Leicester’s fossil celebrity: Charnia and the evolution of early life

David Jones (Leicester)

Fifty years ago, the first Ediacarans to be identified as the macroscopic remains of Precambrian life were discovered in a quarry in Leicestershire. This year’s Section C Saturday Seminar celebrated the anniversary of this historic discovery with a day of talks revolving around “Leicester’s fossil celebrity: Charnia and the evolution of early life”. Some one hundred and twenty people attended the symposium on March 10^th in the Leicester Geology Department Building, and we were treated to presentations from a veritable who’s who of Ediacaran workers from around the world.

Proceedings got underway with Roger Mason (China University of Earth Sciences), who related the tale of his schoolboy discovery of the first British Ediacaran fossil. Trevor Ford (University of Leicester) then picked up the story with his coining of the genus Charnia for this discovery. Trevor’s recognition of the Leicestershire fossils as a Precambrian biota catalysed Australian workers to re-interpret their specimens, and Ediacaran science was born. Helen Boynton (Leicester) then reviewed Leicestershire’s burgeoning number of Ediacaran localities and taxa: her gallery of recent discoveries around the county suggests there is great potential for further finds in the area. John Carney and Steve Noble (British Geological Survey) discussed the broader context of the Charnwood fossils in space and time. John argued that the marine surroundings of the volcanic island of Montserrat offered a good analogue for the Charnwood environment. Steve then outlined the latest dating evidence for the Charnwood specimens. Dan Condon (NERC Isotope Geoscience Laboratories) moved the focus outward to global correlation of the various Ediacaran biotas; an area in which considerable progress is currently being made. Nick Butterfield (University of Cambridge) contrasted Ediacaran ecosystems to those of the Phanerozoic and the remainder of the Precambrian, with the Ediacarans representing (in ecological, if not phylogenetic, terms) a precursor of later animal communities.

The afternoon session began with James Gehling (South Australian Museum) who showed us some of the spectacular recent finds of three-dimensionally preserved Ediacarans from the Flinders Range. James also espoused the virtues of geotourism, something to be embraced as a matter of urgency and necessity to preserve Ediacaran and other fossil sites from destruction (a danger only too well understood by those trying to protect the Leicestershire fossils). Thousands more three-dimensional Ediacaran fossils, this time from Newfoundland, awaited us in Guy Narbonne’s (Queen’s University, Canada) talk; their high-resolution preservation has permitted robust conclusions to be drawn regarding Ediacaran ecology and ontogeny. Dima Grahzdankin (University College Dublin) unified the various Ediacaran biotas within one framework, suggesting that the Ediacarans formed ecosystems of cosmopolitan yet ecologically specialised organisms. The final talk of the day, co-presented by Professor Martin Brasier and Jonathon Antcliffe (University of Oxford), brought discussion back to the Charnwood fossils: their laser scanning of the fossils allows detailed examination of morphology under controlled conditions; a technique that doubles as a means of conservation.

There followed a lively open floor discussion, which demonstrated both the vibrancy of Ediacaran research and the value of the Saturday Seminar in the public communication of genuine scientific debate. Mark Purnell closed the symposium, justifiably thanking the speakers for a day of excellent talks. Finally, the action moved to New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, with a reception sponsored by the BGS to open the new “Charni@ 50” Exhibition, celebrating Leicestershire’s iconic fossils. The symposium clearly demonstrated how far Ediacaran research has advanced and although this has been driven by spectacular new finds from Australia, Canada and Russia, the Leicestershire fossils continue to provide new insights, highlighting their international importance and their status as an invaluable part of Britain’s, and Leicestershire’s, geological heritage.