View original imageThis is an original generative reconstruction, not a photograph or scientific plate.
164 / Precambrian
Kimberella
Kimberella quadrata
Its low oval body crawled across microbial mats while a front feeding structure left fan-shaped sets of scratches.
Structured expansion · editorial review pending
- Time range
- About 558–555 million years ago
- Final stage
- Late Ediacaran
- Geographic range
- Shallow Ediacaran seafloor · White Sea region of Russia
01 / ANSWER FIRST
What was Kimberella?
This archive records Kimberella under the scientific name Kimberella quadrata, with an age of About 558–555 million years ago and a range of Shallow Ediacaran seafloor · White Sea region of Russia. Its low oval body crawled across microbial mats while a front feeding structure left fan-shaped sets of scratches.
Kimberella had a flexible outer covering, a clear front and back and a muscular footlike underside. It is often interpreted as a bilaterian near the molluscan stem, grazing microbes as it moved.
02 / QUICK FACTS
Kimberella at a glance
- Scientific name
- Kimberella quadrata
- Age
- About 558–555 million years ago
- Last recorded stage
- Late Ediacaran
- Known range
- Shallow Ediacaran seafloor · White Sea region of Russia
- Broad group
- invertebrate
- Archive era
- Precambrian
- Habitat signals
- Ocean
- Documented regions
- Asia
03 / ANATOMY
How was Kimberella built?
Overall body plan
Its low oval body crawled across microbial mats while a front feeding structure left fan-shaped sets of scratches.
Body symmetry and segmentation
The available record is interpreted through preserved proportions, attachment surfaces, wear and comparison with related organisms. For Kimberella, those observations must be separated from features added only for visual reconstruction.
Feeding and locomotor structures
Kimberella had a flexible outer covering, a clear front and back and a muscular footlike underside. It is often interpreted as a bilaterian near the molluscan stem, grazing microbes as it moved.
Growth and individual variation
A single specimen does not define the whole species. Size, maturity, preservation and possible sex differences are considered before anatomical traits are treated as typical of Kimberella.
04 / DIET & BEHAVIOUR
How did Kimberella live?
Kimberella had a flexible outer covering, a clear front and back and a muscular footlike underside. It is often interpreted as a bilaterian near the molluscan stem, grazing microbes as it moved. This ecological reconstruction is strongest where anatomy, associated organisms and the depositional setting point in the same direction.
05 / DIET & BEHAVIOUR
What shaped its ecological limits?
Its populations depended on substrate, water chemistry, food supply and ecological competition. Changes in any one factor did not necessarily cause immediate extinction, but interacting pressures could reduce range, recruitment and resilience.
06 / RANGE & HABITAT
Where and when did Kimberella live?
This archive currently lists About 558–555 million years ago; Shallow Ediacaran seafloor · White Sea region of Russia. Fossil or historical occurrence data describe where evidence has been found, not every place the taxon once occupied. Species-level age and range limits still require source-specific review.
Documented geographic range
Shallow Ediacaran seafloor · White Sea region of Russia. This boundary can change when specimens are reidentified or new localities are published.
Time window
About 558–555 million years ago, with the final recorded stage listed as Late Ediacaran. Rock units and dating uncertainty mean the true biological range may extend beyond the known record.
Environmental setting
The archive uses the broad habitat labels Ocean. These labels help explore related records; a habitat reconstruction requires evidence from individual localities.
07 / FOSSIL EVIDENCE
What evidence supports reconstructions of Kimberella?
Primary record
Hundreds of White Sea body impressions occur beside fan-shaped grazing traces, linking movement, feeding and soft anatomy.
Comparative anatomy
Preserved structures are compared with close and functionally similar organisms. The method can constrain posture and function, but analogy alone cannot prove colour, behaviour or soft tissue.
Age and locality
Stratigraphy and occurrence records place Kimberella within About 558–555 million years ago and Shallow Ediacaran seafloor · White Sea region of Russia. Reworked fossils and uncertain provenance are treated cautiously.
Open entity records
Links below connect the archive to available taxonomic and occurrence records. A matching name does not verify every ecological claim, and related-taxon links provide comparison rather than an exact species match.
08 / DISAPPEARANCE & DEBATE
Why did Kimberella disappear?
The Ediacaran ages recorded here predate the Cambrian boundary. Seafloor ecological change offers context, but this archive has no direct evidence tying the disappearance of this species to burrowing or predation after the start of the Cambrian.
The last fossil or observation marks the youngest evidence currently known, not necessarily the death of the final individual. Explanations are strongest when timing, environmental change and population biology agree; otherwise the profile preserves uncertainty instead of assigning a single dramatic cause.
09 / FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Kimberella FAQ
What was Kimberella?
This archive records Kimberella under the scientific name Kimberella quadrata, with an age of About 558–555 million years ago. Its low oval body crawled across microbial mats while a front feeding structure left fan-shaped sets of scratches.
When did Kimberella live?
The current archive range is About 558–555 million years ago; its youngest recorded stage is Late Ediacaran.
Where was Kimberella found?
The archive currently lists Shallow Ediacaran seafloor · White Sea region of Russia. Species-level locality assignments and the full geographic range still require source-specific review.
How do scientists know about Kimberella?
Hundreds of White Sea body impressions occur beside fan-shaped grazing traces, linking movement, feeding and soft anatomy.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Completed an AI-assisted bilingual audit of the archive record, corrected identified issues and clarified evidence limits; independent editorial review is pending.
- Expanded into a structured bilingual profile with anatomy, ecology, range, evidence, debate and FAQs; independent editorial review is pending.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS