Parviscopa

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Parviscopa
Temporal range: Ediacaran, 635–542  Ma
Parviscopa bonavistensis.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: incertae sedis
Genus:† Parviscopa
Hofmann, 2008
Species:
†P. bonavistensis
Binomial name
†Parviscopa bonavistensis
Hofmann, 2008

Parviscopa is a genus of frondose forms characterized in 2008 based on specimens from Newfoundland, Canada. Parviscopa is a member of the Ediacaran biota (635-542 Ma), [1] and is more specifically part of the Avalon type assemblage, which is from the older part of the Ediacaran (580–560 Ma) and is characterized by deep water deposits.

Contents

Description

Parviscopa Hofmann et al. 2008 is similar to other frondose forms. It has a stem and branches and can appear plant-like. Specimens are typically between 2-3 centimeters in length. Parviscopa is found at the Bonavista Peninsula in Newfoundland, Canada and has been assigned to the phylum Petalonamae Pflug 1972. It is similar to the genus Primocandelabrum, which is also found in the same region, but Parviscopa is smaller and has better defined branches and lacks a basal attachment disc. [2]

Diversity

Parviscopa bonavistensis is the only known species within the genus. There are presently only a few known specimens of Parviscopa, of which the type specimen is NFM F-507. [2] Parviscopa is differentiated from Primocandelabrum because of its lack of a basal attachment disc. [2] Some researchers have suggested that it is possible that Parviscopa is a juvenile Primocandelabrum without a preserved disc. [3]

Discovery

Parviscopa was described by Hofmann, O'Brien, and King in 2008. It was discovered at the Bonavista Peninsula in Newfoundland, Canada leading to the species name of bonavistensis. Parviscopa means little broom made of twigs which refers to the appearance of the specimens. [2] The specimens appear to look like typical trace fossils, but researchers agree that they represent body fossils. [3] [4]

Distribution

The known distribution of Parviscopa is currently limited to the Avalon type assemblage in the Mistaken Point Formation of Newfoundland, Canada. [2]

Ecology

Parviscopa lived in the deep sea with other similar organisms. They were sessile organisms that were attached to the sea floor and were likely suspension feeders. [5] They may have fed through osmosis or filter feeding. The area they lived in was probably too deep for organisms to photosynthesize. [6]

Significance

Parviscopa is unique because it does not have rangeomorph branching like many of the other Avalonian taxa. [6] Although Parviscopa is a body fossil, it resembles many trace fossils. [3] It has also not been resolved if Parviscopa actually belongs to Primocandelabrum or if it is its own separate genus (see Diversity). Primocandelabrum and Parviscopa do not resemble larger taxa, and they are both only a few centimeters in length. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Dickinsonia</i> Extinct genus of early animals

Dickinsonia is an extinct genus of basal animal that lived during the late Ediacaran period in what is now Australia, China, India, Russia and Ukraine. The individual Dickinsonia typically resembles a bilaterally symmetrical ribbed oval. Its affinities are presently unknown; its mode of growth is consistent with a stem-group bilaterian affinity, though some have suggested that it belongs to the fungi, or even an "extinct kingdom". The discovery of cholesterol molecules in fossils of Dickinsonia lends support to the idea that Dickinsonia was an animal.

<i>Charnia</i>

Charnia is a genus of frond-like Ediacaran lifeforms with segmented, leaf-like ridges branching alternately to the right and left from a zig-zag medial suture. The genus Charnia was named after Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire, England, where the first fossilised specimen was found. Charnia is significant because it was the first Precambrian fossil to be recognized as such.

Frond collection of leaflets on a plant

A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the large leaves of cycads, as well as palms (Arecaceae) and various other flowering plants, such as mimosa or sumac. "Frond" is commonly used to identify a large, compound leaf, but if the term is used botanically to refer to the leaves of ferns and algae it may be applied to smaller and undivided leaves.

Rangeomorph Form taxon of frondose Ediacaran fossils

The rangeomorphs are a form taxon of frondose Ediacaran fossils that are united by a similarity to Rangea. Some researchers, such as Pflug and Narbonne, suggest that a natural taxon Rangeomorpha may include all similar-looking fossils. Rangeomorphs appear to have had an effective reproductive strategy, based on analysis of the distribution pattern of Fractofusus, which consisted of sending out a waterborne asexual propagule to a distant area, and then spreading rapidly from there, just as plants today spread by stolons or runners.

<i>Hiemalora</i> Genus of cnidarians

Hiemalora is a fossil of the Ediacaran biota, reaching around 3 cm in diameter, which superficially resembles a sea anemone. The genus has a sack-like body with faint radiating lines originally interpreted as tentacles, but discovery of a frond-like structure seemingly attached to some Heimalora has added weight to a competing interpretation: that it represents the holdfast of a larger organism. This interpretation would stand against its original classification in the medusoid Cnidaria; it would also consign a once-popular hypothesis placing Hiemalora in the chondrophores, on the basis of its tentacle structure, to the dustbin. Studies testing the feasibility of hypothesis investigated the possibilities that such fragile tentacles could be preserved, and concluded that it would be very improbable — especially as many Hiemalora bearing beds also contain such fossils as Cyclomedusa, but do not preserve the tentacles on these organisms.

