Charniodiscus
| Charniodiscus | |
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| A cast of Charniodiscus concentricus taken from Charnwood Forest, England | |
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| Taphonomic stop-motion model of C. concentricus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | †Petalonamae |
| Class: | †Arboreomorpha |
| Genus: | †Charniodiscus Ford, 1958 |
| Species | |
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Charniodiscus is an
Charniodiscus was first found in Charnwood Forest in England, and named by Trevor D. Ford in 1958. The name is derived from the fact that Ford described a holdfast consisting only of a double concentric circle, his species being named Charniodiscus concentricus. Later it was discovered that a frond (Charnia masoni) was part of a closely related organism. Charnia differs in the branching structure in the frond.
Charniodiscus specimens are known from across the globe dating to around 565 to 555 million years ago.
Species are distinguished by the number of segments, the presence or absence of distal spines, and by shape ratios.
Other described species, C. arboreus, C. longus, C. oppositus, and C. spinosus are considered to belong to their own genus Arborea, which is sometimes considered a synonym of Charniodiscus.[1] The status of C. yorgensis needs to be restudied.[1]
See also
References
- Glaessner, M. F., and Daily, B. (1959) "The Geology and Late Precambrian Fauna of the Ediacara Fossil Reserve". Records of the South Australian Museum 13: 369-407 retrieved 26 January 2008
- ^ ISSN 2296-6463.