EDIACARAN FOSSILS FROM THE STIRLING RANGE FORMATION, WESTERN-AUSTRALIA

Metazoan body fossils of Ediacaran affinity in the Stirling Range Formation of Western Australia represent the first discovery in Western Australia, thereby extending the biogeographic range of the Australian Ediacaran fauna. Although small size and poor preservation limits accurate classification, body fossils have been classified (with varying degrees of confidence) to genus Cyclomedusa Sprigg 1947. In addition to Ediacaran body fossils, a single float sample containing simple protuberances was discovered. These discoids were assigned to the ichnogenus Bergaueria Prantl 1945. Whilst previously considered to have been deposited and deformed along with basement gneiss during the Mesoproterozoic, the presence of Ediacaran fossils indicates a significantly younger timing for deposition, and hence for deformation, of the Stirling Range Formation.