The Ediacaran biota is a taxonomic period classification that consists of all life forms that were present on … 展开

The first Ediacaran fossils discovered were the disc-shaped Aspidella terranovica in 1868. Their discoverer, Scottish geologist Alexander Murray, found them useful aids for correlating the age of rocks around Newfoundland. … 展开

Microbial mats are areas of sediment stabilised by the presence of colonies of microbes that secrete sticky fluids or otherwise bind the sediment particles. They appear to migrate upwards when covered by a thin layer o… 展开

The Ediacaran biota exhibited a vast range of morphological characteristics. Size ranged from millimetres to metres; complexity from "blob-like" to intricate; rigidity from sturdy and resistant to jelly-soft. Almost all forms of … 展开

Classification of the Ediacarans is difficult, and hence a variety of theories exist as to their placement on the tree of life.
Martin Glaessner proposed in The Dawn of Animal Life (1984) that the Ediacaran biota were recognizable … 展开

It took almost 4 billion years from the formation of the Earth for Ediacaran fossils to first appear, 655 million years ago. While putative fossils are reported from 3,460 million years ago, the first uncontroversial evidence for life i… 展开