Claim CC220:

Arthropods arose suddenly in the fossil record. There are no transitionals leading up to them.

Response:

  1. Anomalocaris, from the Cambrian and Precambrian, has a pair of segmented appendages, indicating arthropod affinities, but it also seems to have lobopod legs. The related Opabinia also apparently had lobopod legs. Other rare Cambrian and Precambrian fossils show some promise of shedding more light on relationships. For example, Spriggina, another Precambrian animal, has a head shield similar to trilobites (Conway Morris 1998, 184-185).

Links:

Morton, Glenn R. 2000. Phylum level evolution. http://home.entouch.net/dmd/cambevol.htm

References:

  1. Conway Morris, Simon. 1998. The Crucible of Creation, Oxford University Press.
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created 2003-6-23