Abstract
EXTENSIVE collecting has been carried out during the past two years by private collectors, the South Australian Museum, the University of Adelaide and Mr. R. C. Sprigg and associates, in flaggy quartzites near the base of the Cambrian at the old Ediacara mines, 280 miles due north of Adelaide, South Australia. Sprigg1 found and described as jellyfishes fossil remains of soft-bodied animals from this locality. The study of the abundant new material2, which comprises about 800 specimens, has led to the following results. (1) The fauna consists not only of the forms described by Sprigg as scyphozoan and hydrozoan medusæ, but also of Anthozoa representing the Octocorallia, of Annelida3, and of at least two entirely new types of soft-bodied invertebrates2,3. (2) Certainly one and possibly more elements of this fauna belong to genera described from the Kuibis Quartzite of the Nama System in South Africa, and one genus recently described4 from the Precambrian of Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire, also occurs at Ediacara. (3) New stratigraphical and palæontological evidence indicates Late Precambrian age of the Ediacara fauna.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Sprigg, R. C., Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Aust., 71, 212 (1947); 73, 72 (1949).
Glaessner, M. F., and Daily, B., Rec. S. Aust. Mus., 13, Part 3 (in the press).
Glaessner, M. F., Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Aust., 81, 185 (1958).
Ford, T. D., Proc. Yorks. Geol. Soc., 31, 211 (1958).
Richter, R., Senckenb. Leth., 36, 243 (1955).
Daily, B., Twentieth Int. Geol. Congr. El Sist. Cambr., 2 (2), 91 (1956).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
GLAESSNER, M. Precambrian Coelenterata from Australia, Africa and England. Nature 183, 1472–1473 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/1831472b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1831472b0
This article is cited by
-
La double evolution de la lithosphere et de la biosphere
Geologische Rundschau (1986)
-
The first fossil ctenophore from the Lower Devonian of West Germany
Nature (1983)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.