The Burgess Shale is not unique, but for those who study evolution and fossils it has become something of an icon. It provides a reference point and a benchmark, a point of common discussion and an issue of universal scientific interest.

Simonetta) Cambridge University Press 1991. His studies on the Burgess Shale-type faunas as well as the early evolution of skeletons has encompassed a wide variety of groups ranging from ctenophores to the earliest vertebrates. org) that aims to provide an easily accessible introduction to the thousands of known examples of convergence.

The results of these discoveries were celebrated in Wonderful Life by Stephen Jay Gould. Morris's own book on the subject The Crucible of Creation however is critical of Gould's presentation and interpretation. Simon Conway Morris FRS (born 6 November 1951) is an English paleontologist who is best known for his detailed and careful study of the Burgess Shale fossils.