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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Burgess_Shale_Site
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1992-09-03
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597b
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15 lines
The site of unique fossil-bearing rock
formations, 530 million years old, in Yoho
National Park, British Colombia, Canada. The
shales in this corner of the Rocky Mountains
contain more than 120 species of marine
invertebrate fossils. Although discovered in
1909 by Charles Walcott, the Burgess Shales
have only recently been used as evidence in
the debate concerning the evolution of life.
In 1990 Stephen Jay Gould drew attention to a
body of scientific opinion interpreting the
fossil finds as evidence of parallel early
evolutionary trends extinguished by chance
rather than natural selection.