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The Ediacaran (/ ˌ iː d i ˈ æ k ər ə n, ˌ ɛ d i-/ EE-dee-AK-ər-ən, ED-ee-) [3] is a geological period of the Neoproterozoic Era that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period at 635 Mya to the beginning of the Cambrian Period at 538.8 Mya. [4]
The Ediacaran (/ ˌ iː d i ˈ æ k ər ə n /; formerly Vendian) biota is a taxonomic period classification that consists of all life forms that were present on Earth during the Ediacaran Period (c. 635–538.8 Mya). These were enigmatic tubular and frond-shaped, mostly sessile, organisms.
End of the Ediacaran Period, the Proterozoic Eon and the Precambrian Supereon. The Ediacaran fauna disappears, while the Cambrian explosion initiates the emergence of most forms of complex life, including vertebrates ( fish ), arthropods , echinoderms and molluscs .
However, in 2004, the International Union of Geological Sciences ratified the Ediacaran Period to be a geological age of the Neoproterozoic, ranging from 635 to 538.8 (at the time to 542) million years ago.
The Cryogenian (from Ancient Greek: κρύος, romanized: krýos, meaning "cold" and γένεσις, romanized: génesis, meaning "birth") is a geologic period that lasted from 6] It is the second of the three periods of the Neoproterozoic era, preceded by the Tonian and followed by the Ediacaran.
These unusual impressions of previously unknown soft-bodied sea animals on the surfaces of argillites (mudstone) included coelenterates and other metazoa of the Ediacarian period, 575 to 560 million years ago. [8]
The period immediately preciding the Cambrian, the Ediacaran, is now widely accepted of containing animal life. It spans from 635 to 540 million years ago, and covers approximately 2% of Earth's history. There is a current total of 243 described genera from the Ediacaran, 160 of which are confirmed to be valid.
The fossils of the Ediacaran period were first found in Southern Australia in the Ediacara Hills, hence the name. However these fossils were initially thought to be part of the Cambrian and it wasn't until the late 1950s when Martin Glaessner identified the fossils as actually being from the Precambrian era.