Dickinsonia is a genus of extinct organism, most likely an animal, that lived during the late Ediacaran period in what is now Australia, China, Russia, and Ukraine. It is one of the best known members of the Ediacaran biota. The individual Dickinsonia typically resembles a bilaterally symmetrical ribbed oval. Its affinities are presently unknown; its mode of growth has been considered consistent with a stem-group bilaterian affinity, though various other affinities have been proposed. It lived during the late Ediacaran. The discovery of cholesterol molecules in fossils of Dickinsonia lends support to the idea that Dickinsonia was an animal, though these results have been questioned.
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, although its affinity with this group is contentious.
The Gunflint chert is a sequence of banded iron formation rocks that are exposed in the Gunflint Range of northern Minnesota and northwestern Ontario along the north shore of Lake Superior. The Gunflint Chert is of paleontological significance, as it contains evidence of microbial life from the Paleoproterozoic. The Gunflint Chert is composed of biogenic stromatolites. At the time of its discovery in the 1950s, it was the earliest form of life discovered and described in scientific literature, as well as the earliest evidence for photosynthesis. The black layers in the sequence contain microfossils that are 1.9 to 2.3 billion years in age. Stromatolite colonies of cyanobacteria that have converted to jasper are found in Ontario. The banded ironstone formation consists of alternating strata of iron oxide-rich layers interbedded with silica-rich zones. The iron oxides are typically hematite or magnetite with ilmenite, while the silicates are predominantly cryptocrystalline quartz as chert or jasper, along with some minor silicate minerals.
Tribrachidium heraldicum is a tri-radially symmetric fossil animal that lived in the late Ediacaran (Vendian) seas. In life, it was hemispherical in form. T. heraldicum is the best known member of the extinct group Trilobozoa.
Vendobionts or Vendozoans (Vendobionta) are a proposed very high-level, extinct clade of benthic organisms that made up of the majority of the organisms that were part of the Ediacaran biota. It is a hypothetical group and at the same time, it would be the oldest of the animals that populated the Earth about 580 million years ago, in the Ediacaran period. They became extinct shortly after the so-called Cambrian explosion, with the introduction of fauna forming groups more recognizably related to modern animals. It is very likely that the whole Ediacaran biota is not a monophyletic clade and not every genus placed in its subtaxa is an animal.
Hiemalora is a fossil of the Ediacaran biota, reaching around 3 cm in diameter, which superficially resembles a sea anemone. The genus has a sack-like body with faint radiating lines originally interpreted as tentacles, but discovery of a frond-like structure seemingly attached to some Heimalora has added weight to a competing interpretation: that it represents the holdfast of a larger organism.
Aspidella is an Ediacaran disk-shaped fossil of uncertain affinity. It is known from the single species A. terranovica.
The Franciscan Complex or Franciscan Assemblage is a geologic term for a late Mesozoic terrane of heterogeneous rocks found throughout the California Coast Ranges, and particularly on the San Francisco Peninsula. It was named by geologist Andrew Lawson, who also named the San Andreas Fault that defines the western extent of the assemblage.
The Ediacaranbiota is a taxonomic period classification that consists of all life forms that were present on Earth during the Ediacaran Period. These were enigmatic tubular and frond-shaped, mostly sessile, organisms. Trace fossils of these organisms have been found worldwide, and represent the earliest known complex multicellular organisms. The term "Ediacara biota" has received criticism from some scientists due to its alleged inconsistency, arbitrary exclusion of certain fossils, and inability to be precisely defined.
Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve is a wilderness area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located at the southeastern tip of Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The reserve is home to the namesake Mistaken Point Formation, which contains one of the most diverse and well-preserved collections of Precambrian fossils in the world. Ediacaran fossils discovered at the site constitute the oldest known remnants of multicellular life on Earth.
Shiva Balak Misra is an Indian geologist, writer and social worker from Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh in India and is known for his contribution to the knowledge of earliest life forms on earth.
Beothukis mistakensis is a rare fossil frond-like member of the Rangeomorpha, described from the Ediacaran of Mistaken Point, Newfoundland. It had been identified since 1992, referred in papers as a "spatulate frond" or "flat recliner", but not formally described until 2009. The original fossils from which the genus has been described are still in situ, but replicas are preserved at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Claims of a stem have been contentious, and based largely on structures that have subsequently been determined to be erosional scours, and is so considered to be a recliner
The Mistaken Point Formation is a geologic formation in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is recognized as a Lagerstätte preserving fossils dating back to the Ediacaran period. It contains a stratum dated to 565 ± 3 million years ago.
The Conception Group is a geologic group in Newfoundland and Labrador. It preserves fossils dating back to the Ediacaran period. It mainly contains turbidites, but is interrupted by a glacial diamictite, and tops out with sand and siltstones. It corresponds to the lower portion of the Connecting Point Group.
The Random Formation is a rock unit in Newfoundland dating to the early Cambrian period, dominated by tidal quartz arenites deposited in a near-shore environment, but also incorporating intertidal and open-shelf deposits, including glauconitic and mud-cracked mudstones, and red channel sandstones. It was deposited quickly and is approximately 175 m (574 ft) thick. The Blue Pinion Formation was originally recognized as a separate formation, but is now interpreted as an expression of the Random Formation.
Studenicia is a genus of Ediacaran fauna which is approximately 635-545 million years old. All Ediacaran fauna are considered to be invertebrate Metazoans or multicellular organisms with no backbone.
Frondophyllas is an extinct, monotypic animal genus in the clade Rangeomorpha. It was found at the Mistaken Point on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland, Canada in 2008 by Bamforth and Anderson. The single species is Frondophyllas grandis and as of 2021 only two specimens have been discovered. Both specimens are incomplete, but one extends to one meter long, making it one of the largest Ediacaran macrofossils. The species name: grandis, comes from its size, and the genus name: Frondophyllas means "frond with leaves". The organism has a base structure with numerous fronds attached to it. It is the only Ediacaran organism to have distinct leaflets. Evidence suggests that F. grandis may have been tethered to the seafloor and used these leaflets to "filter feed", or live off nutrients provided by a current. One of the reasons fossils of this species are so rare is because it was a soft-bodied organism. It is believed that F. grandis was preserved because it was caught beneath quickly solidifying volcanic ash. Many of the Mistaken Point fossils were preserved this way.
Hadrynichorde is a frondose organism from the Ediacaran period discovered in Newfoundland, Canada. It is a sessile, benthic marine organism. resembling modern sea whips.
Hapsidophyllas is a rare Ediacaran rangeomorph fossil found at Mistaken Point, Newfoundland, Canada. It was first identified by Emily Bamforth and Guy Narbonne in 2009. Because its characteristic flexible leaflet structure is dissimilar to other known rangeomorphs, Bamforth and Narbonne describe it as a new rangeomorph form, called hapsidophyllid. The only other known hapsidophyllid is the Ediacaran frond Frondophyllas grandis, which shares the network-like configuration of leaflets seen in Hapsidophyllas. Currently, the Hapsidophyllas flexibilis holotype resides in its type locality in the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve, and a cast of the specimen is on display at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.
