August 22, 2021

46- Ediacaran Biota

7 minutes

Today, we're going to be discussing the Ediacaran fauna. This is a faunal assemblage that came before the Cambrian Explosion (535-525 Mya) but is less well known. Unlike the Cambrian Explosion- which saw the creation of most of the phyla we know today- the Ediacaran biota is much less familiar. It also appears to be quite confusing in terms of what category its constituent organisms fall under...

Sources for this episode:

Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V. and Reece, J. B. (2018), Biology: a global approach, 11th edition (Global Edition), Harlow, Pearson Education Limited.

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Grazhdankin, D. (2011), Ediacaran Biota. In: Reitner J. and Thiel, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geobiology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht.

Herron, J. C. and Freeman, S. (2015), Evolutionary Analysis (Fifth Edition, Global Edition). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Rafferty, J. P., Encyclopaedia Britannica (2018), Ediacaran Period (online) [Accessed 28/05/2021].

Shen, B., Dong, L., Xiao, S. and Kowalewski, M. (2008), The Avalon Explosion: Evolution of Ediacara Morphospace, Science 319(5859): 81-84.

Thain, M. and Hickman, M. (2014), Dictionary of Biology (Eleventh Edition). London: Penguin Books Ltd.

Virginia Tech, ScienceDaily (2008), Two Explosive Evolutionary Events Shaped Early History Of Multicellular Life (online) [Accessed 28/05/2021].

Windley, B. F., Encyclopaedia Britannica (2019), Ediacara fauna (online) [Accessed 28/05/2021].

Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Ediacaran biota (online) [Accessed 28/05/2021].

Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Marinoan glaciation (online) [Accessed 28/05/2021].

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