Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History (56 page)

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, 38
n

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, 47
n
, 302
n
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, 81
n

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

of
Dinomischus
, 149–50

of echinoderms, 302

of
Emeraldella
, 181–84

excavation and dissection of, 87–91

of
Habelia
, 179

of
Hallucigenia
, 153–57

of
Leanchoilia
, 181–84

of
Marrella
, 107–21

of
Molaria
, 178–79

monographs on, 97

of multicellular animals, 55

of
Naraoia
, 164–67

of
Nectocaris
, 145–47

of
Odaraia
, 173–76

of
Odontogriphus
, 147–49

of
Opabinia
, 124–36

orientations of, 91–93

part and counterpart for, 93–96

of
Pikaia
, 321–23

Precambrian, 57–59

Precambrian, artifact theory of, 271–75

preserved in silica, 101

of
Sanctacaris
, 186–88

of
Sarotrocercus
, 179–80

of
Sidneyia
, 176–78

of soft–bodied animals, 60–64, 225

of teeth, 60

three–dimensionality of, 242

Walcott’s examination of, 244–45

of
Waptia
, 138–39

of
Wiwaxia
, 189–93

of
Yohoia
, 121–24

Freud, Sigmund, 44, 81

Frost, Robert, 291

Galápagos Islands, 286, 301

Galileo Galilei, 16, 289

genes, transferred between species, 38n genetic systems, “aging” of, 230–31

genius, 100

geographic range, mass extinctions and, 306

Geological Survey of Canada, 76, 114, 127, 199

geology, 44–45

continental drift in, 279

time scale in, 53–55

gill branches, 104

of
Opabinia
, 133

Glaessner, Martin, 311

Glenn, Libby, 17

gnathobase, 105

Goddard, Robert H., 248

Gombos, A. M., Jr., 307

Grand Canyon, 260n

Granger, W., 296–97

Granton Sandstone (Scotland), 149

Gray, Asa, 290