Organism · Animals
Dickinsonia costata
Fossil record age bounds · ≈ 635–539 Ma
Inferred life reconstruction
Dickinsonia costata
Overview
Dickinsonia costata is an Ediacaran organism with repeating units in a broad oval body. Growth and body proportions have been studied in many specimens from South Australia. You can examine how small repetitions make up a larger body.[1]
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Key facts
A 2017 study measured 538 complete, undeformed specimens. It compared material of different sizes to explore patterns of growth. The study went beyond a single impression to examine many specimens together.[1]
Time and place
The fossil beds of Nilpena in present-day South Australia are introduced as late Ediacaran material from roughly 555 million years ago. Dickinsonia costata appears in descriptions of this locality. Traces of an ancient seafloor reveal clues to its body and way of life.[4][3]
The time range describes source context, not the complete duration of this species.
Size, form and skeleton
The body is a broad oval made of successive repeating units. Research from South Australia examined their bilaterally symmetrical arrangement and the body’s proportions. The overall outline and internal repetitions can be compared at different scales.[1]
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Habitat and reproduction
Microbial mats on the seafloor are interpreted as a likely food source for Dickinsonia. Research reads the traces left by its body together with the surrounding surface. This offers a way to find feeding clues different from studying bones or teeth.[2][3]
Fossil discovery
The 2017 growth study examined repeating units and body proportions in many Dickinsonia costata specimens. Fossil-site and institutional accounts also introduce microbial mats and feeding traces. Questions extend from body form to growth and life.[1][2][3]
References
- Evans et al. (2017) — Growth of Dickinsonia costata
- NASA — Feeding traces on the Ediacaran seafloor
- Nilpena fossil site — Dickinsonia
- South Australian Museum — Ancient fossil beds at Nilpena
- Original research — Three body regions of Kimberella
- International Commission on Stratigraphy (2024) — Geological time chart
- Evans et al. (2017) — Growth of Dickinsonia costata
- Highly regulated growth and development of Dickinsonia costata
- NASA — Feeding traces on the Ediacaran seafloor
- Nilpena fossil site — Dickinsonia
- South Australian Museum — Ancient fossil beds at Nilpena
- Highly regulated growth and development of Dickinsonia costata
Research questions
Did the repeating units change in the same way as the body grew? Comparing specimens of different sizes side by side lets us examine the relationship between the whole outline and its small units. Many fossils become evidence for understanding the growth of one organism.[1]
Observation
Move your gaze from the oval outline to the repeating units making up the body. Examining their left–right arrangement alongside the proportions of the whole body connects the small parts to the whole.[1]
Related organisms
Seafloor microbial mats interpreted as food
Dickinsonia’s feeding traces are interpreted as possible evidence that it used seafloor microbial mats. Examine the surface formed by communities of microorganisms alongside the body traces.
Kimberella quadrataAnimalsSource time context (not species duration) · ≈ 635–539 MaThree body regions and repeating units
The Ediacaran organisms Kimberella and Dickinsonia show different ways of reading a body in parts. Kimberella is described as having three regions running from a smooth outer band through a scalloped boundary to inner wrinkles. In Dickinsonia, you can examine the repeating units that make up a broad oval body and their arrangement on the left and right.