| Citation | His meticulous studies of the nature, preservation and community structure of soft-bodied animals from Cambrian rocks have been a major contribution to revealing the unexpected strangeness and variety of early metazoan animals. The demonstration of body plans distinct from those of recognized phyla, has led him to investigate such faunas world-wide in the search to understand their palaeo-ecology and the evolutionary processes involved in the origin of major body plans and the appearance of hard parts. These studies will have a critical bearing on definition of the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary and on understanding of the evolutionary events associated with it. |