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When did the first multicellular Ediacara animals appear?
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geologic history of Earth
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The Ediacara fauna—a group of soft-bodied, multicellular animals—is generally thought to have first appeared more than 600 million years ago, following the conclusion of the Marinoan glaciation.1
While these organisms are the hallmark of the Ediacaran Period (approximately 635 million to 541 million years ago), the exact timing of the emergence of multicellular animals remains a subject of scientific debate. Although traditionally associated with the Ediacaran Period, some research has produced evidence of invertebrate metazoans in sediments dating back more than 760 million years.1