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71 results for “Ediacaran”
Raman spectra and SEM EDX analyses of artifacts resembling Ediacaran / Cambrian fossils
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Data from: Sustained shift in the morphology of organic-walled microfossils over the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition
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Data from: In situ filamentous communities from the Ediacaran (~563 Ma) of Brazil
<p>Precambrian filamentous microfossils are common and diverse. Nevertheless, their taxonomic assignment can be difficult due to their overall simple shapes typically lacking in diagnostic features. Here, we report <i>in situ</i> communities of well-preserved, large filamentous impressions from the Ediacaran Itajaí Basin (ca. 563 Ma) of Brazil. The filaments are uniserial (unbranched) and can reach up to 200 µm in width and up to 44 mm in length. They occur as both densely packed or sparsely populated surfaces, and typically show a consistent orientation. Although simple in shape, their preferred orientation suggests they were tethered to the seafloor, and their overall flexibility (e.g. bent, folded, and twisted) supports a biological (rather than sedimentary) affinity. Biometric comparisons with modern filamentous groups further support their biological affinity, suggesting links with either large sulphide-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) or eukaryotes. Other morphological and palaeoecological characteristics further corroborates their similarities with modern large filamentous SOBs. Their widespread occurrence and association with complex Ediacaran macrobiota (e.g. frondose organisms, <i>Palaeopascichnus</i>) suggest that they likely played an important role in the ecological dynamics of these early benthic communities by providing firm substrates for metazoans to inhabit. It is further hypothesized that the dynamic redox condition in the latest Ediacaran, with the non-continuous rise in oxygen concentration and periods of hypoxia, may have created ideal conditions for sulphide-oxidizing bacteria to thrive.</p>
Data from: Anatomical and ontogenetic reassessment of the Ediacaran frond Arborea arborea and its placement within total group Eumetazoa
Organisms in possession of a frondose body plan are amongst the oldest and most enigmatic members of the soft‐bodied Ediacaran macrobiota. Appraisal of specimens from the late Ediacaran Ediacara Member of South Australia reveals that the frondose taxon Arborea arborea probably possessed a fluid‐filled holdfast disc, the size and form of which could vary within populations. Mouldic preservation of internal anatomical features provides evidence for tissue differentiation, and for bundles of tubular structures within the stalk of the organism. These structures connect in a fascicled arrangement to individual lateral branches, before dividing further into individual units housed on those branches. The observed fascicled branching arrangement, which seemingly connects individual units to the main body of the organism, is consistent with a biologically modular construction for Arborea, and raises the possibility of a colonial organization. In conjunction with morphological characters previously recognized by other authors, including apical‐basal and front‐back differentiation, we propose that to the exclusion of all alternative known possibilities, Arborea can be resolved as a total group eumetazoan.
Data from: Taphonomy of the Ediacaran fossil Pteridinium simplex preserved three-dimensionally in mass flow deposits, Nama Group, Namibia
Ediacara-type fossils are found in a diverse array of preservational styles, implying that multiple taphonomic mechanisms might have been responsible for their preservational expression. For many Ediacara fossils, the "death mask" model has been invoked as the primary taphonomic pathway. The key to this preservational regime is the replication or sealing of sediments around the degrading organisms by microbially induced precipitation of authigenic pyrite, leading toward fossil preservation along bedding planes. Nama-style preservation, on the other hand, captures Ediacaran organisms as molds and three-dimensional casts within coarse-grained mass flow beds, and has been previously regarded as showing little or no evidence of a microbial preservational influence. To further understand these two seemingly distinct taphonomic pathways, we investigated the three-dimensionally preserved Ediacaran fossil Pteridinium simplex from mass flow deposits of the upper Kliphoek Member, Dabis Formation, Kuibis Subgroup, southern Namibia. Our analysis, using a combination of petrographic and micro-analytical methods, shows that Pteridinium simplex vanes are replicated with minor pyrite, but are most often represented by open voids that can be filled with secondary carbonate material; clay minerals are also found in association with the vanes, but their origin remains unresolved. The scarcity of pyrite and the development of voids are likely related to oxidative weathering and it is possible that microbial activities and authigenic pyrite may have contributed to the preservation of Pteridinium simplex; however, any microbes growing on P. simplex vanes within mass flow deposits were unlikely to have formed thick mats as envisioned in the death mask model. Differential weathering of replicating minerals and precipitation of secondary minerals greatly facilitate fossil collection and morphological characterization by allowing Pteridinium simplex vanes to be parted from the massive hosting sandstone.
Data from: Oxygen, temperature and the deep-marine stenothermal cradle of Ediacaran evolution
Ediacaran fossils document the early evolution of complex megascopic life, contemporaneous with geochemical evidence for widespread marine anoxia. These data suggest early animals experienced frequent hypoxia. Research has thus focused on the concentration of molecular oxygen (O2) required by early animals, while also considering the impacts of climate. One model, the Cold Cradle hypothesis, proposed the Ediacaran biota originated in cold, shallow-water environments due to increased O2 solubility. First, we demonstrate using principles of gas exchange that temperature does have a critical role in governing the bioavailability of O2 – but in cooler water the supply of O2 is actually lower. Second, the fossil record suggests the Ediacara biota initially occur ~571 Ma in deep-water facies, before appearing in shelf environments ~555 Ma. We propose an ecophysiological underpinning for this pattern. By combining oceanographic data with new respirometry experiments we show that in the shallow mixed layer where seasonal temperatures fluctuate widely, thermal and pO2 effects are highly synergistic. The result is that temperature change away from species-specific optima impairs tolerance to low pO2. We hypothesize that deep and particularly stenothermal (narrow temperature range) environments in the Ediacaran ocean were a physiological refuge from the synergistic effects of temperature and low pO2.
