When Life Got Complex: The Cambrian Explosion
When Life Got Complex The Cambrian Explosion Charlotte Fowler, Biology Student at Christopher Newport University Many, many years ago, before dinosaurs roamed there was a vast sea full of single-celled creatures and free floating organisms. Until one day, quite out of the blue, a mass diversification of organisms appeared and scientists are still trying to figure out why. Oxygen Theory The earliest theory is that the Cambrian explosion was a consequence of many small, complex environmental changes that triggered evolutionary development, including the environment change of a sudden rise of oxygen levels in the ocean. Metabolization with oxygen produces much more efficient energy as animals rely on this controlled combustion to utilize the energy needed for muscle movement, nervous system, the building of hard bone structure like exoskeletons and teeth. Th...