Early Ediacaran micro- and macro-fossils from South China provide insights into post-Snowball Earth marine ecosystem
Abstract
Understanding of biological and ecological dynamics after the terminal Cryogenian Marinoan glaciation remains limited because the early Ediacaran fossil record is sparse and taphonomically biased toward microfossils. Here we show an early Ediacaran fossil assemblage from the Ancangping section of South China that co-preserves micro- and macrofossils in the same strata. It contains 17 genera and 35 species of acritarchs, including three new taxa, and six forms of macroscopic carbonaceous compressions. Integrated lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic correlation with published astrochronologic and radiometric data indirectly constrains its age to approximately 620–610 million years ago, thus predating the hitherto oldest-known macrofossil assemblage (the Lantian biota at 602 million years ago) in the Ediacaran Period. The assemblage comprises cyanobacteria, phytoplankton, benthic macroalgae, and possible metazoans, indicating the co-occurrence of benthic and planktonic organisms in the aftermath of the Snowball Earth. This finding fills a temporal gap and provides insight into early Ediacaran biological communities across the Cryogenian–Ediacaran transition.
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BibTeX
@article{ye2026early,
title = {{Early Ediacaran micro- and macro-fossils from South China provide insights into post-Snowball Earth marine ecosystem}},
author = {Qin Ye and Zhihui An and Sishuo Chen and Xin Long and Shuhai Xiao},
journal = {Communications Biology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s42003-026-11094-y},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-11094-y},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Early Ediacaran micro- and macro-fossils from South China provide insights into post-Snowball Earth marine ecosystem
AU - Qin Ye
AU - Zhihui An
AU - Sishuo Chen
AU - Xin Long
AU - Shuhai Xiao
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Communications Biology
DO - 10.1038/s42003-026-11094-y
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-11094-y
AB - Understanding of biological and ecological dynamics after the terminal Cryogenian Marinoan glaciation remains limited because the early Ediacaran fossil record is sparse and taphonomically biased toward microfossils. Here we show an early Ediacaran fossil assemblage from the Ancangping section of South China that co-preserves micro- and macrofossils in the same strata. It contains 17 genera and 35 species of acritarchs, including three new taxa, and six forms of macroscopic carbonaceous compressions. Integrated lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic correlation with published astrochronologic and radiometric data indirectly constrains its age to approximately 620–610 million years ago, thus predating the hitherto oldest-known macrofossil assemblage (the Lantian biota at 602 million years ago) in the Ediacaran Period. The assemblage comprises cyanobacteria, phytoplankton, benthic macroalgae, and possible metazoans, indicating the co-occurrence of benthic and planktonic organisms in the aftermath of the Snowball Earth. This finding fills a temporal gap and provides insight into early Ediacaran biological communities across the Cryogenian–Ediacaran transition.
SN - 2399-3642
ER -