. Relics of primeval life, beginning of life in the dawn of geological time. small appearance in the Early Cambrian, beingrepresented, as far as yet known, by only oneembryonic group, the Cystideans. A little later,however, Feather-stars became greatly abundant,and a little later still the true Star-fishes andUrchins. The aberrant group of the Sea-slugs seems,so far as known, to be of more modern origin ; butmost of these animals are soft-bodied, and littlelikely to have been preserved. The great group of the coral animals, so markeda feature of later ages, is scarcely known in theoldest Cambr
. Relics of primeval life, beginning of life in the dawn of geological time. small appearance in the Early Cambrian, beingrepresented, as far as yet known, by only oneembryonic group, the Cystideans. A little later,however, Feather-stars became greatly abundant,and a little later still the true Star-fishes andUrchins. The aberrant group of the Sea-slugs seems,so far as known, to be of more modern origin ; butmost of these animals are soft-bodied, and littlelikely to have been preserved. The great group of the coral animals, so markeda feature of later ages, is scarcely known in theoldest Cambrian, except by some highly generalizedforms^ (Fig. 5). There are, however, small Zoophytesreferable to the lower type of Hydroids, and mark-ings which are supposed to be casts of stranded ^ Dr. G. J. Hinde has carefully studied these forms, and alsosimilar species occurring in Lower Cambrian beds in differentparts of North America, Spain, Sardinia, and elsewhere. Seenote in the Appendix, and Journal Geol. Society of Londo?i,vol. xlv. p. 125. LIFE IN THE EARLY CAMBRIAN 35. Fig. 5.—ArcluEocyathus profundus, Billings. Possibly a Coral of generalized type from the Lower Cambrian of LAnse a Loup,Labrador. A small specimen.
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Keywords: ., bookauthordawsonjohnwilliamsir1, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890
