ICHNOLOGY OF THE LATE EDIACARAN NASEP-HUNS TRANSITION (NAMA GROUP, SOUTHERN NAMIBIA)

The Late Ediacaran Nasep-Huns transition (Urusis Formation, Nama Group) of southern Namibia preserves an unusually dense assemblage of shallow marine trace fossils, including multiple ichnotaxa on bedding planes, and what likely represent the oldest ‘complex’ trace fossils known from the fossil record. However, the true ichnofaunal diversity of this transgressive sequence remains largely undescribed. Here, we present a comprehensive description and identification of trace fossils in these members, and integrate them within meter-scale log sections and a broader paleoenvironmental analysis. We discuss how these trace fossil assemblages may offer important new data on patterns of bilaterian evolution, an intensification of ecosystem engineering behaviors, as well as facies-based and taphonomic controls on the late Neoproterozoic rise of animals.