Numbers of the Cambrian
In the Beginning:
Early Characteristics of the Cambrian Seas
Evolutionary Body Parts: What Came First?
Name this creature!
Cambrian Trivia
100
The Cambrian Period took place from______ to _______
541 million to 485.4 million years ago
100
During the Cambrian period all life lived
in the water
100
What tool would you need to see early Cambrian creatures?
A microscope
100
The Cambrian period was filled with animals that were called (vertebrates of invertebrates?)
Invertibrates
100
The pressure to adapt is stronger on the prey than on the predator: if the predator fails to win a contest, it loses_______ if the prey is the loser, it loses _______
A meal; its life!
100
Pikaia: The first sea worms developed ________ to swim away from predators?
A notochord. (a rodlike primitive backbone)
200
This Period lasted for how many years?
This period lasted about 53 million years
200
Very early in the Cambrian, the seafloor was covered by a "mat," made of
bacteria
200
Where did the earliest Cambrian animals live?
On the seafloor
200
What was the name of the first preditor that ever lived?
Anomalocaris
200
Anomalocaris
200
What creature is this fossel?
300
The Cambrian Explosion was not a real explosion. It took ______________ years for animals to evolve
53 million years
300
What important element did the blue-green algae produce that made life possible?
Oxygen
300
How did the earliest Cambrian animals eat?
They waited for bacteria to float by to grab it. Food had to bump into the creatures -- as they had a digestive system but no eyes, no mouth.
300
What did creatures develop first? A mouth or legs?
Mouth
300
How would you know that this creature is both prey and predator?
Prey: because it has a protective carapace, and fifty legs for protection and fleeing.
Preditor because it has strong claws to capture food.
300
Trilobites are distantly related to
Arachnids: Crabs, scorpions, spiders, and also, maybe beetles
400
For the first 3.3 billion years, the earth had how many animals living on it?
Zero!
From 4.6 billion years ago until 542 million years ago the Earth had no life on it.
400
The first life that created oxygen was called _______.
Blue-green algae.
400
What was the first thing that happened to set off the Cambrian explosion?
The creatures detached from the seafloor.
400
What came first, the evolution of eyes, or jointed legs?
Eyes
400
How do you know that this creature has a mouth and eyes?
Because jointed legs evolved after mouths and eyes.
400
The biggest trilobite ever found was 
27 inches
500
The earliest creatures were so tiny and made up of ______ cell.
One cell, or unicellular.
500
Oxygen led to the formation of larger _________
Creatures!
500
When creatures detached from the seafloor what did they look for?
Food
500
The earliest creatures hunted by:
Smell, vibration, and touch.
500
Predator or Prey?
Wiwaxia: Prey
500
The second savage of the Cambrian Period is called:
Opabinia -- the second savage of the Cambrian
600
The Cambrian Explosion means that animals started to evolve that were made from more than ________ cell!
One cell.
They were multicellular. That means that many cells got together and shared tasks to make a whole creature.
600
Were the Cambrian seas peaceful or savage in the very beginning?
Peaceful
600
What was the first evolutionary body part that Cambrian creatures formed?
A mouth, that looked like a pineapple ring.
600
When predators could see their prey from a distance, prey needed ways to help themselves! What did the prey do to help themselves?
They developed armor, spines, poison, camouflage, legs, shells.
600
What is this creature called and why is it important?
Pikaia; developed a notochord
600
I was the most successful creature that ever lived on the planet. I was born ______________million years ago and died___________________MYA.
545 MYA to 250 MYA