<i>Aspidella</i> Genus of cnidarians

Aspidella is an Ediacaran disk-shaped fossil of uncertain affinity. It is known from the single species A. terranovica.

<i>Bradgatia</i>

Bradgatia linfordensis is a bush-like Ediacaran fossil. It consists of six or more fronds radiating from a central anchor point at the base. It superficially resembles a compressed cabbage in appearance, although in reality it had a more intricate, fractal mode of organisation. When multiple fossils are found together they are regularly spaced out rather than randomly distributed. It dominates the ecosystem at 8 to 22 cm above the mud surface at the bottom the sea where it grew. It was over-towered by Charnia and Charniodiscus which grew nearby.

<i>Thectardis</i> Member of the Ediacaran biota

Thectardis avalonensis is a triangular-shaped member of the Ediacaran biota, dating from 575 to 565 million years ago. The organism took the form of an elongated cone with a central depression, and its apex was anchored to the substrate.

Ediacaran biota All organisms of the Ediacaran Period (c. 635–541 Mya)

The Ediacaranbiota is a taxonomic period classification that consists of all life forms that were present on Earth during the Ediacaran Period. These were composed of enigmatic tubular and frond-shaped, mostly sessile, organisms. Trace fossils of these organisms have been found worldwide, and represent the earliest known complex multicellular organisms.

<i>Pectinifrons</i>

Pectinifrons was a rangeomorph, a member of the Ediacara biota found at Mistaken Point, Newfoundland.

Fractofusus misrai is an Ediacaran fossil discovered in 1967 by S.B. Misra at Mistaken Point, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, which has since become the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve. It was named after Professor Misra in 2007. It represents a frondose rangeomorph.

Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve

Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve is a wilderness area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located at the southeastern tip of Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The reserve is home to the namesake Mistaken Point Formation, which contains one of the most diverse and well-preserved collections of Precambrian fossils in the world. Ediacaran fossils discovered at the site constitute the oldest known remnants of multicellular life on Earth.

<i>Primocandelabrum</i> Genus of frond fossils

Primocandelabrum is a genus of rangeomorph known from the Avalon-type Ediacaran biota. It makes up the brunt of some bedding plane assemblages. Primocandelabrum was described by Hofmann, O'Brien, and King in 2008.

Mistaken Point Formation

The Mistaken Point Formation is a geologic formation in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is recognized as a Lagerstätte preserving fossils dating back to the Ediacaran period. It contains a stratum dated to 565 ± 3 million years ago.

Fermeuse Formation

The Fermeuse Formation is a fossil-bearing Ediacaran geologic formation in Newfoundland.

Random Formation

The Random Formation is a rock unit in Newfoundland dating to the early Cambrian period, dominated by tidal quartz arenites deposited in a near-shore environment, but also incorporating intertidal and open-shelf deposits, including glauconitic and mud-cracked mudstones, and red channel sandstones. It was deposited quickly and is approximately 175 m thick. The Blue Pinion Formation was originally recognized as a separate formation, but is now interpreted as an expression of the Random Formation.

Palaeoplatoda is a genus from the Ediacaran biota. It is a soft-bodied organism with a segmented body that resembles Dickinsonia, another Ediacaran organism.

Frondose property of organism shaped like a frond

Frondosity is the property of an organism that normally flourishes with fronds or leaf-like structures.

Annulatubus is a genus of the Ediacaran biota found in Northwest Canada, and Northern Siberia. It has been found in both shallow water and deep-water assemblages no older than 560 Ma placing it within the youngest Ediacaran.

References

  1. ↑ Parviscopa at fossilworks .org
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Hofmann, H. J.; O'brien, S. J.; King, A. F. (2008). "Ediacaran biota on bonavista peninsula, Newfoundland, Canada". Journal of Paleontology. 82: 1–36. doi:10.1666/06-087.1.
  3. 1 2 3 Liu, A. G (2011). "Understanding the Ediacaran Assemblages of Avalonia: A palaeoenvironmental, taphonomic and ontogenetic study". Doctoral Dissertation, University of Oxford.
  4. ↑ Liu, A. G.; McIlroy, D. (2015). "Horizontal surface traces from the Fermeuse Formation, Ferryland (Newfoundland, Canada), and their place within the late Ediacaran ichnological revolution". Ichnology: Publications Arising from ICHNIA III, Geological Association of Canada. 9: 141–156.
  5. ↑ Clapham, Matthew E.; Narbonne, Guy M.; Gehling, James G. (2003). "Paleoecology of the Oldest Known Animal Communities: Ediacaran Assemblages at Mistaken Point, Newfoundland". Paleobiology. 29 (4): 527–544. doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2003)029<0527:POTOKA>2.0.CO;2. JSTOR   4096972.
  6. 1 2 Liu, Alexander G.; Kenchington, Charlotte G.; Mitchell, Emily G. (2015). "Remarkable insights into the paleoecology of the Avalonian Ediacaran macrobiota". Gondwana Research. 27 (4): 1355–1380. Bibcode:2015GondR..27.1355L. doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2014.11.002 .
  7. ↑ Mason, Sara J.; Narbonne, Guy M. (2016). "Two new Ediacaran small fronds from Mistaken Point, Newfoundland". Journal of Paleontology. 90 (2): 183–194. doi:10.1017/jpa.2016.14. ISSN   0022-3360.
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