New perspectives on the globally important Ediacaran fossil discoveries in Charnwood Forest, UK: Harley’s 1848 prequel to Ford (1958)
Publication: Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
Volume 59
Pages 137 - 144
Summary
The study of latest Neoproterozoic fossils that comprise the Ediacara biota is a relatively new frontier of palaeontology. That it started when it did is due, in no small measure, to the discovery of macrofossils in Charnwood Forest in 1957, and their description in a paper to the Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society by Trevor Ford in 1958. There is a prequel to this, however. We reveal newly found correspondence showing that as long ago as 1848 enterprising naturalists had seen these macrofossils and recognized them as such. The subsequent rejection of those finds by others mirrors the experiences of geologists elsewhere in the world, and is attributed to a previously received wisdom that macrofossils only occurred in Cambrian or younger strata.
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Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
Volume 59 • Number 2 • November 2012
Pages: 137 - 144
Copyright
© 2012 Yorkshire Geological Society.
History
Received: 3 October 2012
Published: November 2012
Published online: 19 December 2012
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- Giovanni Pasinetti, Hayley Grace Fitzgerald, Daniel Pérez-Pinedo, Duncan McIlroy, A new species of Charnia from the Ediacaran of Newfoundland reveals novel insights on the taxonomy, palaeobiology and palaeoecology of the Charnida (Rangeomorpha) , Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 10.1080/14772019.2025.2468193, 23, 1, (2025).
- D. McIlroy, Architectural modelling of the fractal-like Ediacaran rangeomorph Charnia masoni, Journal of the Geological Society, 10.1144/jgs2024-242, 182, 3, (2025).
- L. Inglez, L.V. Warren, J. Okubo, M.G. Simões, F. Quaglio, M.J. Arrouy, R.G. Netto, Discs and discord: The paleontological record of Ediacaran discoidal structures in the south American continent, Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 10.1016/j.jsames.2018.11.023, 89, (319-336), (2019).
- Charlotte G. Kenchington, Frances S. Dunn, Philip R. Wilby, Modularity and Overcompensatory Growth in Ediacaran Rangeomorphs Demonstrate Early Adaptations for Coping with Environmental Pressures, Current Biology, 10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.036, 28, 20, (3330-3336.e2), (2018).
- Charlotte G. Kenchington, Simon J. Harris, Philip B. Vixseboxse, Chris Pickup, Philip R. Wilby, The Ediacaran fossils of Charnwood Forest: Shining new light on a major biological revolution, Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 10.1016/j.pgeola.2018.02.006, 129, 3, (264-277), (2018).
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