Lecture: MILLENNIUM LECTURE: The Burgess Shale and the Evolution of Life
Speaker:
Entry Fee
Members: Free
Visitors: £5.00
Date and Time
19:30 -
Location
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN
Lecture Description
This lecture will take place at the Assembly Rooms, Bath.
About half a billion years ago the world changed forever, with an extraordinary event in evolution known as the Cambrian “explosion”. The geologically abrupt appearance of animal fossils was obvious long before the time of Darwin, but only in the last few years has the Cambrian “explosion” become the focus of scientific scrutiny. A major catalyst has been the documentation of the extraordinary fossils from the Burgess Shale of British Columbia, and similar faunas from China and Greenland. The problems posed are profound: what triggered this event? Why was it so rapid (or was it)? What are the consequences for our understanding of evolution? Just as the Burgess Shale opens a window into Cambrian life, so the Cambrian “explosion” opens new perspectives into our place in evolution.
By ticket only: members free, non-members £2.00 from Elizabeth Devon, 01225 742752