Beothukis

Beothukis mistakensis is a rare fossil frond-like member of the Rangeomorpha, 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. Claims of a stem have been contentious, and based largely on structures that have subsequently been determined to be erosional scours, and is so considered to be a recliner [3]

Beothukis
Temporal range: Ediacaran
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
†Petalonamae
Class:
†Rangeomorpha
Family:
†Charniidae
Genus:
†Beothukis

Brasier and Antcliffe, 2009
Species:
†B. mistakensis

Brasier and Antcliffe, 2009
Binomial name
†Beothukis mistakensis
Brasier and Antcliffe, 2009
Synonyms
  • Culmofrons

Morphology

Beothukis appears as a frond composed of two asymmetrical rows of branches that depart from a central growth axis, 12.5–15.5 cm long and 4.5–6 cm wide. Secondary growth is present around the tip. Secondary order units cross the primary order axes as is common in the Charnida [1] The alternations are irregularly spaced.[4]

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

See also

References
  1. 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. Bibcode:2009JGSoc.166..363B. doi:10.1144/0016-76492008-011. S2CID 128827652.
  2. Seilacher, A. (1992). "Vendobionta and Psammocorallia: lost constructions of Precambrian evolution". Journal of the Geological Society, London. 149 (4): 607–613. Bibcode:1992JGSoc.149..607S. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.149.4.0607. S2CID 128681462. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  3. McIlroy, D.; Hawco, J.; McKean, C; Nicholls, R; Pasinneti, G; Taylor, R (2020). "Palaeobiology of the reclining rangeomorph Beothukis from the Ediacaran Mistaken Point Formation of southeastern Newfoundland". Geological Magazine. ? (?): 1–15. doi:10.1017/S0016756820000941.
  4. 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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