Large, complex organisms became conspicuous in late Neoproterozoic seas before the Cambrian diversification of skeletonized animals.
Represented range575–538.8 Ma
RegionsGlobal marine shelves
CladesEdiacaran organisms · early animals
Claim ledger
fossil-range · high
CA–ID–TIMS U–Pb ages bracket the Gaskiers glaciation, and Avalon fossils appear in younger strata by about 571 Ma; this directly dates a regional assemblage, not the origin of animals or a global Ediacaran first appearance.