Soft-bodied experiments, early predators and the evidence preserved in ancient seas
This collection begins with six complete profiles in the same order as the Russian catalogue. It includes exceptional Cambrian soft-body fossils and three later early Palaeozoic entries retained from that established collection.
Every guide states its geological age and separates fossil anatomy from inference and artistic reconstruction.
Exceptional preservation changes what can be known
Anomalocaris, Wiwaxia and Hallucigenia preserve soft anatomy that ordinary shell beds lose. Their eyes, flaps, guts, feet and mouthparts allow more direct functional tests.
Microscopic elements can reconstruct an apparatus
Acodus is known from tiny separate elements. Large samples and repeated associations reveal that different shapes belonged to positions in one feeding apparatus.
A colony is not one large animal
Didymograptus and Dictyonema built common skeletons occupied by many zooids. Branching architecture records growth even when the soft animals have vanished.
Catalogue position does not replace geological age
The collection mirrors its Russian counterpart, including three Ordovician profiles. Filters, quick facts and article text identify the real age rather than treating every card as Cambrian.
Frequently asked questions
Are all animals in this catalogue Cambrian?
No. The catalogue mirrors the established Russian collection, which includes Acodus and two graptolites from the Ordovician; every profile states its age explicitly.
Why are Burgess Shale fossils so informative?
Exceptional burial preserved soft outlines, eyes, guts, flaps and limbs that are usually lost.
Were Cambrian animals ancestors of modern groups?
Some occupy stem lineages near living groups, but a close relationship does not automatically make one fossil the direct ancestor of all later members.
How much of each illustration is certain?
Fossils constrain anatomy and scale, while colour, soft detail, motion and a particular behaviour often remain reconstructed.
A
A
D
D
H
W