''Funisisa'' is a genus of
extinct
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
, colonial sponge-like organisms from the late
Ediacaran
The Ediacaran ( ) is a geological period of the Neoproterozoic geologic era, Era that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period at 635 Million years ago, Mya to the beginning of the Cambrian Period at 538.8 Mya. It is the last ...
of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
. It is a
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...
genus, containing only ''Funisisa dorothea''.
Discovery and naming
The fossil material of ''Funisia'' was found in the Ediacara Member of the
Rawnsley Quartzite,
Nilpena Ediacara National Park, South Australia in 2007, and formally described and named in 2008.
The generic name ''Funisia'' is after the Latin "rope", and is pronounced to rhyme with
Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
.
The name ''dorothea'' is in honour of Dorothy Droser, the mother of
Mary L. Droser
Mary L. Droser is an American paleontologist. She is known for her work in South Australia, including the discovery of several fossils to which she had naming rights. , she is part of a team preparing the nomination of the Flinders Ranges as a W ...
, one of the scientists who studied the organism.
Description
''Funisia'' was a nonmotile organism resembling an upright worm
that stood about tall.
[ Source: University of California - Riverside via physorg.com] Because individuals grew in dense collections of animals the same age, it is believed to have reproduced sexually, as well as reproduced by budding like modern sponges and corals.
Although the
evolution of sex took place before the origin of animals, and evidence of sexual reproduction is observed in
red algae
Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), make up one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta comprises one of the largest Phylum, phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 recognized species within over 900 Genus, genera amidst ongoing taxon ...
,
''Funisia'' is one of the oldest known animals for which there is evidence of sexual reproduction.
Affinities
Its relationship to other animals is unknown, but it may belong within the
Porifera
Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a Basal (phylogenetics) , basal clade and a sister taxon of the Eumetazoa , diploblasts. They are sessility (motility) , sessile ...
(sponges),
Cnidaria
Cnidaria ( ) is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic invertebrates found both in fresh water, freshwater and marine environments (predominantly the latter), including jellyfish, hydroid (zoology), hydroids, ...
,
a basal
metazoa
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a hol ...
n similar to sponges or an early
varisarcan vendobiont. A recent paper has tentatively supported the placement of ''Funisia'' within Porifera, and also placed it within the newly erected family,
Olgunidae, alongside ''
Vaveliksia'' and ''
Olgunia'', which bare notable similarities with each other from being colonial, having tubular or sac-like bodies rising above the surface of the seafloor, and small attachment disks.
See also
*
List of Ediacaran genera
The existence of life, especially that of animals, before the Cambrian had long been the subject of debate in paleontology. The apparent suddenness of the Cambrian explosion had no firm explanation, and Charles Darwin himself recognized the chal ...
References
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15104340, from2=Q2084726
Ediacaran life
Enigmatic prehistoric animal genera
Prehistoric invertebrates of Australia
Fossil taxa described in 2008