Gizmodo·3 min read·medium
The Weirdest Theory Yet for Why Life on Earth Suddenly Exploded
G
Gayoung Lee
✦AI Summary
Paleontologists suggest that the rapid evolution of life during the Cambrian period may have been fueled by the accumulation of fecal matter. This waste helped distribute nutrients throughout ancient oceans, potentially supporting the development of complex digestive systems in early animals.
In the first 20 million years of the Cambrian period, Earth experienced an explosion of life—a great evolutionary era dubbed the Cambrian Explosion. Scientists have differing views on what drove this phenomenon, but this one may be the strangest one yet: poop. Literally. Just a sh*t ton of poop.
scienceenvironment
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