| Zolotytsia Temporal range: about | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Zolotytsia biserialis | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Genus: | † Zolotytsia Fedonkin, 1981 |
| Species: | †Z. biserialis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Zolotytsia biserialis Fedonkin, 1981 | |
Zolotytsia is an extinct genus of fossil animals from the late Ediacaran period (Vendian) which contains only one known species, Z. biserialis. Specimens of this species have been found in Russia, Ukraine and India. [1]
Specimens exhibit two distinctive rows of oval-shaped structures, positioned either side of a mid-line groove, each row being divided by a deep, but narrow groove. The lack of symmetry in the oval bodies has been attributed to possible deformation after death. [1]
Fossils have been found in the Ust' Pinega Formation, located in Northern Russia; [2] the Valdai Group, located in Russia; the Bernashevka Beds; the Yarishyvska Formation, located in Ukraine [3] [4] and in the Krol Formation, located in India. [5]
Dickinsonia is a genus of extinct organism, most likely an animal, that lived during the late Ediacaran period in what is now Australia, China, Russia and Ukraine. It is one of the best known members of the Ediacaran biota. The individual Dickinsonia typically resembles a bilaterally symmetrical ribbed oval. Its affinities are presently unknown; its mode of growth has been considered consistent with a stem-group bilaterian affinity, though various other affinities have been proposed. The discovery of cholesterol molecules in fossils of Dickinsonia lends support to the idea that Dickinsonia was an animal, though these results have been questioned.
Ausia fenestrata is a curious Ediacaran period fossil represented by only one specimen 5 cm long from the Nama Group, a Vendian to Cambrian group of stratigraphic sequences deposited in the Nama foreland basin in central and southern Namibia. It has similarity to Burykhia from Ediacaran (Vendian) siliciclastic sediments exposed on the Syuzma River of Arkhangelsk Oblast, northwest Russia. This fossil is of the form of an elongate bag-like sandstone cast tapering to a cone on one end. The surface of the fossil is covered with oval depressions ("windows") regularly spaced over the surface in the manner of concentric/parallel rows. The taxonomic identity of Ausia is unresolved.
Kimberella is an extinct genus of bilaterian known only from rocks of the Ediacaran period. The slug-like organism fed by scratching the microbial surface on which it dwelt in a manner similar to the gastropods, although its affinity with this group is contentious.
Tribrachidium heraldicum is a tri-radially symmetric fossil animal that lived in the late Ediacaran (Vendian) seas. In life, it was hemispherical in form. T. heraldicum is the best known member of the extinct group Trilobozoa.
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.
Trilobozoa is a phylum of extinct, sessile animals that were originally classified into the Cnidaria. The basic body plan of trilobozoans is often a tri-radial or radial sphere-shaped form with lobes radiating from its centre. Fossils of trilobozoans are restricted to marine strata of the Late Ediacaran period.
Praecambridium sigillum is an extinct organism that superficially resembles a segmented trilobite-like arthropod. It was originally described as being a trilobite-like arthropod, though the majority of experts now place it within the Proarticulata as a close relative of the much larger Yorgia. It is from the Late Ediacaran deposit of Ediacara Hills, Australia, about 555 million years ago. On average, P. sigillum had at least 5 pairs of segments, with each unit becoming progressively larger as they approach the cephalon-like head.
Albumares brunsae is a tri-radially symmetrical fossil animal that lived in the late Ediacaran seafloor. It is a member of the extinct group Trilobozoa.
Anfesta stankovskii is a tri-radially symmetrical fossil animal that lived in the late Ediacaran (Vendian) seafloor. It is a member of the extinct group Trilobozoa.
The Ustʹ Pinega Formation is a geological formation exposed along the banks of the Onega River in Arkhangelsk Oblast, northwestern Russia.
Vaveliksia is an extinct genus of Ediacaran Sponge-like organism with a long, tubular-shaped body and a attachment disk similar to that of Petalonamids. The Vaveliksia genus contained two species, Vaveliksia velikanovi as well as Vaveliksia vana. The two species vary in appearance to one another, with V. velikanovi having a more tubular-shaped, sack-like morphology with a crown of wrinkles on top of one of its ends as well as possessing a much more disk-like holdfast with V. vana having an appearance more similar to that of a Poriferan, with V. vana having a much more dome-shaped holdfast and a capsule-like body with no crown of wrinkles unlike V. velikanovi.
Veprina is a rare Ediacaran coelenterate cnidarian found on the Zimny coast of the White Sea, Russia and was first described by Mikhail Fedonkin in 1980.
Palaeoplatoda is a genus from the Ediacaran biota. It is a soft-bodied organism with a segmented body that resembles Dickinsonia, another Ediacaran organism.
Ventogyrus is an Ediacaran fossil found in the White Sea-Arkhangelsk region of Russia. It was first discovered in the Teska member of the Ust'-Pinega formation, in a thick lens of sandstone, originally sand dumped by storm waves that cut a deep channel through the shallow sea bottom where the organisms lived. Many individuals were preserved on top of each other, often torn or in distorted positions. As a result, it was originally thought to have had a "boat shaped" form and to have lived anchored in the sea floor. However, a nearby site discovered later by Mikhail Fedonkin yielded separate specimens which were beautifully preserved in an upright position and showed the internal anatomy.
Cephalozoa are an extinct class of primitive segmented marine organisms within the Phylum Proarticulata from the Ediacaran period. They possessed bilateral symmetry and were characterized by a thin, rounded body.
Podolimirus is an extinct monotypic genus of unclassified proarticulates. It presents a single species, Podolimirus mirus. It was found in strata of the late Ediacaran, at the beginning of the Cambrian. It is one of the last proarticulates. The first fossils of this genus and species were found in the Ukraine along the Dneister River close by to the deposits in the Vendian Sequence in 1983.
Bonata is a monotypic, disk-shaped genus of Ediacaran organism that were originally found in the Ediacaran deposits of the White Sea area, Russia. It has been poorly studied because of the lack of fossil specimens found in the region since the 1980's. It contains a single species, Bonata septata.
Petalostoma kuibis is a species of enigmatic fossil organism from the Ediacaran period, possibly a member of the Petalonamae, of Namibia, Dabris Formation, Farm Aar.
Pseudorhizostomites howchini is an enigmatic member of the Ediacaran Biota which was originally thought to have been a jellyfish of some kind. P. howchini is now though to either have been a pseudofossil, a gas escape structure or perhaps the result of a rangeomorph holdfast being pulled by currents or, if any of these possibilities are not true, some other force from the sediments which enclosed the fossil.
Staurinidia is a genus of Ediacaran soft-bodied organism from the deposits of the Ust'-Pinega formation. It is a monotypic genus, containing only the single species Staurinidia crucicula. The genus was first described in 1985 by Russian palaeontologist Mikhail A. Fedonkin. S. crucicula's four-fold symmetry is present as a result of four canals radiating from the middle of a small cavity in the middle of the body. Other forms with four way symmetry, mainly Medusoid forms, from the Ediacaran comprise an essential chunk of the Ediacaran diversity of symmetry; their organisations are similar to, though smaller than, those of a modern-day Scyphozoan Cnidarian.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)