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The organisms of the Ediacaran Period first appeared around and flourished until the cusp of the Cambrian, when the characteristic communities of fossils vanished. A diverse Ediacaran community was discovered in 1995 in Sonora, Mexico, and is approximately 555 million years in age, roughly coeval with Ediacaran fossils of the Ediacara Hills in ...
discoid fossil with no clear diagnostic characters Ukraine: Ivesheadia [37] Boynton et Ford 1995 rejected as valid taxon, "ivesheadiomorph"-type fossil structure UK: Ivovicia [13] Ivantsov 2007 Proarticulata Russia: Jampolium [36] Gureev 1988 discoid fossil with no clear diagnostic characters Ukraine: Kaisalia [8] Fedonkin 1984
The fossil record from the Ediacaran Period is sparse, as more easily fossilized hard-shelled animals had yet to evolve. The Ediacaran biota include the oldest definite multicellular organisms (with specialized tissues), the most common types of which resemble segmented worms, fronds, disks, or immobile bags. Auroralumina was a cnidarian. [33] [34]
The hills also contain fossils of early multicellular life forms, the Ediacaran biota (lagerstätte), and have given their name to the Ediacaran. [1] [4]There are two separate fossil sites within the region which have heritage protection: The Ediacara Fossil Site – Nilpena is listed on the Australian National Heritage List, while the Ediacara Fossil Reserve Palaeontological Site, located 20 ...
Studies have shown that the Mistaken Point biota represents the oldest Ediacaran fossils known globally, and are the oldest large and architecturally complex organisms in Earth history. [5] The fossil sites along the shore within the reserve were inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list on July 17, 2016. [6] [7] [8]
Mistaken Point contains some of the oldest ediacaran biota in an Avalon-type assemblage. They are commonly categorized as Spindle-shaped (Fractofusus), Frond-shaped (Charniodiscus), or Bush-like / Radiating in form. Spindles are the most common fossils in the assemblage. Other forms do exist, such as the conical Thectardis.
Kimberella is an extinct genus of bilaterian known only from rocks of the Ediacaran period. The slug-like organism fed by scratching the microbial surface on which it dwelt in a manner similar to the gastropods, [3] although its affinity with this group is contentious.
The last Ediacaran association is that of Nama (550–541 Ma, Namibia), where a decrease in biodiversity is observed, as a preamble to the massive extinction of the Ediacaran biota. Before the end of the Ediacaran period, proarticulates and trilobozoans would have already become extinct; and the last vendobionts disappear with the arrival of ...