Researchers studying fossil evidence of Ediacara Biota have discovered new details about the composition of Ediacara communities, as well as their ecological character at different stages of development. Ediacara Biota are marine fossils found in sandstone throughout the world, and provide insight into the evolution of early complex life on Earth.
The team has been excavating and reconstructing beds of Ediacara fossils found at the National Heritage Ediacara fossil site in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Here they have exposed nearly 300 square meters of fossil beds, which preserve ‘ecological snapshots’ from communities of Ediacara that range from immature to those with high diversity.
The study, “Piecing together the puzzle of the Ediacara Biota: Excavation and reconstruction at the Ediacara National Heritage site Nilpena (South Australia),” was published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. The work was supported by NASA Astrobiology through the Exobiology & Evolutionary Biology Program.