In Historical Context
Cryogenian - Ediacaran - Cambrian
That's right!! They came before the Cambrian1 This means that these awesome biota are precambrian!!
so how are they around? well I'll tell you
That's right!! They came before the Cambrian1 This means that these awesome biota are precambrian!!
so how are they around? well I'll tell you
The Cryogenian
In the Cryogenian; the whole world was froze - not very good!! There were no edicarans here so dont worry. This was called the snowball earth" because the hole earth was icy like a snowball
then, methane (greenhouse gas) went from the polls and this warmed up the world so the ice metled. this also made the climate perfect for multicellula
then, methane (greenhouse gas) went from the polls and this warmed up the world so the ice metled. this also made the climate perfect for multicellula
The Ediacaran
In the start of the Edicaran, there were no Ediacara biota. Surprising! But you need to forgive them, the whole world was only just frozen; life was probably cold back then
but, 3 million years later, is when they found the first fossils: these were called "embryo" and they looked like embryos! kind of like baby edicara
then, another 20 million years later, some new types of ediacara started showing up. thes ewere called Nimbia, and arround aned flat with a central dimple. they are the blue ones on the right hand side of the photo on the bottom of this page.
but, 3 million years later, is when they found the first fossils: these were called "embryo" and they looked like embryos! kind of like baby edicara
then, another 20 million years later, some new types of ediacara started showing up. thes ewere called Nimbia, and arround aned flat with a central dimple. they are the blue ones on the right hand side of the photo on the bottom of this page.
The Avalon Explosion
Eventually all of the Ediacara biota diversified into more forms that we see today in a n event called the Avalon Explosion. During the avalon explosion, suddenly all kinds of new ediacara biota evolved in all kinds of new forms
here are the main types
here are the main types
Quilted
Quilted-shaped ediacara biota wer wide a flat, and had a quilted apearance.
Below pictured is Dickinsonia, one of the most famous Ediacaran biota |
Frond
Frond-shaped ediacara biota looked sort of like plants in how they grew out from the ground
BUT they are not plants... they are ediacara biota!! though they still couldn't move Pcitured is Charnia, a deep-sea-living frond-shaped Ediacara biota that lived in the dark and filtered nutrients! A fun fact about Charnia is that it was first discovered by a 15-year-old girl called Tina but her teachers said that fossils couldn't be before the Cambrian (probably because they'r jealous haters). She really showed them up!
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Bilateral
Bilateral Ediacara biota were bilateraly symetrical - that means that their left and right sides were mirror opposites of each other, just like in people today
Pircutred is the Spriggina, a type of bilateraly simmetrical Ediacara biota |
Worm-Like
Worm-like ediacare were long and thin, just like worms.
Below pircutred is Funisia, which scientists think had sexual reproduction (lol) because theyr were lots of them all living in the same place at about the same age mabe they were going to school or having a party lol
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The Cambrian
Eventually, the Ediacara biota went extinct and the cambrian biota took over. But wy? Well there are some theories by scientists wh this might have hapened:
- Grazing by Animals - Ediacara biota attached themselves to microbial mats which new animals might have broken up which would have harmed the ecosistem and made the ediacara biota go existinct
- Eaten by Animals - In the Cambrian explosion, all kinds of diferent animals evolved with skeletons that might have eaten all of the Ediacarans
- Competition - Animals that had newly evolved in the Cambrian explosion might have tried to eat the same things as Ediacaran biota did, which wuld have made them all go hungry then die and go exticnt.
- Climate Change - The climate of the world changed in the start of the Early Camrbain in lots of different ways and one of those might have been too much for the Ediacarans wich went extinct
- No Fossils - It might have been just that ther were no follils formed of the Ediacara biota after the Cambrian started, but this is unlikely since there was lots of fossils of the Cambrian biota so there should have also been fossils of the Ediacara biota.
Family Photo
A family photo of the all of the Ediacara biota.
Features Dickinsonia, Spriggina, Nimbia, Charnia
See if you can spot them! A prise if you send in the right answers to my website or if you see a species that i haen't!!
Features Dickinsonia, Spriggina, Nimbia, Charnia
See if you can spot them! A prise if you send in the right answers to my website or if you see a species that i haen't!!