Confirming the Metazoan Character of a 565 Ma Trace-Fossil Assemblage from Mistaken Point, Newfoundland

A 565-million-year-old trace-fossil assemblage from Mistaken Point, Newfoundland, provides evidence of muscular metazoans in late Ediacaran deep-marine ecosystems. Analysis of the fossils, preserved within a turbidite succession, rules out abiogenic origins and links their formation to organisms capable of controlled locomotion, akin to modern mollusks and actinians. While not attributable to known ichnotaxa, the traces exhibit morphological characteristics consistent with muscular movement, suggesting the presence of complex organisms predating the Cambrian explosion.

LIU, A. G., MCILROY, D., MATTHEWS, J. J., & BRASIER, M. D. (2014). CONFIRMING THE METAZOAN CHARACTER OF A 565 MA TRACE-FOSSIL ASSEMBLAGE FROM MISTAKEN POINT, NEWFOUNDLAND. Palaios, 29(8), 420–430. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2014.011