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Rangeomorpha
The rangeomorphs are a group of Ediacaran fossils. Ediacarans are the oldest large fossil organisms on earth, and many are not self-evidently related to anything else that has ever lived. However, some Ediacarans clearly resemble each other. Palentologists have not been able to agree on what else, if anything, is related to these organisms, so Ediacarans are usually classified into groups based on their appearance. These " form taxa" allow scientists to study and discuss Ediacarans when they cannot know what kind of living things they were, or how they were genetically related to each other. Rangeomorphs look roughly like fern fronds or feathers arranged around a central axis; the group is defined as Ediacarans with a similar appearance and structure to the genus '' Rangea''. Some researchers, such as Pflug and Narbonne, believe all rangeomorphs were more closely related to each other than to anything else. If true, this would make the group a natural taxon called Rangeomorpha (jus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charnia
''Charnia'' is an extinct genus of frond-like lifeforms belonging to the Ediacaran biota with segmented, leaf-like ridges branching alternately to the right and left from a zig-zag medial suture (thus exhibiting glide reflection, or opposite isometry). The genus ''Charnia'' was named after Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire, England, where the first fossilised specimen was found; the species was named after Roger Mason, a schoolboy who was believed to have initially discovered it. ''Charnia'' is significant because it was the first Precambrian fossil to be recognized as such. The living organism grew on the sea floor, 570 to 550 million years ago, and is believed to have fed on nutrients in the water. Despite ''Charnia'' fern-like appearance, it is not a photosynthetic plant or alga because the nature of the fossil beds where specimens have been found implies that it originally lived in deep water, well below the photic zone where photosynthesis can occur. Diversity Severa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pectinifrons
''Pectinifrons'' was a rangeomorph, a member of the Ediacara biota found at Mistaken Point, Newfoundland. It was a multi-branched organism with a comb-like appearance. It grew by adding fronds, then inflating them. 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 Rangeomorpha Ediacaran North America {{Ediacaran-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paracharnia
''Paracharnia'' is a reassessed genus of a fossil reported by Ding and Chen (1981). It is the first Ediacaran metazoan fossilized remains found in China, taken from the Shibantan Member, Dengying Formation, Sinian System in the Eastern Yangtze Gorge, Hubei Province. It was initially classified as ''Charnia dengyingensis'', but Sun Weiguo in 1986, comparing this to findings from Charnwood in England and the Ediacara assemblage 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 ..., identified it as a new genus. ''Paracharnia'' is a pennatulid within the taxon of Rangeomorpha. It is closely associated with macroscopic algal remains of ''Vendotaenia'' and dense Cambrian shelly fossil deposits, suggesting its paleontological relevance. The original fossil extraction fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bomakellia
''Bomakellia'' is an extinct petalonamid from the Late Ediacaran. It is estimated to have lived some 555 million years ago, and has only been found in the Ustʹ Pinega Formation in Northwestern Russia. Originally described as a primitive arthropod-like creature, more recent studies have seen it placed within the phylum Petalonamae. ''Bomakellia kelleri'' is the only species. Discovery The holotype, and only, fossil of ''Bomakellia'' was found in the Syuzma River of the Ustʹ Pinega Formation, in Arkhangelsk Oblast of Northwestern Russia, and described in 1985. Description ''Bomakellia kelleri'' has a frond-like shape, growing up to in height. Despite there only being a single fossil, it still preserves enough to show that ''Bomakellia'' was a small frond with a tetraradial symmetry, bearing similarities with '' Rangea'', another rangeomorph petalonamid. Affinities File:Bomakellia_kelleri_e.JPG, An outdated reconstruction of ''Bomakellia kelleri'' as a proto-arthropod, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trepassia
''Trepassia'' is a 579 million-year-old fossil of Ediacaran rangeomorph. It was first discovered by Guy M. Narbonne, a professor at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada and colleagues in 2009. Three years later, Martin D. Brasier added additional description to ''Trepassia.'' The generic name is taken from the French word, trépassés, which translates to "those that have departed forever" (or "corpses") and honors the Trepassey community in Newfoundland. It was originally described as ''Charnia wardi''; it was referred under this synonym in a 2016 paper. Morphology ''Trepassia'' is one of the oldest known rangeomorphs and spanned over one meter in length. Longest specimens of ''T. wardae'' reached .M. LAFLAMME, G. M. NARBONNE, C. GREENTREE & M. M. ANDERSON. 2016. Morphology and taphonomy of an Ediacaran frond: Charnia from the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland. Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charniidae
Charniidae is a family of rangeomorphs. It is the only non-monotypic family of Rangeomorpha. Distribution From the Ediacaran of Australia, Canada, Russia and the United Kingdom, to the Cambrian of Canada. Taxonomy The family presents 6 genera: * †''Beothukis'' * †'' Bomakellia'' * †'' Bradgatia'' * †''Charnia'' * †''Culmofrons ''Beothukis'' is a rare fossil frond-like member of the Rangeomorpha, described from the Ediacaran of Mistaken Point, Newfoundland. It had been identified since 1992, referred in papers as a "spatulate frond" or "flat recliner", but not formall ...'' * †'' Paracharnia'' Gallery Bomakellia_kelleri.JPG , Artists interpretation of the enigmatic '' Bomakellia kelleri''. Charnia.png , Fossil specimen of '' Charnia masoni''. Paracharnia_dengyingensis.png , Artists interpretation of '' Paracharnia dengyingensis''. See also *'' Rangea'' References Rangeomorpha Charniidae Ediacaran life {{Ediacaran-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bradgatia
