{{Long fossil range|first appearance (required)|last appearance|text to display|earliest=earliest putative fossil|latest=latest putative fossil|ref=References|prefix=anything to display before the range|PS=anything to display after the range}}
|earliest= and/or |latest=. Italic parameters are optional, bold required.
| Example
Temporal range: mesoarchean–neoproterozoic
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | †Petalonamae |
| Clade: | †Rangeomorpha |
| Genus: | †Rangea |
Illustrates the fossil range of a taxon, the geological range of a stratigraphic unit, or other ranges on a geological timescale. Intended for use in {{taxobox}}es, {{Infobox rockunit}}s, and other infoboxes. For Phanerozoic ages, see {{Geological range}}.
You can give a numeric range, or specify the periods involved. The range will be quoted in text before the timeline, unless you specify a third parameter—leaving it blank will result in no text being provided.
To illustrate the range when it spans after the Ediacaran (i.e. after the precambrian), you should use Template:Geological range, which works in exactly the same way as documented here.
You can also specify "earliest" and "latest" to add a "ghost" bar beyond the accepted fossil range. You can use these parameters for whatever you like; they may be useful in the case of 'living fossils' such as the coelacanth, where you may wish to specify latest=0 to make the bar faintly extend to the present; they may also be useful where "earliest" fossils are not universally accepted—for instance, the octocorals only have a good fossil record from the Tertiary, but there are claims of Cambrian representatives. In this case, you may wish to specify earliest=middle Cambrian.
{{Long fossil range|Paleoproterozoic}}
{{Long fossil range|Paleoproterozoic|Ectasian}}
{{Long fossil range|Paleoproterozoic|Ectasian|earliest=Eoarchean|latest=Ediacaran}}
{{Long fossil range|700|640|earliest=Paleoproterozoic|latest=600|PS= (see article for discussion)}}
{{Long fossil range|700|640|late Cryogenian}}
{{Long fossil range|700|640|}}
If you receive an error when specifying a period name, check you've spelt it right; if so, it probably isn't yet incorporated into the templates {{next period}} and {{period start}}. This is really easy to do, so feel free to add the period yourself to make future editors' lives easier!
For organisms whose fossil range extends after the Ediacaran, use Template:Geological range.
