Beothukis

Beothukis mistakensis
Temporal range: Ediacaran
Scientific classification
Clade: †Rangeomorpha
Genus: †Beothukis
Species: †B. mistakensis
Binomial name
Beothukis mistakensis
Brasier et al., 2009

Beothukis mistakensis is a rare fossil frond-like rangeomorph, described from the Ediacaran of Mistaken Point, Newfoundland.[1] It had been identified since 1992,[2] referred in papers as a "spatulate frond" or "flat recliner", but not formally described until 2009.[1] The original fossils from which the genus has been described are still in situ, but replicas are preserved at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Morphology

Beothukis appears as a frond composed of two rows of branches that depart from a central growth axis, 12.5–15.5 cm long and 4.5–6 cm wide. No secondary fronds appear.[1] The alternations are irregularly spaced.[3]

Beothukis is considered morphologically intermediate between Trepassia (previously known as Charnia wardi) and Bradgatia.[1]

See also

List of Ediacaran genera

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Brasier, M. D.; Antcliffe, J. B. (2009). "Evolutionary relationships within the Avalonian Ediacara biota: New insights from laser analysis". Journal of the Geological Society. 166 (2): 363. doi:10.1144/0016-76492008-011.
  2. ↑ Seilacher, A. (1992). "Vendobionta and Psammocorallia: lost constructions of Precambrian evolution". Journal of the Geological Society, London. 149 (4): 607–613. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.149.4.0607. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  3. ↑ Brasier, M. D.; Antcliffe, J. B.; Liu, A. G. (2012). "The architecture of Ediacaran Fronds". Palaeontology. 55 (5): 1105. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01164.x.


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