What does Cambrian mean?

Definitions for Cambrian
ˈkæm bri əncam·bri·an

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Cambrian.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. Cambrian, Cambrian periodnoun

    from 544 million to about 500 million years ago; marine invertebrates

  2. Welshman, Welsh, Cambrian, Cymryadjective

    a native or resident of Wales

  3. Welsh, Cambrianadjective

    of or relating to or characteristic of Wales or its people or their language

    "the Welsh coast"; "Welsh syntax"

Wiktionary

  1. Cambriannoun

    the Cambrian period

  2. Cambriannoun

    a Welsh person

  3. Cambrianadjective

    of a geologic period within the Paleozoic era; comprises lower, middle and Furongian epochs from about 542 to 490 million years ago

  4. Cambrianadjective

    of, or relating to Wales

Wikipedia

  1. Cambrian

    The Cambrian Period ( KAM-bree-ən, KAYM-; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million years ago (mya) to the beginning of the Ordovician Period 485.4 mya. Its subdivisions, and its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established as "Cambrian series" by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for 'Cymru' (Wales), where Britain's Cambrian rocks are best exposed. Sedgwick identified the layer as part of his task, along with Roderick Murchison, to subdivide the large "Transition Series", although the two geologists disagreed for a while on the appropriate categorization. The Cambrian is unique in its unusually high proportion of lagerstätte sedimentary deposits, sites of exceptional preservation where "soft" parts of organisms are preserved as well as their more resistant shells. As a result, our understanding of the Cambrian biology surpasses that of some later periods.The Cambrian marked a profound change in life on Earth: prior to the Cambrian, the majority of living organisms on the whole were small, unicellular and simple (Ediacaran fauna being notable exceptions). Complex, multicellular organisms gradually became more common in the millions of years immediately preceding the Cambrian, but it was not until this period that mineralized – hence readily fossilized – organisms became common. The rapid diversification of lifeforms in the Cambrian, known as the Cambrian explosion, produced the first representatives of all modern animal phyla. Phylogenetic analysis has supported the view that before the Cambrian radiation, in the Cryogenian or Tonian, animals (metazoans) evolved monophyletically from a single common ancestor: flagellated colonial protists similar to modern choanoflagellates. Although diverse life forms prospered in the oceans, the land is thought to have been comparatively barren – with nothing more complex than a microbial soil crust and a few molluscs and arthropods (albeit not terrestrial) that emerged to browse on the microbial biofilm. By the end of the Cambrian, myriapods, arachnids, and hexapods started adapting to the land, along with the first plants. Most of the continents were probably dry and rocky due to a lack of vegetation. Shallow seas flanked the margins of several continents created during the breakup of the supercontinent Pannotia. The seas were relatively warm, and polar ice was absent for much of the period.

ChatGPT

  1. cambrian

    Cambrian refers to a geological period or system, approximately between 541 to 485 million years ago, that is the first period of the Paleozoic era, characterized by the development of most of the major phyla, including fish, insects, and land plants. It's named after Cambria, the Roman name for Wales, where rocks from this period were first studied. The term can also refer to anything related to or from this period.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Cambrianadjective

    of or pertaining to Cambria or Wales

  2. Cambrianadjective

    of or pertaining to the lowest subdivision of the rocks of the Silurian or Molluscan age; -- sometimes described as inferior to the Silurian. It is named from its development in Cambria or Wales. See the Diagram under Geology

  3. Cambriannoun

    a native of Cambria or Wales

  4. Cambriannoun

    the Cambrian formation

Wikidata

  1. Cambrian

    The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from 541.0 ± 1.0 to 485.4 ± 1.9 million years ago and is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's Cambrian rocks are best exposed. The Cambrian is unique in its unusually high proportion of lagerstätten. These are sites of exceptional preservation, where 'soft' parts of organisms are preserved as well as their more resistant shells. This means that our understanding of the Cambrian biology surpasses that of some later periods. The Cambrian Period marked a profound change in life on Earth; prior to the Cambrian, living organisms on the whole were small, unicellular and simple. Complex, multicellular organisms gradually became more common in the millions of years immediately preceding the Cambrian, but it was not until this period that mineralized – hence readily fossilized – organisms became common. The rapid diversification of lifeforms in the Cambrian, known as the Cambrian explosion, produced the first representatives of many modern phyla, representing the evolutionary stems of modern groups of species, such as the molluscs and arthropods. While diverse life forms prospered in the oceans, the land was comparatively barren – with nothing more complex than a microbial soil crust and a few molluscs that emerged to browse on the microbial biofilm Most of the continents were probably dry and rocky due to a lack of vegetation. Shallow seas flanked the margins of several continents created during the breakup of the supercontinent Pannotia. The seas were relatively warm, and polar ice was absent for much of the period.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Cambrian

    kam′bri-an, adj. pertaining to Cambria or Wales: Welsh: the name given by Sedgwick in 1836 to a group or series of sedimentary deposits which come next in order to the Archæan System.—n. an inhabitant of Cambria, or Wales. [Formed from Cymry, Welshmen, or Cymru, Wales.]

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of Cambrian in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of Cambrian in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of Cambrian in a Sentence

  1. David Bottjer:

    If we're going to find things on other planets, it's probably going to be more like the pre-Cambrian stuff than something that is a million years old and has mammoth bones in it.

  2. David Bottjer:

    I tell my students that all pre-Cambrian fossils are disputed by somebody because it's very early in evolution, these animals commonly don't have all the features that they evolve later on so it can be a little tricky. I look forward to seeing what the response is, but it's I think it's a very strong case.

  3. Joe Moysiuk:

    Its size would have been even more impressive at the time it was alive, as most animals living during the Cambrian Period were smaller than your little finger.

  4. David Bottjer:

    This molecular clock approach says that animals were on Earth a good deal earlier than the Cambrian.

  5. David Bottjer:

    The fossil record of animal life is something that many people are interested in and in particular, when animals first evolved on Earth, the big discussion has been, was there animal life in a significant way in the pre-Cambrian before the Cambrian explosion or not.

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