Pteridinium
Pteridinium | |
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Fossil of Pteridinium simplex at the Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | †Petalonamae |
Class: | †Erniettomorpha |
Genus: | †Pteridinium Gürich, 1930 |
Species[2] | |
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Synonyms[2] | |
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Pteridinium is an erniettomorph found in a number of Precambrian deposits worldwide. It is a member of the Ediacaran biota.
Body plan
The three-lobed body is generally flat such that only two lobes are visible. Each lobe consists of a number of parallel ribs extending back to the main axis where the three lobes come together. Even on well-preserved specimens, there is no sign of a mouth, anus, eyes, legs, antennae, or any other appendages or organs. The organism grew primarily by the addition of new units, probably at both ends, with the inflation of existing units contributing little to its growth.[3]
Ecology
Specimens found in what is thought to be life positions indicate that the creature rested on, or possibly in, the sediment in shallow seas. No tracks are known that would seem to be consistent with a moving Pteridinium. It is unclear whether it performed photosynthesis, or osmotically extracted nutrients from seawater.[3]
Occurrence
Fossils are common in late Precambrian deposits in South Australia, South Africa, Namibia, and the White Sea region of Russia. It has also been found in North Carolina and is reported from California and the Northwest Territories of Canada.
History
Pteridium simplex was originally described by
Two Pteridinium specimens were found in North Carolina in 1963 by a high school student named John Brattain. After their discovery, they were misidentified by Joseph St. Jean from the
It was originally thought that Pteridinium might be a primitive
See also
References
- PMID 24566959.
- ^ a b "Pteridinium". Fossilworks. Gateway to the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ^ PMID 19706530.
- ^ St Jean, Joseph (1973). "A new Cambrian trilobite from the Piedmont of North Carolina" (PDF). American Journal of Science. 273-A: 196–216.
Further reading
- Meyer, Mike; Elliott, David; Wood, Andrew D.; Polys, Nicholas F.; Colbert, Matthew; Maisano, Jessica A.; Vickers-Rich, Patricia; Hall, Michael; Hoffman, Karl H.; Schneider, Gabi; Xiao, Shuhai (1 August 2014). "Three-dimensional microCT analysis of the Ediacara fossil Pteridinium simplex sheds new light on its ecology and phylogenetic affinity". Precambrian Research. 249: 79–87. .
External links
- Vendian Animals: Pteridinium, at University of California Museum of Paleontology
- Photograph