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Fossils found around the world suggest that multicellular life was not only present before the Cambrian Explosion, it was much more elaborate and diverse than anyone thought. This is the story of the sudden burst of diversity that marked the dawn of truly complex life on our planet.

Thanks to Franz Anthony and Studio 252mya for their illustrations. You can find more of Franz's work here: https://252mya.com/gallery/franzanthony

Thanks as always to Nobu Tamura for allowing us to use his wonderful paleoart: http://spinops.blogspot.com/

Produced for PBS Digital Studios.

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References:
http://www.stratigraphy.org/gssp/edia...
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/...
http://advances.sciencemag.org/conten...
http://burgessshale.rom.on.ca/en/sci...
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/...
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0708336105
http://science.sciencemag.org/content...
http://science.sciencemag.org/content...
http://www.pnas.org/content/111/36/13...
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.or...
http://www.pnas.org/content/97/13/694...