Professor Simon Conway Morris

Research: Early Metazoan Evolution

The oldest known fossil fish, Myllokunmingia from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte of South China. Clearly visible are the anterior gills, dorsal fin and trunk myomeres. The specimen is about 2 cm in length.

My focus of research concerns the study of the constraints on evolution, and the historical processes that lead to the emergence of complexity, especially with respect to the construction of the major animal bodyplans in the Cambrian explosion. My work is central to palaeobiology, but is also of great interest to biologists and bioastronomers, as well as the wider community.

Cambrian Explosion

In the last few years we have made a series of major contributions to our understanding of the evolution of metazoan body plans, especially with respect to the lophotrochozoans and deuterostomes. The latter super-phylum is the group to which we belong, and in addition to documenting the earliest known fish we now have key data on the earliest evolution of the deuterostomes. Much of this work is based in China, but I also have continuing interests in equivalent material from North America.

Evolutionary Convergence

Arising from my interest in the Cambrian “explosion”, my book “Life's Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe” (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), on the broad topic of evolutionary convergence, emphasizing the parallel evolution of sensory systems e.g. vision, olfaction, echolocation, and also intelligence, especially in the primates and cetaceans. This book has made a considerable impact, as it throws severe doubt on a number of fashionable presuppositions in evolution. More recently I have published “The Runes of Evolution: How the Universe Became Self-Aware” (Templeton Press, 2015), which extends many of the themes seen in “Life’s Solution”.

Wider aspects of evolution

In addition to my work on the Cambrian “explosion”, I am developing a wide portfolio of interests across the entire field of evolution, including the question of animal cognition (including numerosity) and extra-terrestrial life.