Mountains to Microscope

Mountains to Microscope: A new window on Cambrian life

Tom Harvey, Nick Butterfield, Rob Theodore

April 2013

The Sedgwick Museum launched its temporary exhibition cases with an insight into the research undertaken by Drs Tom Harvey and Nick Butterfield on microscopic fragments of animals from the Cambrian rocks of North America.

Following their study from collecting samples in the Canadian Rocky Mountains to extracting the fossils using dangerous hydrofluoric acid in Cambridge, the exhibition featured highly magnified images of spectacular specimens and stunning shots of their fieldwork.

Also featured in the exhibition were rare fossils from the celebrated Burgess Shale rocks of Canada. Many of the new microscopic discoveries are parts of these ancient animals, such as mouthparts and scales and they reveal important new details on their biology, evolution and where and when they are found in deep time.