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

See Examples For:

Ediacaran

Although animals first appeared during the Ediacaran period, their diversity remained relatively limited for a surprisingly long time before a later burst of evolutionary innovation dramatically expanded life on Earth.

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

The Ediacaran period occurred before the Cambrian explosion, a major evolutionary turning point when rising oxygen levels helped complex organisms diversify rapidly across Earth's oceans.

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

These discoveries extend the fossil record of this group back into the Ediacaran Period for the first time.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 6, 2026