article_snippet: Cambrian explosion, was a wide variety of animals burst onto the evolutionary scene.
article_snippet: Before about 580 million years ago, most organisms were simple, composed of individual cells occasionally organised into colonies.
article_snippet: Over the following 70 or 80 million years, the rate of evolution accelerated  and the diversity of life began to resemble that of today.
article_snippet: the rate of evolution ended with the Cambrian-Ordovician extinction event, approximately 488 million years ago.
article_snippet: Estimates range from 700 million years ago to a time known as the Cambrian period, which took place 541 million to 485 million years ago.
article_snippet: Lead author Maoyan Zhu told IBTimes UK that the find suggests that animals on Earth began diversifying 600 million years ago. '
highlights_snippet: Cambrian explosion is believed to have begun 541 million years ago .
   
highlights_snippet: Cambrian explosion refers to a time when complex creatures rapidly appeared .