The cloudinids, an early metazoan family containing the genera Acuticocloudina, Cloudina and Conotubus, lived in the late Ediacaran period about 550 million years ago. and became extinct at the base of the Cambrian. They formed millimetre-scale conical fossils consisting of calcareous cones nested within one another; the appearance of the organism itself remains unknown. The name Cloudina honors the 20th-century geologist and paleontologist Preston Cloud.
Polychaeta is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes. Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. More than 10,000 species are described in this class. Common representatives include the lugworm and the sandworm or clam worm Alitta.
Wiwaxia is a genus of soft-bodied animals that were covered in carbonaceous scales and spines that protected it from predators. Wiwaxia fossils—mainly isolated scales, but sometimes complete, articulated fossils—are known from early Cambrian and middle Cambrian fossil deposits across the globe. The living animal would have measured up to 5 centimetres (2 in) when fully grown, although a range of juvenile specimens are known, the smallest being 2 millimetres (0.08 in) long.
The Emu Bay Shale is a geological formation in Emu Bay, South Australia, containing a major Konservat-Lagerstätte. It is one of two in the world containing Redlichiidan trilobites. The Emu Bay Shale is dated as Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4, correlated with the upper Botomian Stage of the Lower Cambrian.
Namapoikia rietoogensis is among the earliest known animals to produce a calcareous skeleton. Known from the Ediacaran period, before the Cambrian explosion of calcifying animals, the long-lived organism grew up to a metre in diameter and resembles a colonial sponge. It was an encruster, filling vertical fissures in the reefs in which it originally grew.
The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber, called Baltic amber or succinite. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that these forests created more than 100,000 tons of amber. Today, more than 90% of the world's amber comes from Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia. It is a major source of income for the region; the local Kaliningrad Amber Combine extracted 250 tonnes of it in 2014 and 400 tonnes in 2015.
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2003.
Spicules are structural elements found in most sponges. The meshing of many spicules serves as the sponge's skeleton and thus it provides structural support and potentially defense against predators.
Rothpletzella is a genus of calcimicrobe known from the Silurian of Gotland, the Devonian of France, as well as the Ordovician of China. It has been hypothesised to be a cyanobacterium, and shares morphological similarities with extant cyanobacteria. The genus is named in honor of August Rothpletz.
Cirratulidae is a family of marine polychaete worms. Members of the family are found worldwide, mostly living in mud or rock crevices. Most are deposit feeders, but some graze on algae or are suspension feeders. Although subject to multiple revisions over time, cirratulids are among the few polychaete clades with a verified fossil record.
Biomineralising polychaetes are polychaetes that produce minerals to harden or stiffen their own tissues (biomineralize).
The Nama Group is a 125,000 square kilometres (48,000 sq mi) megaregional Vendian to Cambrian group of stratigraphic sequences deposited in the Nama foreland basin in central and southern Namibia. The Nama Basin is a peripheral foreland basin, and the Nama Group was deposited in two early basins, the Zaris and Witputs, to the north, while the South African Vanrhynsdorp Group was deposited in the southern third. The Nama Group is made of fluvial and shallow-water marine sediments, both siliciclastic and carbonate. La Tinta Group in Argentina is considered equivalent to Nama Group.
Dodecaceria is a genus of marine polychaete worms in the family Cirratulidae. It's also one of the very few polychaete genera with a verified fossil record.
The annelids, also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecologies – some in marine environments as distinct as tidal zones and hydrothermal vents, others in fresh water, and yet others in moist terrestrial environments.
This list of fossil arthropods described in 2016 is a list of new taxa of trilobites, fossil insects, crustaceans, arachnids and other fossil arthropods of every kind that have been described during the year 2016, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to arthropod paleontology that occurred in the year 2016.
Siphonostomites hesionoides is a species of polychaete annelid known only from subtidal lagoon deposits from the Early Eocene of Monte Bolca, Verona, Italy.
The Prussian Formation, previously known as the Amber Formation, is a geologic formation in Prussia, today mostly Kaliningrad Oblast that dates to the Eocene. It holds 90% of the world's amber supply and Baltic amber is found exclusively in the Prussian Formation.
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2023.
Diplochaetetes is an extinct genus of marine polychaete worms in the family Cirratulidae. It was initially described as a tabulate coral, and later classified as a sponge. Later studies provided significant evidence that Diplochaetetes fossils are bioconstructions attributable to cirratulid polychaetes due to their strong similarity with modern Dodecaceria aggregates. Both fossil Diplochaetetes and recent Dodecaceria bioconstructions retain identical double-phased biomineralization characteristics, but the possible synonymity of these genera is currently subject to debate.
Diplochaetetes mexicanus is an extinct species of cirratulid polychaete within the genus Diplochaetetes from the Pacific coasts of the Americas, found mostly in Oligocene and Miocene sedimentary rocks. Its first reported occurrence was in Baja California sediments, hence the name. Later findings have extended its paleogeographic distribution up to Peru. Initially described as a sponge, the similarity of these aggregates with present-day Dodecaceria bioconstructions from the exact same areas has led researchers to classify these fossils as cirratulid bioconstructions. Both fossil Diplochaetetes and recent Dodecaceria bioconstructions retain identical double-phased biomineralization characteristics, but the possible synonymity of these species is currently subject to debate.
