| | Cloudina (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17) |
 | | Cloudinids (Cloudinia) are an extinct animal phylum that formed small tubelike or conical fossils consisting of "cup-in-cup" segments of calcareousmaterial. |
 | | Cloudinia are characteristic of the so-called ' SmallShelly Fauna ' in the final Neoproterozoic period, called the Tommotian, and disappeared in theextinction event that marks the Cambrian boundary, most recently dated 542mya. |
 | | The extinctions (which didn't affect microbes,however) are connected with the worldwide glaciation often referred to as ' Snowball Earth ' and set the stage for the Cambrian explosion of life-forms. |
| www.therfcc.org /cloudina-28864.html (108 words) |