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)(寒武纪开始)。 埃迪卡拉纪之前的成冰纪 (Cryogenian)，地球处于相当的寒冷的气候，冰川覆盖住地球大部分的面积，而当埃迪卡拉纪来临时，地球上的气候已经转为较温暖气温。这段时期有时候又称为文德期 (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6亿3500万-5亿4200万年。
在埃迪卡拉纪时期所发现的动物化石，其年代约有6亿-5亿4500万年之久（有些网路上所提供的埃迪卡拉纪开始的年代资料报告，在日期上有很大的误差，把埃迪卡拉纪的日期混淆新元古代 (Neoproterozoic Era) 或元古宙 (Proterozoic Eon) 的日期。）
友谊网页连结
-
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).
友谊网页连结
-
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).