Vendoconularia

Vendoconularia
Temporal range: Ediacaran, about 555 Ma
Reconstruction of Vendoconularia triradiata.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Order: Conulatae
Clade: Conulariida
Genus: Vendoconularia
Ivantsov & Fedonkin, 2002
Species:
V. triradiata
Binomial name
Vendoconularia triradiata
Ivantsov & Fedonkin, 2002

Vendoconularia is a genus of Ediacaran organism consisting of a hexagonal cone, which is thought to have housed a tentaculate organism. Three longitudinal bands are interspersed between the six sides of the cone.[1][2] The discovery of vendoconulariids in Proterozoic strata of Russia confirmed a 1987 prediction that conulariids constituted part of Ediacaran biota.[3]

Discovery and name

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The holotype fossil of Vendoconularia was found from the Ust’ Pinega Formation, in the White Sea of Russia in 1997, and formally described in 2002.[1]

The generic name Vendoconularia derives from Vendian, the Russian name for the Ediacaran; and the genus name conularia, due to its similar appearance to conulariids. The specific name triradiata derives from the English word triradiate, to mean three radiating folds.[1]

Description

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Vendoconularia triradiate is a probable Conulariid, growing up to 55 mm (2.2 in) in height, with a conical test consisting of six identical sides with three longitudinal bands in between two sides each, although known conulariids only have fourfold symmetry. The test itself would have been non-mineralised and flexible in life, which again, is unheard of in known conulariid genera.[1]

A more recent study done on both Vendoconularia and Protechiurus by Ivanstov et al., 2019 recovered both as being related to each other under the newly erected family Protechiuridae, and also suggested that the aforementioned family is possibly either ancestral to the clade Conulariida, or to the anabaritids.[4] Subsequent studies done after have noted that whilst a more detailed analysis is needed for Protechiurus to confidentially place it next to Vendoconularia phylogenetically, it does give further support for Vendoconularia (and Protechiurus) being stem-group conulariids.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Ivantsov, A. Y.; Fedonkin, M. A. (2002). "Conulariid-like fossil from the Vendian of Russia: a metazoan clade across the Proterozoic/Palaeozoic boundary" (PDF). Palaeontology. 45 (6): 1119–1129. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00283. Archived from the original (Free full text) on 2016-01-28.
  2. ^ Van Iten, H.; De Moraes Leme, J.; Coelho Rodrigues, S.; Guimaraes Simoes, M. (2005). "Reinterpretation of a Conulariid-Like Fossil from the Vendian of Russia". Palaeontology. 48 (3): 619–622. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2005.00471.x. hdl:11449/31655.
  3. ^ McMenamin, M. A. S. (1987). "The fate of the Ediacaran fauna, the nature of conulariids, and the basal Paleozoic predator revolution". Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. 19 (1): 29.
  4. ^ Ivantsov, A. Yu.; Vickers-Rich, P.; Zakrevskaya, M. A.; Hall, M. (December 2019). "Conical Thecae of Precambrian Macroorganisms". Paleontological Journal. 53 (11): 1134–1146. doi:10.1134/S0031030119110054.
  5. ^ Sarsembaev, Zhiger A.; Marusin, Vasiliy V. (July 2022). "Nonmineralized triradial conulariids from the lowermost Cambrian Stage 2 of the Olenek Uplift, Siberian Platform". Journal of Paleontology. 96 (4): 791–802. doi:10.1017/jpa.2022.21.