Windermeria

Windermeria
	Reconstruction of Windermeria aitkeni
Temporal occurrence
	Ediacarium
Locations
	Canada
Systematics
	Multicellular animals (Metazoa)
	Proarticulata
	Dipleurozoa
	Dickinsoniidae
	Windermeria
Scientific name
	Windermeria
	Narbonne , 1994
species
	Windermeria aitkeni;

Windermeria is an extinct animal genus of the Ediacariums , which belongs tothe Proarticulata tribe (or to the clade Bilateriomorpha ).

etymology

The generic name Windermeria is derived from the Windermere Supergroup in northwest Canada , in which the fossil was discovered. The taxon name aitkeni honors the Canadian geologist James D. Aitken , who carried out intensive research mainly in the Mackenzie Mountains .

Initial description

The taxon Windermeria aitkeni was first described scientifically in 1994 by Guy M. Narbonne .

Occurrence

The type locality of Windermeria is in the Mackenzie Mountains in northwestern Canada. The Precambrian fossil comes from the Blueflower Formation at Sekwi Brook in the Northwest Territories . So far only a single specimen has been discovered here.

description

Windermeria is a small, elongated-oval fossil, the length of which (with a width of 7.9 millimeters) is 16.4 millimeters. The fossil is divided into eight almost equally large segments, which are arranged transversely to a central furrow. With the exception of the two semicircular end segments, the segments are slightly offset from one another.

Taxonomy

The genus Windermeria has only one species:

Windermeria aitkeni Narbonne , 1994

Windermeria resembles superficially small forms of Dickinsonia with which they, the family of dickinsoniidae forms. Within the class of the Dipleurozoa (Proarticulata tribe) it is the only fossil in the Dickinsoniidae family that occurs outside of Australia and Eastern Europe .

Individual evidence

^ Narbonne, GM: New Ediacaran fossils from the Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern Canada . In: Journal of Paleontology . tape 63 (3) , 1994, pp. 411-416 .
↑ 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, pp. 292 .
↑ Narbonne, GM: Chapter 10. The Canadian Cordillera . Ed .: 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, pp. 180 .

[1] Narbonne, GM: New Ediacaran fossils from the Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern Canada . In: Journal of Paleontology . tape 63 (3) , 1994, pp. 411-416 .

[2] 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, pp. 292 .

[3] Narbonne, GM: Chapter 10. The Canadian Cordillera . Ed .: 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, pp. 180 .