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Anatomy of the Ediacaran Rangeomorph

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Journal Pap Palaeontol
Date 2019 Apr 23
PMID 31007942
Citations 4
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Abstract

The Ediacaran macrofossil Ford is perhaps the most iconic member of the Rangeomorpha: a group of seemingly sessile, frondose organisms that dominates late Ediacaran benthic, deep-marine fossil assemblages. Despite exhibiting broad palaeogeographical and stratigraphical ranges, there have been few morphological studies that consider the variation observed among populations of specimens derived from multiple global localities. We present an analysis of that evaluates specimens from the UK, Canada and Russia, representing the largest morphological study of this taxon to date. We describe substantial morphological variation within and present a new morphological model for this species that has significant implications both for interpretation of rangeomorph architecture, and potentially for existing taxonomic schemes. Previous reconstructions of include assumptions regarding the presence of structures seen in other rangeomorphs (e.g. an internal stalk) and of homogeneity in higher order branch morphology; observations that are not borne out by our investigations. We describe variation in the morphology of third and fourth order branches, as well as variation in gross structure near the base of the frond. The diagnosis of is emended to take account of these new features. These findings highlight the need for large-scale analyses of rangeomorph morphology in order to better understand the biology of this long-enigmatic group.

Citing Articles

The Palaeobiology of Two Crown Group Cnidarians: and gen. et sp. nov. from the Ediacaran of Newfoundland, Canada.

McIlroy D, Pasinetti G, Perez-Pinedo D, McKean C, Dufour S, Matthews J Life (Basel). 2024; 14(9).

PMID: 39337880 PMC: 11432848. DOI: 10.3390/life14091096.


The developmental biology of and the eumetazoan affinity of the Ediacaran rangeomorphs.

Dunn F, Liu A, Grazhdankin D, Vixseboxse P, Flannery-Sutherland J, Green E Sci Adv. 2021; 7(30).

PMID: 34301594 PMC: 8302126. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe0291.


Survival and selection biases in early animal evolution and a source of systematic overestimation in molecular clocks.

Budd G, Mann R Interface Focus. 2020; 10(4):20190110.

PMID: 32637066 PMC: 7333906. DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2019.0110.


Anatomy of the Ediacaran rangeomorph .

Dunn F, Wilby P, Kenchington C, Grazhdankin D, Donoghue P, Liu A Pap Palaeontol. 2019; 5(1):157-176.

PMID: 31007942 PMC: 6472560. DOI: 10.1002/spp2.1234.

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