3D Charnia fossil from 560 million years ago found in Norway
Researchers led by the University of Cambridge discovered a three-dimensional Charnia fossil in Finnmark, Norway, dating from approximately 560 million years ago during the Ediacaran Period. The fossil is the first confirmed Charnia find in Scandinavia and was preserved in exceptional three-dimensional detail after being buried in an ancient underwater avalanche—a rarity for soft-bodied organisms of this age. The high-quality preservation revealed subtle ridges called 'keels' along the organism's branches that had not been detected in flatter fossils from other locations. The discovery suggests that early animals were more widely distributed than previously thought, and that additional unexplored areas may contain similar fossils.