Burgess Shale Paper
The Burgess Shale (definition)
Array of fossils in Canada which describes marine invertebrate ancient ancestors
This comb jelly species was the focus of a genome sequencing project to better understand early animal evolution.
Mnemiopsis leidyi
Annelid with protrusions similar to earthworms, misinterpreted as a mollusk
Wiwaxia
Event that signified rapid emergence and evolution in marine life ~500 million years ago
Cambrian Explosion
Henry Walcott
According to genomic data, this animal group, not sponges, may be the sister group to all other animals.
Ctenophores
Armored slug with with trig shells at ends, related to Wiwaxia
Halkieria
Evolutionary history based on luck of the draw
Contingency
Stephen Jay Gould
Unlike most animals, Mnemiopsis leidyi uses these specialized sticky cells to capture prey. What are they called?
Colloblasts
"Oddball" of the shale, no linkage to existing phyla, "dream-like" appearance
Hallucigenia
Process where distantly related organisms develop similar traits due to similar environmental pressures
Convergent Evolution
Argued against the ideas and claims made in "Wonderful Life"
Simon Conway Morris
Despite having muscles, Mnemiopsis leidyi lacks many of the genes found in these body-layer-derived bilateral cell types. What are these cells called?
Mesodermal cells
"Oddball" of shale, linked to arthropods, appendages along side of body
Anomalocaris
a group that includes an ancestor and all its descendants (monophyletic group)
Clade
Cambridge paleontologist who restudied the Burgess Shale and found implications for evolution and history of life
Harry Whittington
What phylum/clade is Trichoplax adhaerens categorized in?
a) Ctenophora
b) Placozoa
c) Cnidaria
d) Bilateria
b) Placozoa
Eel-like creature, ancestor to all vertebrares
Pikaia
Overlapping DNA segments that together represent a consensus region of DNA
Contig