''Bradgatia linfordensis'' is a bush-like Ediacaran fossil. It consists of six or more fronds radiating from a central anchor point at the base. It superficially resembles a compressed cabbage in appearance, although in reality it had a more intricate, fractal mode of organisation. When multiple fossils are found together they are regularly spaced out rather than randomly distributed. It dominates the ecosystem at 8 to 22 cm above the mud surface at the bottom the sea where it grew. It was over-towered by ''Charnia ''and '' Charniodiscus ''which grew nearby. ''Bradgatia'' has been found in Charnwood Forest in England, at Mistaken Point and Bonavista Peninsula in Newfoundland and also in British Columbia. These fossils are dated from 565 to 575 mya. It was described by Helen Boynton & Ford in 1995 who published in ''Ediacaran fossils from the Precambrian (Charnian Supergroup) of Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire, England''. Mercian Geol 13 (4) March: 178 oological Record ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rangea
''Rangea'' is a frond-like Ediacaran fossil with six-fold radial symmetry. It is the type genus of the rangeomorphs. ''Rangea'' was the first complex Precambrian macrofossil named and described anywhere in the world. ''Rangea'' was a centimetre- to decimetre-scale frond characterised by a repetitive pattern of self-similar branches and a sessile benthic lifestyle. Fossils are typically preserved as moulds and casts exposing only a leafy petalodium, and the rarity and incompleteness of specimens has made it difficult to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) morphology of the entire organism.Sharp, Alana C., Alistair R. Evans, Siobhan A. Wilson, and Patricia Vickers-Rich. "First Non-destructive Internal Imaging of Rangea, an Icon of Complex Ediacaran Life." Precambrian Research 299 (2017): 303-08. doi: 10.1016/j.precamres.2017.07.023 Fossilized ''Rangea'' consists of several vanes. Each vane has a foliate shape with a series of recessed furrows that run outwards at varying angle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culmofrons
''Beothukis'' is a rare fossil frond-like member of the Rangeomorpha, described from the Ediacaran of Mistaken Point, Newfoundland. It had been identified since 1992, referred in papers as a "spatulate frond" or "flat recliner", but not formally described until 2009. The original fossils from which the genus has been described are still ''in situ'', but replicas are preserved at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Claims of a stem have been contentious, and based largely on structures that have subsequently been determined to be erosional scours, and is so considered to be a recliner Morphology ''Beothukis'' appears as a frond composed of two asymmetrical rows of branches that depart from a central growth axis, 12.5–15.5 cm long and 4.5–6 cm wide. Secondary growth is present around the tip. Secondary order units cross the primary order axes as is common in the Charnida The alternations are irregularly sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khatyspytia
''Khatyspytia'' is a frondose member of the Ediacara biota. It is slender, with many short branches, and is named after the Khatyspyt Formation. 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 Ediacaran life Fossils of Russia Ediacaran Asia Ediacaran Europe Ediacaran first appearances {{Ediacaran-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beothukis
''Beothukis'' is a rare fossil frond-like member of the rangeomorph, Rangeomorpha, described from the Ediacaran of Mistaken Point, Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland. It had been identified since 1992, referred in papers as a "spatulate frond" or "flat recliner", but not formally described until 2009. The original fossils from which the genus has been described are still ''in situ'', but replicas are preserved at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Claims of a stem have been contentious, and based largely on structures that have subsequently been determined to be erosional scours, and is so considered to be a recliner Morphology ''Beothukis'' appears as a frond composed of two asymmetrical rows of branches that depart from a central growth axis, 12.5–15.5 cm long and 4.5–6 cm wide. Secondary growth is present around the tip. Secondary order units cross the primary order axes as is common in the Charnida T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avalofractus
''Avalofractus abaculus'' is a frond-like rangeomorph fossil described from the Ediacaran of the Trepassey Formation, Spaniard's Bay, Newfoundland. Morphology ''Avalofractus'' displays a strongly fractal body shape, with four levels of nearly perfectly self-similar, pinnate, alternate branches. It was about 5 cm long on average, with a 1 cm-diameter holdfast at the base of the frond. The stem length is from 1/3 to 1/2 that of the whole frond. It is quite similar to '' Rangea'', even if with distinct morphological differences that justify the creation of a new genus (e.g. absence of subsidiary quilts, frond elements free to rotate independently instead of being attached to each other by a membrane). A 2017 analysis of ''Avalofractus'' fossils found that the growth of the animal and its morphology was dependent on the amount of nutrient, suggesting that the phenotype of Ediacaran organisms was flexible in response to environmental conditions. Distribution In contrast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
