Rangeomorph

Rangeomorph Temporal range: 635–505  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Possibly one of the last representatives of the Ediacaran biota.
Charnia masoni, a rangeomorph
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	†Petalonamae
Clade:	†Rangeomorpha Hofmann et al., 2008
Subtaxa
†Avalofractus †Broccoliforma † Fractofusus †Frondophyllas †Hapsidophyllas †Hylaecullulus †Khatyspytia †Pambikalbae †Pectinifrons †Plumeropriscum †Primocandelabrum †Trepassia †Vinlandia † Rangeidae †Rangea †Charniidae †Beothukis †Bomakellia †Bradgatia †Charnia †Paracharnia † Culmofrons
Synonyms
Charniomorpha

The rangeomorphs are a group of

Rangeomorphs are fractal and self-similar in form: they are made of branching sections, and each section repeats the same shape as the whole. The body "frond" is formed of branching "frond" elements, each a few centimetres long. Each of these is formed of many smaller "frondlets." Structurally, these are tubes held up by a semi-rigid organic skeleton. This body plan could have been formed using fairly simple developmental patterns.^[1]

Rangeomorphs dwelt in shallow to

Fossil assemblages from Newfoundland and the UK reveal that rangeomorphs could live in large groups. At least seven genera are associated with filaments or stolons up to four meters long. These filaments ran across or through the bacterial mats on which Ediacarans lived, connected with the holdfasts (or the center of the body in genera without holdfasts), and at least in some cases, connected individuals together. This evidence suggests rangeomorphs may have fed by absorbing nutrients from the bacterial mats, and might even have been colonial organisms (such as corals are today) rather than groups of unrelated individuals.[10]

Rangeomorph communities are similar in structure to those of modern, suspension-feeding animals, but it is difficult to relate their morphology to any modern animals. Early researchers thought they were