The First Animals: Life in the Ediacaran

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• Dickinsonia observed in situ at Nilpena Ediacara National Park

  Citronnel

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• Cloudina-carinata-Tamengo-Formation

  R.R. Adôrno et al.

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• Mistaken Point | UNESCO World Heritage Site | Newfoundland (1)

  Environment, Conservation and Climate Change, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (@ECCC_GovNL)

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• JF Cudennec - Yesterday we wandered in the « Eastern hyper-oceanic barrens ecoregio...

  JF Cudennec (@LimpetNerd)

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• Ediacaran fossils Mistaken Point Newfoundland

  Alicejmichel

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• Laser scanning an Ediacaran fossil surface in Newfoundland

  Emily G. Mitchell (@EGMitchell)

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• Charnia masoni fossil, New Walk Museum

  Andy Dingley

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• Charnia masoni Leicestershire

  Ghedo

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• Fractofusus misrai

  djpmapleferryman

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• Fractofusus impression with hand scale at Mistaken Point

  Dr Joe Moysiuk (@CambroJoe)

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• Fractofusus surface detail at Mistaken Point

  Dr Joe Moysiuk (@CambroJoe)

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• Computer heatsink and fan

  Douglas Paul Perkins

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• gr1 image

  NIH

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• gr3 image

  NIH

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• Scientific figure · source page 6

  Dunn et al.

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  Figure or page excerpt cropped from the source publication.

• Scientific figure · source page 2

  Liu, McIlroy and Brasier

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  Figure or page excerpt cropped from the source publication.

• Haootia quadriformis

  Apokryltaros

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• Auroralumina attenboroughii holotype

  F. S. Dunn, C. G. Kenchington, L. A. Parry, J. W. Clark, R. S. Kendall & P. R. Wilby

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  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• Fossil bed at Nilpena Ediacara National Park

  Citronnel

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• Excavated fossil bed at Nilpena Ediacara National Park

  Citronnel

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• Dickinsonia - Ediacaran Fossil from Flinders Range in South Australia

  cprevot ( https://www.geodiversite.net/auteur193 )

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• Kimberella body fossil from a palaeontologist's specimen post

  Dr Rod Taylor (@FossilRod)

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• Kimberella trace

  Aleksey Nagovitsyn ( User:Alnagov )

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• Scratch-like traces associated with a Kimberella post

  Dr Rod Taylor (@FossilRod)

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• Scientific figure · source page 3

  Bobrovskiy et al.

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  Figure or page excerpt cropped from the source publication.

• Scientific figure · source page 3

  Scott D. Evans et al.

  View original source ↗Copyrighted material — used for documentary commentary

  Figure or page excerpt cropped from the source publication.

  Editorial use; no open license asserted.

• Scientific figure · source page 2

  Evans et al., PNAS (2020)

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• Scientific figure · source page 9

  Bobrovskiy et al.

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• PhysRevLett.116.038102-Fig1

  Julius B. Kirkegaard, Alan O. Marron, Raymond E. Goldstein

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• Green and yellow sea sponges, Antarctica

  Steve Rupp, National Science Foundation

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• Ctenophore at Blue Flame Pinnacles P5230648

  Peter Southwood

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• Cloudina fossils (Neoproterozoic; Corumba, Brazil) (45453979394)

  James St. John

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• Namacalathus and Cloudina, Canada, in 545 million year old limestone - Redpath Museum - McGill University - Montreal, Canada - DSC07920

  Daderot

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• Scientific figure · source page 7

  Penny et al., Science (2014)

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• Scientific figure · source page 6

  Warren et al.

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• Scientific figure · source page 45

  Cambridge

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• Scientific figure · source page 45

  Cambridge

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• Scientific figure · source page 45

  Cambridge

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• Charnia and Fractofusus Inner Meadow Lagerstätte

  McIlroy, D.; Pérez-Pinedo, D.; Rosse-Guillevic, S.; Muirhead-Hunt, H.; Taylor, R.S.; Dufour, S.C. (2025)

  View original source ↗CC BY 4.0

• Scientific figure · source page 8

  Li et al., Science

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• Starfish Underwater (45533035724)

  Jernej Furman from Maribor, Slovenia

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• Scientific figure · source page 6

  Lucas V. Warren et al.

