Data from: The Beothukis/Culmofrons problem and its bearing on Ediacaran macrofossil taxonomy: evidence from an exceptional new fossil locality

The late Ediacaran siliciclastic successions of eastern Newfoundland, Canada, are renowned for their fossils of soft-bodied macro-organisms, which may include some of the earliest animals. Despite the potential importance of such fossils for evolutionary understanding, the taxonomic framework within...

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Main Authors: Liu, Alexander G., Matthews, Jack J., McIlroy, Duncan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.95108
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6r4j8
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spelling ftdryad:oai:v1.datadryad.org:10255/dryad.95108 2023-05-15T17:21:13+02:00 Data from: The Beothukis/Culmofrons problem and its bearing on Ediacaran macrofossil taxonomy: evidence from an exceptional new fossil locality Liu, Alexander G. Matthews, Jack J. McIlroy, Duncan Newfoundland Canada Ediacaran 2015-10-15T14:58:58Z http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.95108 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6r4j8 unknown doi:10.5061/dryad.6r4j8/1 doi:10.5061/dryad.6r4j8/2 doi:10.1111/pala.12206 doi:10.5061/dryad.6r4j8 Liu AG, Matthews JJ, McIlroy D (2015) The Beothukis/Culmofrons problem and its bearing on Ediacaran macrofossil taxonomy: evidence from an exceptional new fossil locality. Palaeontology 59(1): 45–58. http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.95108 Rangeomorph Systematics Article 2015 ftdryad https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6r4j8 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6r4j8/1 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6r4j8/2 https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12206 2020-01-01T15:23:34Z The late Ediacaran siliciclastic successions of eastern Newfoundland, Canada, are renowned for their fossils of soft-bodied macro-organisms, which may include some of the earliest animals. Despite the potential importance of such fossils for evolutionary understanding, the taxonomic framework within which Ediacaran macrofossils are described is not clearly defined. Rangeomorphs from a newly discovered fossil surface on the Bonavista Peninsula, Newfoundland, require us to reconsider contemporary use of morphological characters to distinguish between genera and species within Ediacaran taxa. The new surface exhibits remarkable preservational fidelity, resolving features smaller than 0.1 mm in dimension in both frondose and non-frondose taxa. Such preservation permits the recognition of rarely observed fourth- and fifth-order rangeomorph branching, offering unparalleled opportunities to investigate the fine-scale construction of rangeomorph taxa including Culmofrons plumosa Laflamme et al., 2012. Our observations enable resolution of taxonomic issues relating to rangeomorphs, specifically overlap between the diagnoses of the frondose genera Beothukis Brasier and Antcliffe, 2009 and Culmofrons. We propose a taxonomic framework for all Ediacaran macrofossils whereby gross architecture, the presence/absence of discrete morphological characters and consideration of growth programme are used to distinguish genera, whereas morphometric or continuous characters define taxa at the species level. On the basis of its morphological characters, Culmofrons plumosa is herein synonymized to a species (Beothukis plumosa comb. nov.) within the genus Beothukis. This discussion emphasizes the need to standardize the taxonomic approach used to describe Ediacaran macrofossil taxa at both the genus and species levels, and raises important considerations for future formulation of higher-level taxonomic groups. Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland Dryad Digital Repository (Duke University) Canada
institution Open Polar
collection Dryad Digital Repository (Duke University)
op_collection_id ftdryad
language unknown
topic Rangeomorph
Systematics
spellingShingle Rangeomorph
Systematics
Liu, Alexander G.
Matthews, Jack J.
McIlroy, Duncan
Data from: The Beothukis/Culmofrons problem and its bearing on Ediacaran macrofossil taxonomy: evidence from an exceptional new fossil locality
topic_facet Rangeomorph
Systematics
description The late Ediacaran siliciclastic successions of eastern Newfoundland, Canada, are renowned for their fossils of soft-bodied macro-organisms, which may include some of the earliest animals. Despite the potential importance of such fossils for evolutionary understanding, the taxonomic framework within which Ediacaran macrofossils are described is not clearly defined. Rangeomorphs from a newly discovered fossil surface on the Bonavista Peninsula, Newfoundland, require us to reconsider contemporary use of morphological characters to distinguish between genera and species within Ediacaran taxa. The new surface exhibits remarkable preservational fidelity, resolving features smaller than 0.1 mm in dimension in both frondose and non-frondose taxa. Such preservation permits the recognition of rarely observed fourth- and fifth-order rangeomorph branching, offering unparalleled opportunities to investigate the fine-scale construction of rangeomorph taxa including Culmofrons plumosa Laflamme et al., 2012. Our observations enable resolution of taxonomic issues relating to rangeomorphs, specifically overlap between the diagnoses of the frondose genera Beothukis Brasier and Antcliffe, 2009 and Culmofrons. We propose a taxonomic framework for all Ediacaran macrofossils whereby gross architecture, the presence/absence of discrete morphological characters and consideration of growth programme are used to distinguish genera, whereas morphometric or continuous characters define taxa at the species level. On the basis of its morphological characters, Culmofrons plumosa is herein synonymized to a species (Beothukis plumosa comb. nov.) within the genus Beothukis. This discussion emphasizes the need to standardize the taxonomic approach used to describe Ediacaran macrofossil taxa at both the genus and species levels, and raises important considerations for future formulation of higher-level taxonomic groups.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Liu, Alexander G.
Matthews, Jack J.
McIlroy, Duncan
author_facet Liu, Alexander G.
Matthews, Jack J.
McIlroy, Duncan
author_sort Liu, Alexander G.
title Data from: The Beothukis/Culmofrons problem and its bearing on Ediacaran macrofossil taxonomy: evidence from an exceptional new fossil locality
title_short Data from: The Beothukis/Culmofrons problem and its bearing on Ediacaran macrofossil taxonomy: evidence from an exceptional new fossil locality
title_full Data from: The Beothukis/Culmofrons problem and its bearing on Ediacaran macrofossil taxonomy: evidence from an exceptional new fossil locality
title_fullStr Data from: The Beothukis/Culmofrons problem and its bearing on Ediacaran macrofossil taxonomy: evidence from an exceptional new fossil locality
title_full_unstemmed Data from: The Beothukis/Culmofrons problem and its bearing on Ediacaran macrofossil taxonomy: evidence from an exceptional new fossil locality
title_sort data from: the beothukis/culmofrons problem and its bearing on ediacaran macrofossil taxonomy: evidence from an exceptional new fossil locality
publishDate 2015
url http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.95108
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6r4j8
op_coverage Newfoundland
Canada
Ediacaran
geographic Canada
geographic_facet Canada
genre Newfoundland
genre_facet Newfoundland
op_relation doi:10.5061/dryad.6r4j8/1
doi:10.5061/dryad.6r4j8/2
doi:10.1111/pala.12206
doi:10.5061/dryad.6r4j8
Liu AG, Matthews JJ, McIlroy D (2015) The Beothukis/Culmofrons problem and its bearing on Ediacaran macrofossil taxonomy: evidence from an exceptional new fossil locality. Palaeontology 59(1): 45–58.
http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.95108
op_doi https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6r4j8
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6r4j8/1
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6r4j8/2
https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12206
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