Mr. Darwin and the Eozoon,
a geologic exerpt from Darwin's Origin
Bruce Stinchcomb

A geologic exerpt from Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species" eozoon was a pseudofossil discovered
in very ancient rocks (Precambrian of Quebec) in the mid 19th century and considered at the time to
be evidence for the earths earliest life. Eozoon by the beginning of the 20th century was recognized to
be a pseudofossil and hence was non-biogenic in its origin. Eozoon did however, foretell the controversy
regarding stromatolites. Stromatolites, formed from the physiological activity of monerans, were found
to occur in some of the earths oldest rocks and showed that life indeed was a very ancient phenomena
on the Earth. (Note- when Darwin "says", "and during those vast periods the world swarmed with
living creatures"--a Precambrian stromatolite appears on the screen. Darwin and other natural historians
of the time did not know about stromatolites and their significance in the early (Precambrian) history of
the globe---that would come in the 20th century! The sudden appearance of fossils in the geologic
record which Darwin talks about is now known as the Cambrian Radiation Event.

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Ozarks Paleontology