Advent of Complex Life

Education and Outreach coordinator Phoebe Cohen led a family day program on October 17th at 2:00pm at the Harvard Museum of Natural History entitled "From Trilobites to Extraterrestrials: Exploring Life on Earth and Beyond". The successful program educated and entertained 40 participants, including kids, parents, and HMNH volunteer docents, who learned about how paleontologists decide what's a fossil and what isn't, how that might help us find life on other planets, how we find exoplanets, and what we might find on them. Watch the video below (~55 minutes).

The video below is an overview of the Ediacaran Fauna, including a slideshow and discussion of the major types of fossils found around the world.  You'll learn what they look like, what they are called, and some information about each.

The NAI Advent of Complex Life Team is producing self-contained education activities that can be used to help teachers address specific parts of the National Science Education Standards, in the context of learning about astrobiology.  The activities, known as 'WebQuests', are designed to be inquiry-based, such that students seek information to solve a problem or complete an activity.  Students are challenged to explore, understand, and resolve an issue individually and/or in groups.  They are provided with background information and guidance to resources on the web in order t

Watch Dr Phoebe Cohen explain how fossils are dated:

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Gigapans are high resolution composite images taken with a special setup which captures hundreds of individual images and stitches them together.  You can zoom in to very high levels and move around the image to examine details, just as if you were at the location where the photos were taken.  

Did the Ediacaran organisms just disappear, evolve into something else and are we related to them? Watch Dr Phoebe Cohen explain what scientists know and don't know about evolution and fate of early complex life.

What is the Ediacaran time period? Watch Dr Phoebe Cohen explain what a fossil is and the discus the completeness of the fossil record during the Ediacaran time period.

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Learn more about the Ediacaran organisms - is there evidence that they moved? If they were animals, what did they eat and how did they eat it if they didn't have mouths or heads?

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The following is the list of references from which the Ediacaran taxon database is sourced. Please contact us regarding any errors or omissions.

Arai, M. N., & McGugan, A. (1969). A Problematical Cambrian Coelenterate(?). Journal of Paleontology, 43(1), 93-94.  

Watch Dr Phoebe Cohen explain the age of Ediacaran fossils and the locations:

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