Littafin Stephen Jay Gould mai suna Wonderful Life, wanda aka buga a shekarar 1989, ya kawo burbushin Burges Shale ga hankalin jama'a. Gould ya nuna cewa bambancin burbushin burbushin halittu ya nuna cewa nau'ikan rayuwa a wancan lokacin sun bambanta da nau'in jiki fiye da wadanda suka tsira a yau, kuma cewa yawancin jinsunan da suka bambanta sun kasance gwaje-gwajen juyin halitta ne da suka mutu. Fassarar Gould game da bambancin dabbobi na Cambrian ya dogara ne akan Simon Conway Morris na sake fassarar wallafe-wallafen Charles Walcott na asali. Duk da haka, Conway Morris bai yarda da abin da Gould ya kammala ba, yana jayayya cewa kusan dukkanin dabbobi na Cambrian za a iya rarraba su a cikin zamani na zamani.
Wannan bambancin na burbushin halittu ya nuna cewa nau'o'in rayuwa a wancan lokacin sun fi banbanci a tsarin jiki fiye da wadanda suka tsira a yau, kuma cewa yawancin jinsuna na musamman sun kasance gwaje-gwajen juyin halitta ne da suka mutu