Reconstructing the reproductive mode of an Ediacaran macro-organism.

• Main Authors: Mitchell, Emily G, Kenchington, Charlotte G, Liu, Alexander G, Matthews, Jack J, Butterfield, Nicholas J
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2015
• Subjects: Aquatic Organisms; Fossils; Newfoundland and Labrador; Phylogeny; Reproduction; Asexual; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/248619

Enigmatic macrofossils of late Ediacaran age (580-541 million years ago) provide the oldest known record of diverse complex organisms on Earth, lying between the microbially dominated ecosystems of the Proterozoic and the Cambrian emergence of the modern biosphere. Among the oldest and most enigmatic of these macrofossils are the Rangeomorpha, a group characterized by modular, self-similar branching and a sessile benthic habit. Localized occurrences of large in situ fossilized rangeomorph populations allow fundamental aspects of their biology to be resolved using spatial point process techniques. Here we use such techniques to identify recurrent clustering patterns in the rangeomorph Fractofusus, revealing a complex life history of multigenerational, stolon-like asexual reproduction, interspersed with dispersal by waterborne propagules. Ecologically, such a habit would have allowed both for the rapid colonization of a localized area and for transport to new, previously uncolonized areas. The capacity of Fractofusus to derive adult morphology by two distinct reproductive modes documents the sophistication of its underlying developmental biology. This work has been supported by the Natural Environment Research Council [grant numbers NE/I005927/1 to C.G.K., NE/J5000045/1 to J.J.M., NE/L011409/1 to A.G.L. and NE/G523539/1 to E.G.M.], and a Henslow Junior Research Fellowship from Cambridge Philosophical Society to A.G.L. This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from NPG via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature14646