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Confirmation that bryozoan animals were present during the Cambrian explosion

Bryozoans are marine invertebrates that live in colonies and have long been considered absent from the Cambrian explosion — a rapid evolutionary event that began around 538 million years ago. Newly discovered fossils from the Cambrian period reveal that the bryozoan phylum had already diversified by this time.

This is a summary of: Song, B. et al. High-fidelity modular skeletons authenticate a Cambrian origin for Bryozoa. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10590-9 (2026).

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01753-9

‘Expert opinion’ and the figure are published under a CC BY 4.0 licence.

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