During an expedition in Sonora, Mexico, paleontologist Mark McMenamin unearthed fossils of creatures dating from approximately 600 million years ago, making them the oldest animal fossils ever discovered. These circular fossils, known as Ediacarans, seemed to defy explanation. Including twenty-two photographs and more than fifty drawings of these strikingly beautiful early life forms, The Garden of Ediacara presents a documentary of a major scientific discovery, detailing McMenamin's trip to Namibia, where, with a party that included the renowned paleontologist Adolf Seilacher, the author investigates a spectacular cast made from a colony of fossils in the Nama desert.McMenamin concludes that although they were related to animals, Ediacarans were not animals in the strict sense, because they never passed through an embryonic stage, which is peculiar to known animal life forms. But they seem to have developed a central nervous system and brains independent from animal evolution. This finding has profound ramifications for our understanding of evolutionary biology, for it indicates that the path toward intelligent life was embarked upon more than once on this planet.
Includes bibliographical references and index.