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

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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.

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Etymology

Origin of Ediacaran

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

Example Sentences

The group spent nearly a decade searching for diverse Ediacaran animal fossils.

From Science Daily • Apr. 6, 2026

These combinations do not match any known species from either the Ediacaran or Cambrian periods.

From Science Daily • Apr. 6, 2026

This week in Current Biology, researchers report tiny nematodelike fossils from the Ediacaran period, dating to about 15 million years before the Cambrian forms.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 20, 2024

Excavating a site in Australia that contains fossils of other Ediacaran organisms, they found 1-centimeter creatures they named Uncus dzaugisi.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 20, 2024

Yet ecdysozoan fossil animals have remained hidden among scores of animal fossils paleontologists have discovered from the Ediacaran Period.

From Science Daily • Nov. 18, 2024