[Diamond]

Many organisms found there did have precursors, but these were not discovered earlier because they were small and soft-bodied and thus not easily fossilized.

Have you ever heard of the Burgess Shale? There are many fossils of soft-tissued organisms that have been found there, as well as tens of thousands of fossils invertebrates that have been collected there. The explantion that purported precursors have not been discovered because they were soft bodied is belied by these discoveries. If there are invertebrate precursors to verterbrates that have been discovered in the fossil record that document the transition I would like to see them, and I would like to know why prominent evolutionists admit that they do not appear in the fossil record if they indeed, do.

Cordially,

[ahayes]

Many organisms found there did have precursors, but these were not discovered earlier because they were small and soft-bodied and thus not easily fossilized.

Have you ever heard of the Burgess Shale? There are many fossils of soft-tissued organisms that have been found there, as well as tens of thousands of fossils invertebrates that have been collected there. The explantion that purported precursors have not been discovered because they were soft bodied is belied by these discoveries. If there are invertebrate precursors to verterbrates that have been discovered in the fossil record that document the transition I would like to see them, and I would like to know why prominent evolutionists admit that they do not appear in the fossil record if they indeed, do.

~

Are you under the misapprehension that vertebrates evolved during the Cambrian explosion??

The Burgess Shale is a unique and invaluable deposit, unfortunately such conditions were not present everywhere (and everywhen) we would like them to be. The Burgess Shale is the exception, not the rule.

At any rate you need to parse my post again. I said that the Cambrian explosion is not as explosive as originally thought because we have gone back and found organisms living earlier that were thought to have originated in the Cambrian explosion.

The Cambrian explosion definitely is an important period in evolution, and the rapid radiation see here was probably enabled by a variety of factors including global warming (oh no!), a higher oxygen content of the atmosphere, and the emergence of the Hox genes, which allow for rapid and significant changes in body plan.