The Ediacara Biota are some of the strangest fossils ever found—soft-bodied organisms preserved in remarkable detail where preservation shouldn’t be possible. Scientists now think their survival in sandstone came from unusual ancient seawater chemistry that created clay “cements” around thei r bodies after burial. This process captured delicate shapes that would normally vanish. The finding helps clarify how complex life emerged before the Cambrian Explosion. ...read more read less