Morphological variation in the rangeomorph organism Fractofusus misrai from the Ediacaran of Newfoundland, Canada
| Autor: | Rod S. Taylor, Robert Nicholls, Jenna M. Neville, Duncan McIlroy |
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| Rok vydání: | 2022 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Geological Magazine. 160:146-166 |
| ISSN: | 1469-5081 0016-7568 |
| DOI: | 10.1017/s0016756822000723 |
| Popis: | The Ediacaran rangeomorph Fractofusus misrai is the most common and best-preserved of the E Surface fossil assemblage in the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve of southeastern Newfoundland, Canada. Fractofusus has been interpreted as a fusiform epifaunal soft-sediment recliner, and like other rangeomorphs it has a self-similar, fractal-like branching morphology. The rangeomorph branching of Fractofusus has been considered to be identical on the upper and lower surfaces; however, study of specimens with complex biostratinomic histories suggests clear differences between the upper and lower surfaces. The first-order branches grew downwards into the sediment from a high point near the midline but grew above the sediment–water interface at their lateral and distal margins. Our new three-dimensional appreciation of rangeomorph branching in Fractofusus explains many of the taphomorphs of Fractofusus including straight, curved, kinked and tousled forms. The three-dimensional morphology, mode of life, taphonomy and palaeoenvironmental interactions of F. misrai are discussed along with a new three-dimensional reconstruction. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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