Data from: The arrangement of possible muscle fibres in the Ediacaran taxon Haootia quadriformis
Haootia quadriformis from Newfoundland, Canada, is one of the most unusual impressions of a soft-bodied macro-organism yet described from the late Ediacaran Period. Interpreted as a metazoan of cnidarian grade, the body impression of H. quadriformis possesses features interpreted as fibrous structures that represent possible evidence for muscular tissue. Evidence both in support of and against a relationship between H. quadriformis and the Staurozoa, one of the cnidarian groups to which Haootia was compared in Liu et al., is outlined by Miranda et al.. Our intention in our original paper was to illustrate the staurozoan body plan for comparative purposes, rather than suggest homology or direct ancestry. Nevertheless, fresh insights from workers with expertise in the biology of extant cnidarians are welcomed.
Data from: A quantitative and statistical discrimination of morphotaxa within the Ediacaran genus Palaeopascichnus
<p>The Palaeopascichnida are a relatively understudied component of the Ediacaran biota. The eponymous <i>Palaeopascichnus delicatus</i> is comprised of serially arranged, mm-scale allantoid chambers that have variously been interpreted as evidence of movement, feeding traces, and body fossils of various affinities. <i>Palaeopascichnus</i> has most recently been compared to the deep-marine Xenophyophora, an extant group of large benthic protists that is characterized by large size and possession of stercomata within their cells. The construction and growth of the palaeopascichnids, and its implications for their phylogenetic affinity, are assessed using material from the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada. The application of quantitative morphological analysis to the study of over ninety well-preserved specimens of <i>Palaeopascichnus</i> demonstrates considerable variation in chamber shape and size, and in behaviour along the chamber series. The combination of morphometric and multivariate statistical analysis allows the recognition of natural groups within the dataset, thereby demonstrating variability within and between morphospecies. Morphological comparisons of fossil palaeopascichnids with extant protistan taxa support the proposed protistan affinity of <i>Palaeopascichnus</i>, allowing further resolution regarding the diversity and disparity within this prominent element of the later Ediacaran biotas of Gondwana and Baltica.</p>
Data from: A new approach for investigating spatial relationships of ichnofossils: a case study of Ediacaran–Cambrian animal traces
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Heading1Char"><em>Abstract — </em></span>Trace fossils record foraging behaviours, the search for resources in patchy environments, of animals in the rock record. Quantification of the strength, density and nature of foraging behaviours enables the investigation of how these may have changed through time. Here, we present a novel approach to explore such patterns using spatial point process analyses to quantify the scale and strength of ichnofossil spatial distributions on horizontal bedding planes. To demonstrate the utility of this approach we use two samples from the terminal Ediacaran Shibantan Member in South China (between 551 and 543 Ma) and the early Cambrian Nagaur Sandstone in northwestern India (between 539 and 509 Ma). We find that ichnotaxa on both surfaces exhibited significant non-homogeneous lateral patterns, with distinct levels of heterogeneity exhibited by different types of trace fossils. In the Shibantan, two ichnotaxa show evidence for mutual positive aggregation over a shared resource, suggesting the ability to focus on optimal resource areas. Trace fossils from the Nagaur Sandstone exhibit more sophisticated foraging behaviour, with greater niche differentiation. Critically, mark correlation functions highlight significant spatial autocorrelation of trace fossil orientations, demonstrating the greater ability of these Cambrian tracemakers to focus on optimal patches. Despite potential limitations, these analyses hint at changes in the development and optimisation of foraging at the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition and highlight the potential of spatial point process analysis to tease apart subtle differences in behaviour in the trace fossil record.</p>
Data from: Ediacaran distributions in space and time: testing assemblage concepts of earliest macroscopic body fossils
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Data from: Nutrient-dependent growth underpinned the Ediacaran transition to large body size
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Data from: Cambrian petalonamid Stromatoveris phylogenetically links Ediacaran biota to later animals
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Co‑occurrence structure of late Ediacaran communities and influence of emerging ecosystem engineers
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Data from: The Beothukis/Culmofrons problem and its bearing on Ediacaran macrofossil taxonomy: evidence from an exceptional new fossil locality
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Data from: The arrangement of possible muscle fibres in the Ediacaran taxon Haootia quadriformis
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Data from: Anatomical and ontogenetic reassessment of the Ediacaran frond Arborea arborea and its placement within total group Eumetazoa
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Data from: Taphonomy of the Ediacaran fossil Pteridinium simplex preserved three-dimensionally in mass flow deposits, Nama Group, Namibia
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Data from: Oxygen, temperature and the deep-marine stenothermal cradle of Ediacaran evolution
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Data from: Anatomy of the Ediacaran rangeomorph Charnia masoni
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Data from: In situ filamentous communities from the Ediacaran (~563 Ma) of Brazil
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