Preview
Description
Ediacaran organisms leave quite an impression, which is rare for soft-bodied biota. Beautifully bizarre, their shapes vary from leaf-like, to three-armed, to flat, to "quilted." In the shallow coastal seas of the "Garden of Ediacara," photosynthetic and chemosynthetic symbionts help some of these organisms grow large, while others graze on plentiful bacteria. These gelatinous creatures have no hard parts and no predators. Theirs was a pre-armored world.
Ediacaran fossils are found all over the world. Evolutionary biologists disagree about the nature of these enigmatic beings, since none of their relations survive to tell the tale. The delicate Ediacarans, an evolutionary experiment in life forms, go gently into that good night.
Date Created
1997
Holding Institution
University of Montana--Missoula. Environmental Studies Program
Rights Statement
Rights Holder
© 1997 Stiftung Drittes Millennium
Item Type
Exhibit
Digital File Format
image/jpeg
Media Type
Text; Image
Digital Image Number
48_wtt_file03_40-59.jpg
Recommended Citation
Liebes, Sid; Mittelstadt, Laurie; Waugh, Barbara; and Brynes, Lois, "Panel 48: Supple Testimonies" (1997). A Walk Through Time - From Stardust To Us. 48.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/awalkthroughtime/48