ancient times--540 million years ago--he takes readers to many far flung places around the globe, interweaving an engaging account of cutting-edge science with colorful and amusing anecdotes from his expeditions to Siberia, Outer Mongolia, and other remote places. As he shows, decoding the evidence in these ancient rocks--piecing together the puzzle of the Cambrian Explosion--is very challenging work. What they have discovered is that, just at the beginning of the Cambrian period, animals (mostly worms) began burrowing into the mud. Why they suddenly began burrowing, and how this might have changed the atmosphere, may be important clues to the mystery. Brasier gives his own take on the emerging answers, as one of the leading players in the field. A richly readable account of far-flung expeditions and leading-edge science, Darwin's Lost World is a must-have book for all natural history buffs. "This book is about the quest to solve Darwin's Dilemma. Since Darwin's time, paleontologists have been seeking the hidden history of animals. And sure enough, they have found fossils, all over the world, going back far into the past; fossils that would have thrilled Darwin - large, enigmatic marine forms, and a veritable feast of tiny single cells. But the relatively sudden (geologically speaking) dawn of the modern world of animals - the 'Cambrian explosion' - has remained a puzzle. Was it really an 'explosion' of new forms? Or was it simply an explosion of fossils, once animals acquired hard parts which could be well preserved?" "In this book, Martin Brasier describes the nature and challenges of the quest, which has taken scientists to the remotest locations. He argues that the Cambrian explosion was real - a genuine and profound change affecting the whole Earth system. And the cause may have been intrinsic to life itself. Small changes can cascade into massive ones. It might only have taken the appearance of one or a handful of predators to change the world. The Cambrian explosion was a watershed: once life acquired teeth, the Earth was never the same again."--Jacket Darwin puzzled over why ancient Precambrian rocks seemed barren of life. Brasier describes the quest to shed light on Darwin's Lost World, the discovery of its strange creatures, and what drove the sudden flurry of evolution called the Cambrian Explosion, amid tales told with relish of expeditions to the remotest corners of the world. - ;Darwin made a powerful argument for evolution in the Origin of Species , based on all the evidence available to him. But a few things puzzled him. One was how inheritance works - he did not know about genes. This book concerns another of Darwin's Dilemmas, and "[Charles] Darwin was deeply puzzled. Beyond the rocks of the Cambrian, full of trilobites and other animal fossils, there seemed to be a thundering silence. Where were the ancestors of these animals? Were there long gaps in these anicent rocks? Was the story of the oldest life erased forever? Martin Brasier gives a vivid, compelling, personal account of the quest for Precambrian life. In an exhilarating journey that takes us to Siberia and Outer Mongolia, he shows what we have learned of the extraordinary creatures of the Precambrian, and the questions that remain