Charles Darwin was deeply troubled by the sudden appearance of complex animal life during the Cambrian Explosion about half a billion years ago, animal evolution’s Big Bang. He felt the sudden appearance of such diverse animal body-plans was inexplicable, fearing that it was the Achilles heel of his theory. What do we now know of this spectacular event? Drawing on the fossil record, ecology, developmental biology, genetics, and computer simulation, can we understand how and why the Cambrian Explosion occurred?

Our Wonderfest speaker, Dr. Charles Marshall, is Distinguished Professor of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley. He is also Director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology.