Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T04:36:07.622Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ernietta from the late Edicaran Nama Group, Namibia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2016

David A. Elliott ,
Peter W. Trusler ,
Guy M. Narbonne ,
Patricia Vickers-Rich ,
Nicole Morton ,
Mike Hall ,
Karl H. Hoffmann  and
Gabi I.C. Schneider
David A. Elliott
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia, 〈david.alexanderus@gmail.com〉 〈peter@petertrusler.com.au〉 〈pat.rich@monash.edu.au〉 〈nicole.d.morton@gmail.com〉
Peter W. Trusler
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia, 〈david.alexanderus@gmail.com〉 〈peter@petertrusler.com.au〉 〈pat.rich@monash.edu.au〉 〈nicole.d.morton@gmail.com〉
Guy M. Narbonne
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia, 〈david.alexanderus@gmail.com〉 〈peter@petertrusler.com.au〉 〈pat.rich@monash.edu.au〉 〈nicole.d.morton@gmail.com〉 Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada, 〈narbonne@queensu.ca〉
Patricia Vickers-Rich
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia, 〈david.alexanderus@gmail.com〉 〈peter@petertrusler.com.au〉 〈pat.rich@monash.edu.au〉 〈nicole.d.morton@gmail.com〉
Nicole Morton
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia, 〈david.alexanderus@gmail.com〉 〈peter@petertrusler.com.au〉 〈pat.rich@monash.edu.au〉 〈nicole.d.morton@gmail.com〉
Mike Hall
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia, 〈david.alexanderus@gmail.com〉 〈peter@petertrusler.com.au〉 〈pat.rich@monash.edu.au〉 〈nicole.d.morton@gmail.com〉
Karl H. Hoffmann
Affiliation:
Namibian Geological Survey, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Windhoek, Namibia, 〈mkh.hoffmann@iway.na〉 〈gschneider@mme.gov.na〉
Gabi I.C. Schneider
Affiliation:
Namibian Geological Survey, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Windhoek, Namibia, 〈mkh.hoffmann@iway.na〉 〈gschneider@mme.gov.na〉
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ernietta plateauensis Pflug, 1966 is the type species of the Erniettomorpha, an extinct clade of Ediacaran life. It was likely a gregarious, partially infaunal organism. Despite its ecological and taxonomic significance, there has not been an in-depth systematic description in the literature since the original description fell out of use. A newly discovered field site on Farm Aar in southern Namibia has yielded dozens of specimens buried in original life position. Mudstone and sandstone features associated with the fossils indicate that organisms were buried while still exposed to the water column rather than deposited in a flow event. Ernietta plateauensis was a sac-shaped erniettomorph with a body wall constructed from a double layer of tubes. It possessed an equatorial seam lying perpendicular to the tubes. The body is asymmetrical on either side of this seam. The tubes change direction along the body length and appear to be constricted together in the dorsal part of the organism.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 90 , Issue 6 , November 2016 , pp. 1017 - 1026
Copyright
Copyright © 2016, The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bouougri, E.H., Porada, H., Weber, K., and Reitner, J., 2011, Sedimentology and palaeoecology of Ernietta-bearing Ediacaran deposits in southern Namibia: Implications for infaunal vendobiont communities: Advances in Stromatolite Geobiology, v. 131, p. 473–506.Google Scholar
Buss, L.W., and Seilacher, A., 1994, The phylum Vendobionta: a sister group of the Eumetazoa?: Paleobiology, v. 20, p. 1–4.Google Scholar
Crimes, T.P., and Fedonkin, M.A., 1996, Biotic changes in platform communities across the Precambrian-Phanerozoic boundary: Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, v. 102, p. 317–332.Google Scholar
Dzik, J., 1999, Organic membranous skeleton of the Precambrian metazoans from Namibia: Geology, v. 27, p. 519–522.Google Scholar
Elliott, D.A., Vickers-Rich, P., Trusler, P., and Hall, M., 2011, New evidence on the taphonomic context of the Ediacaran Pteridinium : Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, v. 56, p. 641–650.Google Scholar
Erwin, D.H., Valentine, J.W., and Jablonski, D., 1997, The origin of animal body plans: American Scientist, v. 85, p. 126–137.Google Scholar
Erwin, D.H., Laflamme, M., Tweedt, S.M., Sperling, E.A., Pisani, D., and Peterson, K.J., 2011, The Cambrian Conundrum: early divergence and later eecological success in the early history of animals: Science, v. 334, p. 1091–1097.Google Scholar
Germs, G.J.B., 1968, Discovery of a new fossil in the Nama Group, South West Africa: Nature, v. 219, p. 53–54.Google Scholar
Germs, G.J.B., 1973, A reinterpretation of Rangea schneiderhoehni and the discovery of a related new fossil from the Nama Group, South-West Africa: Lethaia, v. 6, p. 1–9.Google Scholar
Germs, G.J.B., 1974, The Nama Group in South-West Africa and its relationship to the pan-African geosyncline: The Journal of Geology, v. 82, p. 301–317.Google Scholar
Germs, G.J.B., 1983, Implications of a sedimentary facies and depositional environment analysis of the Nama Group in South-West Africa/Namibia: Special Publications of the Geological Society of South Africa, v. 11, p. 89–114.Google Scholar
Glaessner, M.F., 1979, Precambrian, in Robinson, R.A., and Teichert, C., eds., Treatise on Invertebrate Palaeontology Part A Introduction Fossilization (Taphonomy) Biogeography and Biostratigraphy, Lawrence, Kansas, The Geological Society of America and the University of Kansas, p. A79–A118.Google Scholar
Glaessner, M.F., 1984, The Dawn of Animal Life, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 256 p.Google Scholar
Glaessner, M.F., and Walter, M.R., 1975, New Precambrian fossils from the Arumbera Sandstone, Northern Territory, Australia: Alcheringa, v. 1, p. 59–69.Google Scholar
Grazhdankin, D.V., and Seilacher, A., 2002, Underground Vendobionta from Namibia: Palaeontology, v. 45, p. 57–78.Google Scholar
Gresse, P.G., and Germs, G.J.B., 1993, The Nama foreland basin: sedimentation, major unconformity-bounded sequences and multisided active margin advance: Precambrian Research, v. 63, p. 247–272.Google Scholar
Grotzinger, J.P., and Miller, R., 2008, The Nama Group, in R. Miller, ed., The Geology of Namibia: Geological Society of Namibia Special Publication 2, p. 13-229–13-272.Google Scholar
Grotzinger, J.P., Bowring, S.A., Saylor, B.Z., and Kaufman, A.J., 1995, Biostratigraphic and geochronologic constraints on early animal evolution: Science, v. 270, p. 598–604.Google Scholar
Gürich, G., 1930, Die bislang altesten Spuren von Organismen in Sudafrika: International Geological Congress (XV), Pretoria, Union of South Africa, Die altesten Fossilien Sud-Afrikas, v. 2, p. 670–680.Google Scholar
Gürich, G., 1933, Die Kuibis-Fossilien der Nama-Formation von Sudwestafrika: Paläontologische Zeitschrift, v. 15, p. 137–154.Google Scholar
Hall, M., Kaufman, A.J., Vickers-Rich, P., Ivantsov, A., Trusler, P., Linnemann, U., Hofmann, M., Elliott, D.A., Cui, H., Fedonkin, M., Hoffmann, K.-H., Wilson, S.A., Schneider, G., and Smith, J., 2013, Stratigraphy, Palaeontology and Geochemistry of the late Neoproterozoic Aar Member, southwest Namibia; Reflecting environmental controls on Ediacara fossil preservation during the terminal Proterozoic in African Gondwana: Precambrian Research, v. 238, p. 214–232.Google Scholar
Hofmann, H.J., and Mountjoy, E.W., 2010, Ediacaran body and trace fossils in Miette Group (Windermere Supergroup) near Salient Mountain, British Columbia Canada: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 47, p. 1305–1325.Google Scholar
Horodyski, R.J., 1991, Late Proterozoic megafossils from Southern Nevada: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 23, no. 5, p. A163.Google Scholar
Jenkins, R.J.F., 1985, The enigmatic Ediacaran (Late Precambrian) genus Rangea and related forms: Paleobiology, v. 11, p. 336–355.Google Scholar
Jenkins, R.J.F., 1992, Functional and ecological aspects of Ediacaran assemblages, in Lipps, J.H., and Signor, P.W., eds., Origin and Early Evolution of the Metazoa, New York, Plenum Press, p. 131–176.Google Scholar
Jenkins, R.J.F., and Gehling, J.G., 1978, A review of the frond-like fossils of the Ediacara assemblage: Records of the South Australian Museum, v. 17, p. 347–359.Google Scholar
Jenkins, R.J.F., Plummer, P.S., and Moriarty, K.C., 1981, Late Precambrian pseudofossils from the Flinders Ranges, South Australia: Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, v. 105, p. 67–183.Google Scholar
Laflamme, M., Xiao, S., and Kowalewski, M., 2009, Osmotrophy in modular Ediacaran organisms: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, v. 106, p. 14438–14443.Google Scholar
Laflamme, M., Darroch, S.A.F., Tweedt, S.M., Peterson, K.J., and Erwin, D.H., 2013, The end of the Ediacara biota: Extinction, biotic replacement, or Cheshire Cat?: Gondwana Research, v. 23, p. 558–573.Google Scholar
