Solving the mystery of the Ediacaran biota: Earth’s first complex life revealed

Following billions of years of microbial life, the transition to a world of complex animals between 580 and 541 Ma marks a fundamental milestone of evolution. Despite its significance, how this transition unfolded remains one of the great unsolved questions in science. Answers lie in the enigmatic fossils that occupy this pivotal ‘transition’ period - the Ediacarans.

These are the oldest fossils of large, complex organisms, but their bizarre morphology and mode of preservation has made determining their phylogenetic affinities extremely challenging. As such, probably no other fossils have attracted such controversy. How Ediacarans are related to the unambiguous animals that appear later, during the Cambrian Period is still unknown.

This project aims to solve this long-held mystery using the totally unexplored Ediacaran record of ‘Small Carbonaceous Fossils’ (SCFs).

State-of-the-art fossil extraction techniques applied to new localities will reveal the never before seen microscopic anatomy of iconic Ediacarans, enabling their place in the tree of life to be resolved.

A completely novel ‘ultra-low-manipulation extraction technique’ (ULMET) designed for this study will reveal the diet, habitats and ecology of the Ediacarans in spectacular subcellular detail for the first time.

This innovative approach combined with novel methods will place Swedish science at the frontier of evolutionary research, and will deliver new understanding of life at the dawn of animal evolution.