Vaveliksia

Vaveliksia
	Reconstruction of Vaveliksia
Temporal occurrence
	Ediacarium
Locations
	Ukraine; Russia; Australia;
Systematics
	Multicellular animals (Metazoa)
	Vaveliksia
Scientific name
	Vaveliksia
	Fedonkin , 1983
species
	Vaveliksia velikanovi; Vaveliksia vana;

Vaveliksia is an extinct animal genus of the Ediacarium , which may be related to the sponges .

Etymology and first description

The generic name Vaveliksia is an acronym of the Ukrainian geologist Vyacheslav Akimowitsch Velikanow (Vaveliksia = V jačeslav A kimovič Velik anov + -sia). The species name velikanovi also honors Velikanow. The name Vaveliksia vana of the second taxon comes from the Latin vānus, -a, -um (empty, meaningless).

The genus Vaveliksia was scientifically described for the first time in 1983 by Mikhail Alexandrowitsch Fedonkin .

Occurrence

Fossils of velikanovi vaveliksia were in the Ukraine in the Lomozow layers of Mogilev formation in Dnister basin and in the Bernashevka layers of Yaryshev formation in a quarry near Osarynzi ( Podolien found).

The taxon Vaveliksia vana comes from the Yorga formation on the winter coast (Simni Bereg) of the White Sea ( Russia , Arkhangelsk Oblast ). An alleged find of Vaveliksia vana is said to have also occurred in deposits of the Ediacarium in South Australia , but no illustration has yet been presented.

description

The exterior of Vaveliksia is comparable to a Frankfurt sausage , which is anchored in the substrate at one end by means of a disc-like adhesive disc. The body walls are thin and perforated. At the top there is a mouth opening - possibly comparable to an osculum , if Vaveliksia was actually related to the sponges.

In Vaveliksia velikanovi , which occurs only in Precambrian layers on the Dniester, the mouth opening is surrounded by a crown of protuberances that were originally interpreted as tentacles (the very first interpretations saw polyp-like organisms in the new fossils). The adhesive disc is flat and has the shape of a disc. Vaveliksia velikanovi reaches a height of 3 to 8 centimeters with a diameter of up to 3 centimeters. The adhesive disks have a diameter of 0.8 to 2 centimeters.

The taxon Vaveliksia vana from the White Sea coast (and possibly South Australia) has a smaller diameter compared to the type fossil (up to 2 centimeters), but can become longer (3.5 to 8.6 centimeters). It has no protuberances in the mouth region and the somewhat smaller adhesive disc (0.7 to 1.5 centimeters in diameter) is convex and domed. Some finds from Vaveliksia vana have arm-like appendages.

Interpretations

Some paleontologists consider Cucullus fraudulentus , a fossil from the Chinese Miaohe Biota described in 1994 by paleontologist Michael Steiner , to be synonymous with Vaveliksia . Cucullus is also interpreted as a tubular, sack-like, hollow structure with thin walls and an upper central opening. However, due to the completely different taphonomy of the Miaohe Biota, a direct comparison is risky.

In a more recent review article, which summarizes the previously known fossils from the Proterozoic that are assigned to the sponges, Jonathan B. Antcliffe and colleagues reject the interpretation of Vaveliksia as a sponge. There is no evidence of this, it is speculation. They even consider an interpretation as a cell colony of protozoa ( rhizaria ) to be conceivable.

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b ^c Ivantsov, AY, Malakhovskaya, YE and Serezhnikova, EA: Some Problematic Fossils from the Vendian of the Southeastern White Sea Region . In: Paleontological Journal . tape 38 (1) , 2004, p. 1-9 .
↑ Fedonkin, MA: Non-skeletal fauna of Podolia, Dniester River valley . In: Velikanov, VA, Asseeva, EA and Fedonkin, MA (eds.): The Vendian of the Ukraine (in Russian) . Naukova Dumka, Kiev 1983, pp. 128-139 .
^ ^A ^b Fedonkin MA, Gehling JG, Gray K., Narbonne GM and Vickers-Rich, P .: The Rise of Animals. Evolution and Diversification of the Kingdom Animalia . Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8018-8679-9 , pp. 326 .
↑ cf. z. B. Shuhai Xiao, Xunlai Yuan, Michael Steiner, Andrew H. Knoll (2002): Macroscopic Carbonaceous Compressions in a Terminal Proterozoic Shale: A Systematic Reassessment of the Miaohe Biota, South China. Journal of Paleontology 76 (2): 347-376.
↑ Jonathan B. Antcliffe, Richard HT Callow, Martin D. Brasier (2014): Giving the early fossil record of sponges a squeeze. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 89 (4): 972-1004. doi : 10.1111 / brv.12090

[Ivantsov-1] A ^b ^c Ivantsov, AY, Malakhovskaya, YE and Serezhnikova, EA: Some Problematic Fossils from the Vendian of the Southeastern White Sea Region . In: Paleontological Journal . tape 38 (1) , 2004, p. 1-9 .

[2] Fedonkin, MA: Non-skeletal fauna of Podolia, Dniester River valley . In: Velikanov, VA, Asseeva, EA and Fedonkin, MA (eds.): The Vendian of the Ukraine (in Russian) . Naukova Dumka, Kiev 1983, pp. 128-139 .

[Fedonkin-3] A ^b Fedonkin MA, Gehling JG, Gray K., Narbonne GM and Vickers-Rich, P .: The Rise of Animals. Evolution and Diversification of the Kingdom Animalia . Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8018-8679-9 , pp. 326 .

[4] . z. B. Shuhai Xiao, Xunlai Yuan, Michael Steiner, Andrew H. Knoll (2002): Macroscopic Carbonaceous Compressions in a Terminal Proterozoic Shale: A Systematic Reassessment of the Miaohe Biota, South China. Journal of Paleontology 76 (2): 347-376.

[5] Jonathan B. Antcliffe, Richard HT Callow, Martin D. Brasier (2014): Giving the early fossil record of sponges a squeeze. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 89 (4): 972-1004. doi : 10.1111 / brv.12090