
We are a group of Palaeontologists from the University of Cambridge, out in Newfoundland, Canada to map Ediacaran fossil communities. Ediacaran fossils are among the oldest large complex organisms on Earth, appearing suddenly after 3 billion years of only microbial life. However, very little is known about them because their anatomy differs from all other known organisms, although at least some of them are likely to be the first animals. Exceptionally for the fossil record, there is a near-perfect record of these communities, because thousands of these non-mobile organisms were preserved where they lived. This exceptional preservation means that detailed statistical analyses of the fossil spatial distributions can be used to infer their otherwise opaque biology and ecology. We are working in Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve to map out the Ediacaran communities using a high resolution laser scanner and photogrammetry.
This project is led by Dr Emily Mitchell, a Research fellow in Earth Sciences and at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge. Dr Charlotte Kenchington is a Leverhulme fellow, Earth Sciences working on Ediacaran macrofossils, palaeoecology and trace fossils. They are joined Lucy Roberts, a PhD student from zoology who works on axial skeleton evolution and development, and Sasha Dennis, an undergraduate student at Murray Edwards college.
Charlotte and Emily will be tweeting in the first week, Sasha in the second, and Lucy in the third. Our Twitter accounts are: @EGMitchell, @EdiaCharlotte, @LucyRoberts_Cam