The Neoproterozoic and its boundaries are hot topics at the moment. The UNESCO IGC Project 493 has been looking at the Neoproterozoic, the precise timing of its events and the effects of changing climates, environments, their chemistry and palaeogeography of the biotas of the time.
Over recent decades the problematic nature, timing and correlation of Neoproterozoic events have become increasingly discussed as have the equally problematic Ediacaran/Vendian biotas. More and more fossil forms have been recovered from the coastal exposures of Russia's White Sea (e.g. new data on Kimberella by Fedonkin et al., in the volume under review) and Newfoundland. Even the better-known classic areas of the Flinders Ranges in Australia (see Jenkins & Nedin's contribution) and Namibia are still producing some surprises.
The global distribution of Ediacaran strata has meant that many geologists and palaeontologists from different countries have made contributions to the debate and as a result the literature is scattered across a huge range of journals. The Rise and Fall of the Ediacaran Biota is particularly useful in representing a collection of papers from two IGCP 493 interdisciplinary symposia, one in Prato, Italy in 2004 and the other in Kyoto, Japan in 2006. Some 70 authors from around the world publish contributions that range from general geology, stratigraphy and correlation to palaeontology, including some general discussions such as poriferan paraphyly (Sperling et al.) and bilaterian body plans (Valentine). Abstracts of papers that were presented at the meetings but are not published here can be found on the Geological Society website (www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18273).
No matter whether you are particularly interested in geochemistry, glaciation or the biota, there will be some contributions of interest here with references to literature that otherwise can be difficult to access. The volume is well illustrated and indexed and generally up to the usual high production standards that we have come to expect from the Geological Society publishing house.
