Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Avalon explosion
open-in-new
<p>The Avalon explosion, named from the <a href="/facts/Precambrian/zjF3N3Rx">Precambrian</a> <a href="/facts/Fauna/sMqPFxVD">faunal</a> <a href="/facts/Trace_fossil/kaucgzNj">trace fossils</a> discovered on the <a href="/facts/Avalon_Peninsula/lkMRxzx3">Avalon Peninsula</a> in <a href="/facts/Newfoundland_(island)/PdfPl9ca">Newfoundland</a>, <a href="/facts/Eastern_Canada/du5rkgDh">eastern Canada</a>, is a proposed <a href="/facts/Evolutionary_radiation/DDc0R6GS">evolutionary radiation</a> of <a href="/facts/Prehistoric_animal/MH1EYdIB">prehistoric animals</a> about 575 million years ago in the <a href="/facts/Ediacaran/z8jSUITT">Ediacaran</a> period, with the Avalon explosion being one of three eras grouped in this time period. This evolutionary event is believed to have occurred some 33 million years earlier than the <a href="/facts/Cambrian_explosion/Wg29M7PN">Cambrian explosion</a>, which had been long thought to be when <a href="/facts/Complex_life/rk8QBF7o">complex life</a> started on Earth. </p><p>Scientists are still unsure of the full extent behind the development of the Avalon explosion, which resulted in a rapid increase in <a href="/facts/Metazoan/4b8J33nd">metazoan</a> <a href="/facts/Biodiversity/GruakEzs">biodiversity</a>, including the first appearance of some <a href="/facts/Extant_taxon/YK8uj7qU">extant</a> <a href="/facts/Infrakingdom/QGRKbHos">infrakingdoms</a>/<a href="/facts/Superphyla/ELT3Jyax">superphyla</a> such as <a href="/facts/Cnidarian/d0HRc6w0">cnidarians</a> and <a href="/facts/Bilaterian/nfUwVYrx">bilaterians</a>. Many of the Avalon explosion animals are <a href="/facts/Sessility_(motility)/f0xV4VV1">sessile</a> <a href="/facts/Soft-bodied_organism/V99XGUMp">soft-bodied organisms</a> living in deep marine environments, and the first stages of the Avalon explosion were observed through comparatively minimal species. </p>