The revamped Royal Tyrrell Museum reveals the beginnings of life

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A redesigned gallery at the Royal Tyrrell Museum explores how life evolved from the earliest beginnings to the major diversification of complex life forms.

Opening in May 2024, the Early Life: The Origins of Biodiversity exhibition will tackle the 'Cambrian explosion', according to the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

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“With the opening of First Life, the Royal Tyrell Museum will become one of the few museums in the world to have dedicated galleries covering this fascinating subject,” the Museum said in a May 17 announcement.

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The Burgess Shale diorama, once a visitor favorite, is the only item left from the former gallery, serving as “our best window” into the Cambrian world, the museum says.

“All-new exhibits on both sides of the diorama are more informative and engaging than ever, with visually appealing spaces, contemporary exhibit design and unique models.”

Some of the oldest known Precambrian and Cambrian fossils, including the earliest evidence of life in Alberta, allow visitors to discover Canadian fossils that tell the story of early life.

Along with the new exhibit will come “engaging and colorful” new videos, illustrations, models and hands-on interactive activities, the Museum said.

Between 4.6 billion and 539 million years ago, the Early Cambrian was a harsh and unpredictable period on Earth.

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“Volcanic eruptions, meteor impacts and intense heat made complex life impossible,” the museum says.

It took millions of years for the Earth's surface to cool and the first life to appear as the oceans began to form.

“Much of the evidence for the earliest life on Earth comes not from fossilized animals, but from the physical and chemical traces left by these microscopic single-celled organisms.”

The pioneers of complex life were microbes and bacteria, the earliest “macroscopic” life forms (large enough to be seen with the naked eye) date back to the Ediacaran period, 635 to 539 million years ago.

The Precambrian section of the exhibit features “remarkable fossils” from around the world, including significant collections from Newfoundland, Mistaken Point and Australia's Nilpena Ediacara National Park, the museum said.

The Early Cambrian period, which occurred between 539 million and 485 million years ago, was when almost all animal groups appear in the fossil record.

“Because many Cambrian animals share features similar to living animal groups, these fossils provide the best evidence yet for the evolutionary origins of modern animal diversity,” says the Museum.

Cambrian animals were the first to show mouthparts, appendages, and sense organs, providing “important clues about animal lifestyles.”

The museum said the 506-million-year-old Burgess Sale fossil is one of the most important fossil finds in British Columbia because it preserves a variety of soft-bodied animals in amazing detail.

“Fossil evidence shows that all major branches of the animal tree of life were established by the end of the Cambrian period. More than 500 million years ago, new forms of animals have evolved along with our ever-changing planet.”

To learn more about the Royal Tyrell Museum First life exhibition, visit their website.

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