Discoidal Impressions and Trace-like Fossils More Than 1200 Million Years Old

The Stirling Range Formation of southwestern Australia contains discoidal impressions and trace-like fossils in tidal sandstones. The various disks have previously been linked to the Ediacaran biota, younger than 600 million years old. From this unit, we report U-Th-Pb geochronology of detrital zirc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2002-05, Vol.296 (5570), p.1112-1115
Main Authors: Rasmussen, Birger, Bengtson, Stefan, Fletcher, Ian R., McNaughton, Neal J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aneuploidy
Animals
Animals, Fossil
Biology
Crystallization
Crystals
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Ediacara
Evidence
Exact sciences and technology
Female animals
Fossils
Geologic Sediments - chemistry
Geological time
Geology, Stratigraphic
Germ cells
Identification and classification
Invertebrate paleontology
Marine Biology
Metals, Rare Earth
Monazites
Movement
Mucus
Paleontology
Phenetics
Precambrian
Precambrian Era
Prehistoric animals
Sandstones
Sediments
Silicates
Stone
Stratigraphy
Taxonomy (Biology)
Time
Trace fossils
Western Australia
Zirconium
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Summary:The Stirling Range Formation of southwestern Australia contains discoidal impressions and trace-like fossils in tidal sandstones. The various disks have previously been linked to the Ediacaran biota, younger than 600 million years old. From this unit, we report U-Th-Pb geochronology of detrital zircon and monazite, as well as low-grade metamorphic monazite, constraining the depositional age to between 2016 ± 6 and 1215 ± 20 million years old. Although nonbiological origins for the discoidal impressions cannot be completely discounted, the structures resembling trace fossils clearly have a biological origin and suggest the presence of vermiform, mucus-producing, motile organisms.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1070166