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Dictionary definition of “Ediacaran”

Ediacaran

adj. having characteristics of, belonging to, or designating the Precambrian geological period of the Neoproterozoic Era, 600 to 542 million years ago. Also Ediacarian, Vendian, Neoproterozoic III. Subjects: ,
Etymological Note: < Ediacara Hills of South Australia
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Citations: 1983 H.J. Hofmann, W.H. Fritz, G.M. Narbonne Science (July 29) “Ediacaran (precambrian) fossils from the Wernecke Mountains, Northwestern Canada” vol. 221, p. 455: The term “Ediacaran fauna” refers to a Late Precambrian assemblage of fossils of soft-bodied animals, mainly coelenterates and annelids, first discovered in the Ediacara Hills of South Australia…Sparse but nevertheless worldwide finds of the Ediacaran fauna have prompted a call for an Ediacaran (or Ediacarian) Period and system (1-3). 2004 BBC (U.K.) (May 17) “Geological time gets a new period”: Geologists have added a new period to their official calendar of Earth’s history—the first in 120 years. The Ediacaran Period covers some 50 million years of ancient time on our planet from 600 million years ago to about 542 million years ago. It officially becomes part of the Neoproterozoic, when multi-celled life forms started to take hold on Earth.
Posted 18 May 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

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