New discovery on Ediacaran fossils from the Kushk Series in Bafq and Behabad regions, Central Iran

The Precambrian Kushk Series in the Bafq and Behabad regions of Central Iran contains a diverse assemblage of latest Ediacaran fossils that showcase a fossil assemblage much more diverse than typically known from the latest Ediacaran systems worldwide. The Kushk Series reaches a thickness of >500 m and consists of carbonate (sandy dolomitic limestone and dolomite) and siliciclastic (shale, sandstone, and siltstone) facies with extensive accumulations of volcanic rhyolite, microdiorite, and tuff, which its argillaceous shales contain an assemblage of abundant Ediacaran fossils including Kuckaraukia multituberculata,Persimedusites chahgazensis, Corumbella werneri, Cloudinasp., Chuaria sp., Kimberella persii, Gibbavasis kushkii, Erniettomorpha, Rangeomorpha and numerous tubular organisms. The discovery of classic terminal-Ediacaran index fossils Cloudina and Corumbella in this assemblage confirms a latest Ediacaran age (Nama-Assemblage ~545-539 Ma) for these deposits. These taxa help expand our understanding of the latest Ediacaran prior to the Ediacaran extinction and the Cambrian explosion of complex animals.