Synchronous Aggregate Growth in an Abundant New Ediacaran Tubular Organism

Autor:	James G. Gehling, Mary L. Droser
Rok vydání:	2008
Předmět:	Cnidaria Multidisciplinary biology Fossils Proterozoic Ecology Biota Marine invertebrates Funisia biology.organism_classification Invertebrates Precambrian Taxon South Australia Paleoecology Animals Ecosystem
Zdroj:	Science. 319:1660-1662
ISSN:	1095-9203 0036-8075
Popis:	The most abundant taxon of the Neoproterozoic soft-bodied biota near Ediacara, South Australia, occurs as clusters of similarly sized individuals, which suggests synchronous aggregate growth by spatfall. Tubes of Funisia dorothea gen. et sp. nov. were anchored within the shallow, sandy sea bed and lived in dense, typically monospecific concentrations. Tubes were composed of modular, serially repeating elements. Individuals grew by adding serial elements to the tubular body and by branching of tubes. Their construction and close-packed association imply likely affinity within the Porifera or Cnidaria. These data suggest that several of the most successful marine invertebrate ecological strategies known today were in place in Earth's oldest known metazoan ecosystems before the advent of skeletonization and widespread predation.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_dedup___::6a2913db5e8c06af51dbcb86927e5699 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1152595 Zobrazit plný text záznamu Plný text ve formátu PDF