The briefing
In the first 20 million years of the Cambrian period, Earth experienced an explosion of lifeâa great evolutionary era dubbed the Cambrian Explosion. Scientists have differing views on what drove this phenomenon, but this one may be the strangest one yet: poop. Literally. Just a sh*t ton of poop. Specifically, a slow accumulation of fecal matterâpoopâhelped allocate organic material and nutrients throughout the ocean, which in turn made marine environments ripe for the birth and evolution…