''Nasepia altae'' is a species of

Ediacaran The Ediacaran Period ( ) is a geological period that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period 635 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Cambrian Period 538.8 Mya. It marks the end of the Proterozoic Eon, and t ...

Erniettomorph The Erniettomorphs are a form of Ediacaran fossil consisting of rows of airbed-like tubes arranged along a midline with a glide symmetry. Representative genera include ''Ernietta'', '' Phyllozoon'', ''Pteridinium'', '' Swartpuntia''. Undisputed E ...

which was described in 1973 from the farms of Vrede and Chamis,

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

. ''Nasepia'' has an appearance similar to that of most other Erniettomorphs from Namibia, with it having a leaf-like body with thin ribs and spindle-shaped bodies, however it differentiates itself from other taxa such as

Pteridinium ''Pteridinium'' is an erniettomorph found in a number of Precambrian deposits worldwide. It is a member of the Ediacaran biota. Body plan The three-lobed body is generally flat such that only two lobes are visible. Each lobe consists of a number ...

and

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- ...

in the sense that it has smaller petaloids and with the configuration of the ribs being sub-parallel to its axis.

Description

''Nasepia altae'' represents an

with a morphology similar to that of a tiny leaf-like being, with it being made up of a bundle of spindle-shaped bodies, as well as fine ribs that are sub-parallel to a long axis that possess clearly marked margins on its sides. Germs (1973) also noted the appearance of transverse ribs on the body that only appear in some parts of ''Nasepia''. The body fossils of it also share a similarity between Pteridinium simplex and Rangea schneiderhoehni with ''Nasepia'' also being made up of the same bundles of sprindle-shaped structures. Although, it contradictorily also differentiates from those two taxa because of its petaloids (structures which make up the signature leaf-like shape of Petalonamids) being much smaller than those seen in

and

. ''Nasepia'' is difficult to reconstruct as a living organism.

Occurrence

Fossils of ''Nasepia'' occurred within the Nasep Quartzite Member that is within both the farms of Vrede and Chamis, Namibia and were found more specifically within the ''Kuibis'' and ''Schwarzrand'' subgroups enclosed by the Nama group.

References

{{Reflist Ediacaran Ediacaran life Enigmatic prehistoric animal genera Prehistoric animal genera Fossil taxa described in 1973 Fossils of Namibia Petalonamae

Description

Occurrence

See also

References