Data for: Frond orientations with independent current indicators demonstrate the reclining rheotropic mode of life of several Ediacaran rangeomorph taxa

• Main Authors: Pérez-Pinedo, Daniel, Neville, Jenna M., Pasinetti, Giovanni, McKean, Christopher, Taylor, Rod, McIlroy, Duncan
• Format: Software
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Ediacaran; Paleontology; paleoenvironment; paleocurrent; Rangeomorphs; Fractofusus; Catalina; Mistaken Point; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/7396613; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7396613

Fossils from the deep-sea Ediacaran biotas of Newfoundland are among the oldest architecturally complex soft-bodied macroorganisms on Earth. Most organisms in the Mistaken Point-type biotas of Avalonia — particularly the fractal-branching frondose Rangeomorpha — have been traditionally interpreted as living erect within the water column during life. However, due to the scarcity of documented physical sedimentological proxies associated with fossiliferous beds, Ediacaran paleocurrents have been inferred in some instances from the preferential orientation of fronds. This calls into question the relationship between frond orientation and paleocurrents. In this study, we present an integrated approach from a newly described fossiliferous surface (the "Melrose Surface" in the Fermeuse Formation at Melrose, on the southern portion of the Catalina Dome in the Discovery UNESCO Global Geopark) combining: (1) physical sedimentological evidence for paleocurrent direction in the form of climbing ripple cross lamination, and (2) a series of statistical analyses based on modified polythetic and monothetic clustering techniques reflecting the circular nature of the recorded orientation of Fractofusus misrai specimens. This study demonstrates the reclining rheotropic mode of life of the Ediacaran rangeomorph taxon Fractofusus misrai and presents preliminary inferences suggesting a similar mode of life for Bradgatia sp. and Pectinifrons abyssalis based on qualitative evidence. These results advocate for the consideration of an alternative conceptual hypothesis for the position of life of Ediacaran organisms in which they are interpreted as having lived reclined on the seafloor, in the position that they are preserved. Microsoft Excel; R. Funding provided by: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000038Award Number: The data presented in this study were collected from a single fossiliferous surface of the Fermeuse Formation that crops out on ...