Eras
Ediacaran
ee-dee-AK-uh-run
Also Known As Vendian Earlier Russian-proposed name (Sokolov, 1952) for an overlapping but not identical span; retained here as the period's best-known former name.
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The Ediacaran is a geological period of the Neoproterozoic Era, running from the end of the Cryogenian Period about 635 million years ago to the start of the Cambrian Period 538.8 million years ago. It is named after the Ediacara Hills of South Australia, where geologist Reg Sprigg discovered trace fossils of a previously unrecognized community of organisms in 1946. The period records the first widespread appearance of complex, soft-bodied multicellular life, the Ediacaran biota, following the end of the Cryogenian's global glaciations. It closes with the Cambrian explosion, the rapid diversification of animal body plans that followed.
Facts
Start (Million Years Ago)Standard boundary age from the ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart; not independently re-dated by this atlas. End (Million Years Ago)Standard boundary age from the ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart; not independently re-dated by this atlas. Key EventThe Ediacaran biota, the first widespread complex multicellular fauna, appeared following the end of the Cryogenian's Snowball Earth glaciations; the period closes with the Cambrian explosion. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. Ediacaran (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction (name origin)Quote, Introduction (name origin)
The Ediacaran Period is named after the Ediacara Hills of South Australia, where trace fossils of a diverse community of previously unrecognized lifeforms were first discovered by geologist Reg Sprigg in 1946.
1. Ediacaran (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction (time span)Quote, Introduction (time span)
The Ediacaran is a geological period of the Neoproterozoic Era that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period 635 million years ago to the beginning of the Cambrian Period 538.8 million years ago.
1. Ediacaran (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction (key event)Quote, Introduction (key event)
The Ediacaran marks the first widespread appearance of complex multicellular fauna following the end of the Cryogenian global glaciation known as the Snowball Earth.
1. Ediacaran (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationEdiacaran vs. VendianQuote, Ediacaran vs. Vendian
The Ediacaran Period overlaps but is shorter than the Vendian Period (650 to 543 million years ago), a name that was earlier, in 1952, proposed by Russian geologist and paleontologist Boris Sokolov.
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