News Finding: "In this study we've estimated that rates of both morphological and genetic evolution during the Cambrian explosion were five times faster than today -- quite rapid, but perfectly consistent with Darwin's theory of evolution."
Paper Finding: Darwin suggested that the sudden appearance of a range of advanced animals in the Cambrian was difficult to reconcile with gradual evolution by natural selection , as they would have required a lengthy period of Precambrian evolution.
News Context: "In this study we've estimated that rates of both morphological and genetic evolution during the Cambrian explosion were five times faster than today -- quite rapid, but perfectly consistent with Darwin's theory of evolution." Their modelling showed that moderately accelerated evolution was sufficient to explain the seemingly sudden appearance of many groups of advanced animals in the fossil record during the Cambrian explosion. "It was during this Cambrian period that many of the most familiar traits associated with this group of animals evolved, like a hard exoskeleton, jointed legs, and compound (multi-faceted) eyes that are shared by all arthropods.
Paper Context: A relatively short Precambrian prelude dictates this pattern, while even a lengthy ''phylogenetic fuse'' can be interpreted to be consistent with it: phyla could have diverged deep in the Precambrian but still acquired many novelties simultaneously across the early Cambrian (though it is hard to interpret innovations shared by multiple phyla as evolving in the Cambrian under the second scenario). Darwin suggested that the sudden appearance of a range of advanced animals in the Cambrian was difficult to reconcile with gradual evolution by natural selection , as they would have required a lengthy period of Precambrian evolution. A much shorter cryptic period would be required if rates of evolution in the late Precambrian and early Cambrian could be demonstrated to be substantially elevated.