Creationists begin their speculation based on an eyewitness testimony. Moses, leader of the Children of Israel, reported that God told him He created the earth and caused dry land to appear out of the waters. Since the waters were gathered into one place, the land must have been also in one place. Later testimony says that the earth was divided many years later. His work shows that the fossil record is contrary to the standard evolutionary explanations.
Evolutionists state that diversity proceeded from a single common ancestor.
The Cambrian fossil record is a record of disparity involving as many as 75-100 different phyla. The disparity seen in the early Cambrian represents almost every phylum that has ever existed. Duane Gish, in all his public debates with evolutionists, says that the sudden appearance of many new life forms at the beginning of the Cambrian is what we would expect if creation is true. This fact bothers evolutionists, and they have long been looking for an explanation for the sudden appearance of such a rich and varied fossil record. Evolutionists speculate how all the diversity of the Cambrian came about.