''Frondophyllas'' is an extinct, monotypic animal genus in the clade ''

Rangeomorph The rangeomorphs are a group of Ediacaran Ediacaran biota, 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 ...

a''. It was found at the

Mistaken Point Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve is a wilderness area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located at the southeastern tip of Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The reserve is home to the namesake ...

on the

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, Canada in 2008 by Bamforth and Anderson. The single species is ''Frondophyllas grandis'' and only two specimens have been discovered. Both specimens are incomplete, but one extends to one meter long, making it one of the largest

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 ...

macrofossils. The species name: ''grandis'', comes from its size, and the genus name: ''Frondophyllas'' means "frond with leaves". The organism has a base structure with numerous

frond A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...

s attached to it. It is the only

organism to have distinct leaflets. Evidence suggests that ''F. grandis'' may have been tethered to the seafloor and used these leaflets to "

filter feed Filter feeders are aquatic animals that acquire nutrients by feeding on organic matters, food particles or smaller organisms (bacteria, microalgae and zooplanktons) suspended in water, typically by having the water pass over or through a specia ...

", or live off nutrients provided by a current. One of the reasons fossils of this species are so rare is because it was a

soft-bodied organism Soft-bodied organisms are organisms that lack rigid physical skeletons or frame, roughly corresponds to the group Vermes as proposed by Carl von Linné. The term typically refers to non- panarthropod invertebrates from the kingdom Animalia, alth ...

. It is believed that ''F. grandis'' was preserved because it was caught beneath quickly solidifying

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...

. Many of the Mistaken Point fossils were preserved this way.

Morphology, anatomy, and behavior

The ''F. grandis'' has multibranching that differs from the other

s that have been discovered. They have frond-like leaflets that are flexible that were able to be preserved in the fossilization process. They were benthic animals that lived in a deep-sea environment with other taxa that were found during this time. It was suggested that either they ate small organisms that would pass by or that they would filter feed. The fossil is the only Ediacaran fossil that is frond-like and has multiple leaf-bearing branches of its kind. It is also one of the longest fossils ever found during the

period with a 1m long specimen found.

Method of fossilization

The ''Frondophyllas'', like many other fossils found in the

, was preserved by solidified volcanic ash. Within the silicified mudstone-volcanic ash, we can see the soft-bodied organisms being well preserved. Evidence suggests that during this preservation event, the volcanic ash created a mold of the organism when it fell onto the sea floor. Although well preserved, both fossils found were incomplete with a broken central rod.

Distribution and paleoenvironment

Found in the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada, Frondophyllas grandis was discovered in the Briscal Formation in Bristy Cove. The depositional environment of Mistaken Point consists of silicified mudstones-volcanic ash at 575-560Ma. This environment had indications of having a deep-sea environment at the time that the ''F. grandis'' was alive, also indicating that it was a benthic animal.

References

External links

''Frondophyllas''
at ''

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'' * {{Taxonbar, from=Q106545438 Rangeomorpha Ediacaran life Fossil taxa described in 2009