Ediacaran

British  

/ ˌiːdiːˈækərən /

adjective

1. of, denoting, or formed in the last 50 million years of the Neoproterozoic era, during which a new texturally and chemically distinctive carbonate layer appeared, indicating climatic change

---

noun

1. the Ediacaran period or rock system

Ediacaran Scientific  

/ ē′dē-ä′kə-rən /

1. Relating to a group of fossilized organisms that are the earliest known remains of multicellular life. They are soft-bodied marine life forms that date from between 560 and 545 million years ago, during the late Precambrian Eon.

---

Etymology

Origin of Ediacaran

C20: named after the Ediacara Hills in the Flinders mountain range in South Australia

Example Sentences

After billions of years dominated by microscopic organisms, the Ediacaran period, which lasted from about 635 million to 539 million years ago, saw the emergence of the first animals.

From Science Daily • Jun. 10, 2026

To investigate why evolution appeared to slow during this period, Mitchell and co-author Professor Andrea Manica studied fossils from Mistaken Point in Newfoundland, one of the world's most important Ediacaran fossil sites.

From Science Daily • Jun. 10, 2026

Like many other Ediacaran organisms, they vanished from the fossil record at the start of the Cambrian period roughly 540 million years ago.

From Science Daily • Jun. 10, 2026

Becker-Kerber, who is now conducting postdoctoral research at Harvard University, explains that if the marks had truly been left by animals, they would represent evidence of meiofauna during the Ediacaran period.

From Science Daily • May 12, 2026

Earlier studies had interpreted the marks as evidence of wormlike creatures or other tiny marine animals moving through seafloor sediment during the Ediacaran period, which came just before the Cambrian explosion.

From Science Daily • May 12, 2026