ABSTRACT
Most major advances in understanding the history of life on Earth in recent years have been through the study of exceptionally well preserved biotas (Fossil-Lagerstätten). Indeed, particular Fossil-Lagerstätten, such as the Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia and the Jurassic dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation, have gained exceptional fame through popular science writings. Study of a selection of such sites scattered throughout the geological record – windows on the history of life on Earth – can provide a fairly complete picture of the evolution of ecosystems through time.
