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The enigmatic Ediacara biota (571 million to 541 million years ago) represents the first macroscopic complex organisms in the geological record and may hold the key to our understanding of the origin of animals. Ediacaran macrofossils are as “strange as life on another planet” and have evaded taxonomic classification, with interpretations ranging from marine animals or giant single-celled protists to terrestrial lichens. Here, we show that lipid biomarkers extracted from organically preserved Ediacaran macrofossils unambiguously clarify their phylogeny. Dickinsonia and its relatives solely produced cholesteroids, a hallmark of animals. Our results make these iconic members of the Ediacara biota the oldest confirmed macroscopic animals in the rock record, indicating that the appearance of the Ediacara biota was indeed a prelude to the Cambrian explosion of animal life.

The taphonomic varieties of over 800 specimens of Kimberella (collected from the Vendian rocks of the White Sea region) provide new evidence of the animal's anatomy such as: shell morphology, proboscis, mantle, possibly respiratory folds and possibly musculature, stomach and glands. Feeding tracks, crawling trails and, presumably, escape structures preserved along with the body imprint provide insights on the mode of locomotion and feeding of this animal. The shield-like dorsal shell reached up to 15 cm in length, 5–7 cm in width, and 3–4 cm in height. The shell was stiff but flexible. Evidence of dorso-ventral musculature and fine transverse ventral musculature suggests arrangement in a metameric pattern. Locomotion may have been by means of peristaltic waves, both within the sediment and over the surface of the sea floor, by means of a foot resembling that of monoplacophorans. Respiration may have been through a circumpedal folded strip (possibly an extension of the mantle). Feeding was accomplished by a retractable proboscis bearing terminal hook-like organs and provided with a pair of structures interpreted here as glands. Whilst feeding, Kimberella moved backwards. The structural complexity of Kimberella poses questions about the time of origin of the triploblastic metazoans.

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Exceptionally preserved specimens of Ernietta in a shallow-marine gutter cast from southern Namibia reveal that all previously figured specimens of this iconic Ediacaran megafossil are incomplete, representing only the base of a larger and more complex organism. The complete organism is interpreted as comprising a buried, sand-filled anchor exhibiting the classical Ernietta morphology that passes distally into a trunk that is crowned by two facing fans that extended into the overlying water column. All parts of Ernietta, from the base of its buried anchor to the tip of its fans, appear to have been composed of a palisade of tubular elements that have been variably preserved. Similarity of tubule morphology despite the inherent difference in function between these constructions supports the view that these tubes were integral to all anatomical parts and functions of Ernietta. This style of architecture, construction and function is unique to the Erniettomorpha, supporting the view that it represents an extinct Ediacaran clade in the early evolution of multi-cellular life.