Geoconservation Research (Geoconserv. Res.) The Ediacaran-Cambrian Radiation of Animals within the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara UNESCO Global Geopark, Spain Volume 4 (2021) Issue 1, June 2021 - Paleontological Heritage and Geoconservation in the UNESCO European Geoparks (I), edited by Dan Grigorescu, Michael Benton, Vachik Hairapetian 2024 01 01 The Ediacaran-Cambrian Radiation of Animals within the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara UNESCO Global Geopark, Spain 10.30486/gcr.2021.1918395.1076 EN Iván Cortijo Villuercas-Ibores-Jara UNESCO Global Geopark. Diputación de Cáceres. C/ Pintores nº 10, 10003 Cáceres, Spain 0000-0002-6027-9002 Teodoro Palacios Área de Paleontología, Faculta de Ciencias, Avenida de la Física s/n, 06006 Badajoz, Spain 0000-0002-4917-0559 Sören Jensen Área de Paleontología, Faculta de Ciencias, Avenida de la Física s/n, 06006 Badajoz, Spain 0000-0001-5136-9586 José María Barrera Villuercas-Ibores-Jara UNESCO Global Geopark. Diputación de Cáceres. C/ Pintores nº 10, 10003 Cáceres, Spain 0000-0002-0818-9325 Journal Article 2024 01 01 Across the Ediacaran to Cambrian transition, some 541 Ma, the Earth's biosphere changed from one dominated by microbial organisms to one where multicellular organisms, including animals, rose to importance. Within a few tens of millions of years into the Cambrian Period an array of animal groups appeared, some extinct and others ancestral to modern groups, the Cambrian “explosion”. Two key elements were the appearance of biomineralized hard parts and the rise of animal disturbance of the sea floor (bioturbation), which continued into the great Ordovician biodiversification event (GOBE). These events are well documented in the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara UNESCO Global Geopark (UGG) by trace fossils, carbonaceous compression fossils and fossils of some of the earliest skeletonized animals record. Simple to more complex trace fossils are evidence of the “Cambrian substrate revolution”. Among carbonaceous compressions, sabelliditids provide evidence of tubular animals and vendotaenids possibly of algae. In addition, Villuercas-Ibores-Jara is the only UNESCO Global Geopark with Cloudina, the first described and best-known of the pioneering organisms in the acquisition of skeletons.  Geosites, geological itineraries and interpretation centers in the geopark show visitors these exceptional fossils, including the holotype of Cloudina carinata. Trace fossils, carbonaceous compression fossils and fossils of some of the earliest skeletonized animals witnesses these two events within the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara UNESCO Global Geopark. Simple to more complex trace fossils are evidence of the so called “Cambrian substrate revolution”. Among carbonaceous compressions, sabelliditids provide evidence of tubular animals and vendotaenids possibly of algae. In addition, Villuercas-Ibores-Jara is the only UNESCO Global Geopark with Cloudina, the first described and the most well known of the pioneering organisms in the acquisition of skeletons. Geosites, geological itineraries and interpretation centres in the geopark show the visitors these exceptional fossils, including the holotype of Cloudina carinata, which provide vivid evidence of time that marked the beginning of life on our planet as we know it today.