Data from: Ediacaran distributions in space and time: testing assemblage concepts of earliest macroscopic body fossils ...

• Main Authors: Boag, Thomas H., Darroch, Simon A. F., Laflamme, Marc
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2017
• Subjects: Ediacaran; Biostratigraphy; White Sea
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1mh30; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.1mh30

The mid-late Ediacaran Period (~579–541 Ma) is characterized by globally distributed marine soft-bodied organisms of unclear phylogenetic affinities colloquially called the “Ediacara biota.” Despite an absence of systematic agreement, previous workers have tested for underlying factors that may control the occurrence of Ediacaran macrofossils in space and time. Three taxonomically distinct “assemblages,” termed the Avalon, White Sea, and Nama, were identified and informally incorporated into Ediacaran biostratigraphy. After ~15 years of new fossil discoveries and taxonomic revision, we retest the validity of these assemblages using a comprehensive database of Ediacaran macrofossil occurrences. Using multivariate analysis, we also test the degree to which taphonomy, time, and paleoenvironment explain the taxonomic composition of these assemblages. We find that: (1) the three assemblages remain distinct taxonomic groupings; (2) there is little support for a large-scale litho-taphonomic bias present in the ... : Ediacaran distributions in space and time_supplementaryDatabase tables of Ediacaran fossil occurrences, with additional tables describing the formatting of the database and a catalogue of geochronological data associated with fossiliferous Ediacaran strata. Also included are subsequent statistical analyses of the data-set using hierarchical cluster analysis and confidence intervals.Boag_supplementary_accepted.docx ...