McCall, G.J.H., 2006, The Vendian (Ediacaran) in the geological record: Enigmas in geology’s prelude to the Cambrian explosion: Earth-Science Reviews, v. 77, p. 1–229.Google Scholar
Monastersky, R., 1998, Life grows up: National Geographic Magazine, no. 4 (April), p. 100–115.Google Scholar
Narbonne, G.M., 2005, The Ediacara biota: Neoproterozoic origin of animals and their ecosystems: Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, v. 33, p. 421–442.Google Scholar
Narbonne, G.M., 2011, When life got big: Nature, v. 470, p. 339–340.Google Scholar
Narbonne, G.M., Saylor, B.Z., and Grotzinger, J.P., 1997, The youngest Ediacaran fossils from southern Africa: Journal of Paleontology, v. 71, p. 953–969.Google Scholar
Narbonne, G.M., Laflamme, M., Trusler, P.W., Dalrymple, R.W., and Greentree, C., 2014, Deep-water Ediacaran fossils from northwestern Canada: Taphonomy, ecology and evolution: Journal of Paleontology, v. 88, p. 207–223.Google Scholar
Pflug, H.D., 1966, Neue Fossilreste aus den Nama-Schichten in Südwest-Afrika: Paläontologische Zeitschrift, v. 40, p. 14–25.Google Scholar
Pflug, H.D., 1972, Zur fauna der Nama-Schichten in Südwest-Afrika; III. Erniettomorpha, bau und systematik: Palaeontographica Abteilung A, v. 139, p. 134–170.Google Scholar
Pickford, M.H.L., 1995, Review of the Riphean, Vendian and Early Cambrian palaeontology of the Otavi and Nama Groups, Namibia: Communications of the Geological Survey of Namibia, v. 10, p. 57–81.Google Scholar
Runnegar, B.N., 1992, Proterozoic fossils of soft-bodied metazoans (Ediacaran faunas), in Schopf J.W., and Klein, C., eds., The Proterozoic Biosphere: A multidisciplinary study, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 999–1007.Google Scholar
Saylor, B.Z., Grotzinger, J.P., and Germs, G.J.B., 1995, Sequence stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Neoproterozoic Kuibis and Schwarzrand Subgroups (Nama Group), southwestern Namibia: Precambrian Research, v. 73, p. 153–171.Google Scholar
Saylor, B.Z., Kaufman, A.J., Grotzinger, J.P., and Urban, F., 1998, A composite reference section for terminal Proterozoic strata of southern Namibia: Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 68, p. 1223–1235.Google Scholar
Schmitz, M.D., 2012, Appendix 2—Radiometric ages used in GTS2012, in Gradstein, F., Ogg, J., Schmitz, M.D., and Ogg, G., eds., The Geologic Time Scale 2012, Boston, Elsevier, p. 1045–1082.Google Scholar
Schneider, G., and Marais, C., 2004, Passage Through Time: The Fossils of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia, Gamsberg MacMillan, 158 p.Google Scholar
Seilacher, A., 1989, Vendozoa: Organismic construction in the Proterozoic biosphere: Lethaia, v. 22, p. 229–239.Google Scholar
Seilacher, A., 1992, Vendobionta and Psammocorallia: lost constructions of Precambrian evolution: Journal of the Geological Society, London, v. 149, p. 607–613.Google Scholar
Seilacher, A., 2003, Ediacaran biota: The dawn of animal life in the shadow of giant protists: Paleontological Research, v. 7, p. 43–54 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2517/prpsj.7.43 Google Scholar
Vickers-Rich, P., 2007, The Nama fauna of southern Africa, in Fedonkin, M.A., Gehling, J.G., Grey, K., Narbonne, G.M., and Vickers-Rich, P., eds., The Rise of Animals: Evolution and Diversification of the Kingdom Animalia, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, p. 69–88.Google Scholar
Vickers-Rich, P., Fedonkin, M.A., Gehling, J.G., Leonov, M.V., Ivantsov, A.Yu., Komarower, P., and Fuller, M., 2007, Atlas of Precambrian Metazoans, in Fedonkin, M.A., Gehling, J.G., Grey, K., Narbonne, G.M., and Vickers-Rich, P., eds., The Rise of Animals: Evolution and Diversification of the Kingdom Animalia, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, p. 260–292.Google Scholar
Vickers-Rich, P., Ivantsov, A.Y., Trusler, P., Narbonne, G.M., Hall, M., Wilson, S.A., Greentree, C., Fedonkin, M.A., Elliott, D.A., Hoffmann, K.H., and Schneider, G.I.C., 2013, Reconstructing Rangea: New discoveries from the Ediacaran of Southern Namibia: Journal of Paleontology, v. 87, p. 1–15.Google Scholar
Xiao, S., and Laflamme, M., 2009, On the eve of animal radiation: phylogeny, ecology and evolution of the Ediacara biota: Trends in Ecology & Evolution, v. 24, p. 31–40.Google Scholar