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Research references

Selected sources from the episode’s research and scientific figures.

1. The tempo of Ediacaran evolution ↗
2. Dodging snowballs: Geochronology of the Gaskiers glaciation and the first appearance of the Ediacara biota ↗
3. DOI: 10.1130/G30368.1 ↗
4. DOI: 10.1038/nature14646 ↗
5. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0904836106 ↗
6. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe0291 ↗
7. DOI: 10.1126/science.aat7228 ↗
8. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2001045117 ↗
9. Ediacaran metazoan reefs from the Nama Group, Namibia ↗
10. DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12122 ↗
11. DOI: 10.1126/science.257.5068.367 ↗
12. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-05753-8 ↗
13. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2207475119 ↗
14. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05936-6 ↗
15. Increase in ocean oxygen and the evolutionary pace of Ediacaran–early Cambrian animals ↗
16. Uncovering the Ediacaran phosphorus cycle ↗
17. DOI: 10.1126/science.adu2291 ↗
18. Charnia masoni fossil, New Walk Museum ↗
19. Fractofusus misrai ↗
20. Ediacaran fossils, Mistaken Point ↗
21. Dickinsonia, Flinders Ranges ↗
22. Trace of Dickinsonia lissa ↗
23. Cloudina carinata, Tamengo Formation ↗
24. Warren et al. 2017, figure 4 ↗
25. Oxford release and press images ↗
26. Mistaken Point, NL Geo Centre ↗
27. Accessing Nilpena Ediacara National Park ↗
28. Auroralumina attenboroughii holotype ↗
29. Haootia quadriformis ↗
30. Namacalathus and Cloudina, Redpath Museum ↗
31. Haootia quadriformis n. gen., n. sp., interpreted as a muscular cnidarian impression from the Late Ediacaran period ↗
32. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01807-x ↗
33. DOI: 10.1666/12051 ↗
34. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1408542111 ↗
35. The life and times of Pectinifrons abyssalis ↗
36. DOI: 10.1111/brv.12365 ↗
37. A bacterial sulfonolipid triggers multicellular development in the closest living relatives of animals ↗
38. DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118187 ↗
39. Dickinsonia observed in situ at Nilpena ↗
40. Kimberella trace ↗
41. Fossil bed at Nilpena Ediacara National Park ↗
42. Cloudina fossils, Corumbá, Brazil ↗
43. Commons file ↗
44. official site clip ↗
45. Jim Gehling lecture ↗
46. ABC Landline Nilpena report ↗
47. Life Through Time: Jiangchuan discussion ↗
48. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cloudina_fossils_(Neoproterozoic;_Corumba,_Brazil)_(45453979394).jpg ↗
49. bobrovskiy 2022 ediacara guts ↗
50. Light-regulated collective contractility in a multicellular choanoflagellate ↗
51. colinetia 2026 pre gaskiers ↗
52. darroch 2023 pectinifrons ↗
53. DOI: 10.1111/gbi.70029 ↗
54. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65176-2 ↗
55. hua 2003 cloudina borings ↗
56. DOI: 10.3390/geosciences9090395 ↗
57. liu 2014 haootia ↗
58. DOI: 10.1111/let.12401 ↗
59. matthews 2021 avalon chronology ↗
60. nama paleobiology monograph ↗
61. nama trace fossils review 2020 ↗
62. oxygen increase pacing 2024 ↗
63. DOI: 10.1126/science.1253393 ↗
64. Bacterial lipids activate, synergize, and inhibit a developmental switch in choanoflagellates ↗

Music

• Meditation From The Star Orion
  OctahedronMusic · Envato Elements