Plexus ricei

The genus name, Plexus, means "braided" in Latin, a reference to its braided appearance. The specific name, ricei, is a reference to Dennis Rice, one of the field assistants at the South Australian Museum, who helped excavate numerous specimens of the fossil.[1]

The fossilized organism is tubular and worm-like, with a body divided into rounded segments, making it look similar to a tapeworm with its long, laterally flattened body.[2][1] Its body appears to be bilaterally symmetric. The individuals range in size from 5 to 80 centimeters long and 5 to 20 millimeters wide.[2] The organism is composed of a rigid median tubular structure and a fragile outer tubular wall.[1]

While Plexus ricei appears to be bilaterally symmetric, it is unsure if this organism is a member of Bilateria, although animals that appear to have bilateral symmetry existed at the time.[1] However, Plexus ricei does not resemble any of the other animals from the time period, such as Charnia, Dickinsonia, or Kimberella, bilateral symmetry or not. No other Ediacarian animal has such a long, flattened body, meaning that this organism could belong to an entirely new classification of these extinct animals, or be an ancestor of the complex bilaterians that existed during the Cambrian.