Elucidating
            <i>Ernietta</i>
            : new insights from exceptional specimens in the Ediacaran of Namibia

Ivantsov, A. Yu.; Narbonne, Guy M.; Trusler, Peter; Greentree, Carolyn; Vickers-Rich, Patricia

doi:10.1111/let.12164

Cited by 41 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…We emphasize that nearly all of the specimens found in place are poorly preserved. Similar to specimens reported from Namibia [63], some of the Ernietta found in situ in Nevada were preserved clustered together within sandstone channels. Other single fossils found in situ were preserved in fine-to medium-grained sandstone, weathering out of siltstone or finer-grained sandstone.…”

Section: New Ediacaran Body Fossil Reports (A) Ernietta and Problematsupporting

confidence: 78%

A cosmopolitan late Ediacaran biotic assemblage: new fossils from Nevada and Namibia support a global biostratigraphic link

et al. 2017

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Owing to the lack of temporally well-constrained Ediacaran fossil localities containing overlapping biotic assemblages, it has remained uncertain if the latest Ediacaran ( 550-541 Ma) assemblages reflect systematic biological turnover or environmental, taphonomic or biogeographic biases. Here, we report new latest Ediacaran fossil discoveries from the lower member of the Wood Canyon Formation in Nye County, Nevada, including the first figured reports of erniettomorphs, , and other problematic fossils. The fossils are spectacularly preserved in three taphonomic windows and occur in greater than 11 stratigraphic horizons, all of which are below the first appearance of and the nadir of a large negative δC excursion that is a chemostratigraphic marker of the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary. The co-occurrence of morphologically diverse tubular fossils and erniettomorphs in Nevada provides a biostratigraphic link among latest Ediacaran fossil localities globally. Integrated with a new report of from Namibia, previous fossil reports and existing age constraints, these finds demonstrate a distinctive late Ediacaran fossil assemblage comprising at least two groups of macroscopic organisms with dissimilar body plans that ecologically and temporally overlapped for at least 6 Myr at the close of the Ediacaran Period. This cosmopolitan biotic assemblage disappeared from the fossil record at the end of the Ediacaran Period, prior to the Cambrian radiation.

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Section: New Ediacaran Body Fossil Reports (A) Ernietta and Problematsupporting

confidence: 78%

A cosmopolitan late Ediacaran biotic assemblage: new fossils from Nevada and Namibia support a global biostratigraphic link

et al. 2017

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“…Newly collected specimens of Protonympha are similar to the Ediacaran vendobionts Dickinsonia and Ernietta in thin section (Elliott et al 2016;Ivantsov et al 2016;Retallack 2016a). In all three taxa, ferruginized organic partitions form a thick upper wall, with orthogonal vertical partitions enclosing sediment.…”

Section: And Ordovicianmentioning

confidence: 89%

REASSESSMENT OF THE DEVONIAN PROBLEMATICUM PROTONYMPHA AS ANOTHER POST-EDIACARAN VENDOBIONT

Retallack

2016

Geological Society of America Abstracts With Programs

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Protonympha is an enigmatic fossil represented by two species from the Middle Devonian (Protonympha transversa) and Late Devonian (Protonympha salicifolia) of New York. Although interpreted in the past as a polychaete worm or starfish arm, Protonympha is not found with marine fossils, but with fossil plants. This fossil plant community was a swamp woodland of Lepidosigillaria whitei, with ground cover of Haskinsia colophylla, fringing brackish to freshwater coastal lagoons of the Catskill Delta. Protonympha shares with Ediacaran Vendobionta a quilted body of unskeletonized biopolymer that is unusually resistant to burial compaction. In overall form, Protonympha is most like the Ediacaran genus Spriggina. Protonympha has branching and tapering tubular structures radiating from the bottom. These rhizine-like structures, thallus stratification and internal chambers revealed by petrographic thin sections suggest affinities with lichenized fungi. As for Cambrian Swartpuntia and Ordovician-Silurian Rutgersella, Protonympha may have been a post-Ediacaran vendobiont. □ Devonian, New York, Problematicum, Protonympha, vendobiont.

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“…Erniettomorphs are defined as having petalodia composed of undifferentiated, non-repeating tubular modular elements that are uniform in width. The unique "bag shaped" morphology of Ernietta is derived from the fusion of the two petaloids at their edge as marked by a major suture (Ivantsov et al 2016), and we scored this as such even though the petaloids do not form a single, flat plane as seen in most other fronds.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relating Ediacaran Fronds

Dececchi¹,

Narbonne²,

Laflamme³

et al. 2016

Geological Society of America Abstracts With Programs

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Ediacaran fronds are key components of terminal-Proterozoic ecosystems. They represent one of the most widespread and common body forms ranging across all major Ediacaran fossil localities and time slices postdating the Gaskiers glaciation, but uncertainty over their phylogenetic affinities has led to uncertainty over issues of homology and functional morphology between, and within, organisms displaying this ecomorphology. Here we present the first large scale, multi-group cladistic analysis of Ediacaran organisms, sampling 20 ingroup taxa with previously asserted affinities to the Arboreomorpha, Erniettomorpha and Rangeomorpha. Using a newly derived morphological character matrix that incorporates multiple axes of potential phylogenetically informative data, including architectural, developmental, and structural qualities, we seek to illuminate the evolutionary history of these organisms. We find strong support for existing classification schema and devise apomorphy-based definitions for each of the three frondose clades examined here. Through a rigorous cladistics framework it is possible to discern the pattern of evolution within, and between, these clades, including the identification of homoplasies and functional constraints. This work both validates earlier studies of Ediacaran groups and accentuates instances where previous assumptions of their natural history are uninformative.

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Elucidating Ernietta : new insights from exceptional specimens in the Ediacaran of Namibia

Cited by 41 publications

References 36 publications

A cosmopolitan late Ediacaran biotic assemblage: new fossils from Nevada and Namibia support a global biostratigraphic link

A cosmopolitan late Ediacaran biotic assemblage: new fossils from Nevada and Namibia support a global biostratigraphic link

REASSESSMENT OF THE DEVONIAN PROBLEMATICUM PROTONYMPHA AS ANOTHER POST-EDIACARAN VENDOBIONT

Relating Ediacaran Fronds

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