Biol 36
Chris Gillen
Lecture outline 2

Why is classification important?

The Burgess Shale:

• Example - recent rethinking of evolutionary biology due to re-analysis of a group of fossils found in a region called the Burgess Shale
• A major question in animal biology is "how did Bauplan evolve? What is historical pattern?"
• Geologic time
• General classification of animals
  • diversity
  • disparity
  • abundance
• Charles Doolittle Walcott
• Harry Whittington
• Steven J. Gould
• Ideas about arthropod classification
• This is an ongoing debate that uses many modern biological techniques

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