横跨近一亿年之久的埃迪卡拉纪 (Ediacaran)，结束于古生代初期 (Paleozoic Era) (迈向寒武纪)。 在埃迪卡拉纪之前的成冰纪 (Cryogenian)，地球大部分的面积被冰川所覆盖住，所以气候相当的寒冷，不过当埃迪卡拉纪来临时，气候转为温和。这段时期有时候也被称为文德期 (Vendian Period)。按照国际地层委员会 (The International Commission on Stratigraphy) 所制定的地质年代表，埃迪卡拉纪的年代是在6亿3500万至5亿4200万年前。
在埃迪卡拉纪时期所发现的动物化石，其年代约有6亿至5亿4500万年或5亿5500万年之久（有些网路资料对埃迪卡拉纪的开始年代，有很多不同的记载，日期的误差很大，把埃迪卡拉纪的日期混淆到新元古代 (Neoproterozoic Era) 或元古宙 (Proterozoic Eon) 的日期。）
连结网页
-
David Morrison’s 2004 essay about the measure of deep time at NASA.
- A page (mostly by Chris Clowes) at the Palaeos website describing the Ediacaran Era.
- A description of the Ediacara Biota from The Miller Museum.
- Some displays of life from the Ediacaran Era from The Dinosaur Collector.
- There is some confusion about just what was alive in the Ediacaran Era. The University of California at Berkeley mentions this, and an old (1990) article from New Scientist by Simon Conway Morris offers some questions about early life (although most of the article is about the Burgess Shale, which represents a time after the end of the Ediacaran Era).
连结网页
-
David Morrison’s 2004 essay about the measure of deep time at NASA.
- A page (mostly by Chris Clowes) at the Palaeos website describing the Ediacaran Era.
- A description of the Ediacara Biota from The Miller Museum.
- Some displays of life from the Ediacaran Era from The Dinosaur Collector.
- There is some confusion about just what was alive in the Ediacaran Era. The University of California at Berkeley mentions this, and an old (1990) article from New Scientist by Simon Conway Morris offers some questions about early life (although most of the article is about the Burgess Shale, which represents a time after the end of the Ediacaran Era).