Yelovichnus

Yelovichnus
Temporal range: Ediacaran, 555 Ma
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: incertae sedis
Genus: †Yelovichnus
Fedonkin, 1985
Binomial name
†Yelovichnus gracilis
Fedonkin, 1985

Yelovichnus is an "enigmatic"[1][2][3] genus known from fossils of the Ediacaran period. Yelovichnus was originally believed to be an ichnotaxon:[4] its fossils, because of their "meandering nature", were initially thought to be feeding trails left by other life forms, such as annelids or mollusks.[2] Better-preserved specimens later demonstrated that the fossils were not true feeding trails, as there was no evidence of turning by the life form that supposedly left them. The fossils are now recognized as belonging to an organism taking the form of "collapsed, segmented tubes", possibly an alga[2] or a protist.[5] It has also been argued that Yelovichnus and similar organisms are xenophyophores, large but single-cellular organisms that exist today in the abyssal zone.[6] Due to similar structures found in their fossils, it is theorized that Yelovichnus may be related to Palaeopascichnus,[1] as well as Aspidella and Neonereites.[7] The main difference between Yelovichnus and Palaeopasicichnus is the shape of their segments: the segments of Yelovichnus took the shape of "closed, ovate-shaped loops", whereas the segments of Palaeopascichnus were quite varied in shape.[1][8]

The genus and species was described by Mikhail A. Fedonkin in 1985 from the Ediacaran (Vendian) deposits of the White Sea area, Russia. Yelovichnus was named after the Yeloviy Creek near the locality.[9]

See also

List of Ediacaran genera

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jensen, Sören (February 2003). "The Proterozoic and Earliest Cambrian Trace Fossil Record; Patterns, Problems and Perspectives". Integrative and Comparative Biology. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. 43 (1): 219–228. doi:10.1093/icb/43.1.219. PMID 21680425. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Palmer, Douglas; Brasier, Martin; Burnie, David; Cleal, Chris; Crane, Peter; Thomas, Barry A.; Buttler, Caroline; Cope, John C. W.; Owens, Robert M. (2009). "Proterozoic". In Ambrose, Jamie; Gilpin, Daniel; Hirani, Salima; Jackson, Tom; Joyce, Nathan; Maiklem, Lara; Marriott, Emma; Nottage, Claire; van Zyl, Miezan. Prehistoric Life: the Definitive Visual History of Life on Earth (first American ed.). New York City: DK Publishing. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-7566-5573-0.
  3. ↑ Martin, M. W.; Grazhdankin, D. V.; Bowring, S. A.; Evans, D. A. D.; Fedonkin, M. A.; Kirschvink, J. L. (May 5, 2000). "Age of Neoproterozoic Bilatarian Body and Trace Fossils, White Sea, Russia: Implications for Metazoan Evolution" (PDF). Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science. 288 (5467): 841–5. doi:10.1126/science.288.5467.841. PMID 10797002.
  4. ↑ MacNaughton, Robert B. (2007). "The Application of Trace Fossils to Biostratigraphy". In Miller III, William. Trace Fossils: Concepts, Problems, Prospects. Elsevier. pp. 143–144. ISBN 978-0-444-52949-7.
  5. ↑ Fedonkin, Mikhail A.; Gehling, James G.; Grey, Kathleen; Narbonne, Guy M.; Vickers-Rich, Patricia (2007). "Atlas of Precambrian Metazoans". The Rise of Animals: Evolution and Diversification of the Kingdom Animalia. Foreword by Clarke, Arthur C. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-8018-8679-9.
  6. ↑ Porter, Susannah M. (2006). "The Proterozoic Fossil Record of Heterotrophic Eukaryotes". In Xiao, Shuhai; Kaufman, Alan J. Neoproterozoic Geobiology and Paleobiology. Topics in Geobiology. 27. Springer. p. 9. doi:10.1007/1-4020-5202-2. ISBN 978-1-4020-5202-6.
  7. ↑ Gehling, James G.; Narbonne, Guy M.; Anderson, Michael M. (September 2000). "The first named Ediacaran body fossil, Aspidella terranovica". Paleontology. The Palaeontological Association. 43 (3): 427–456. doi:10.1111/j.0031-0239.2000.00134.x.
  8. ↑ Shen, Bing; Xiao, Shuhai; Dong, Lin; Zhou, Chuanming; Liu, Jianbo (November 2007). "Problematic Macrofossils from Ediacaran Successions in the North China and Chaidam Blocks: Implications for Their Evolutionary Roots and Biostratigraphic Significance". Journal of Paleontology. 81 (6): 1396–1411. doi:10.1666/06-016R.1.
  9. ↑ M. A. Fedonkin (1985). In Sokolov, B. S. and Iwanowski, A. B., eds., "Vendian System: Historical–Geological and Paleontological Foundation, Vol. 1: Paleontology". Moscow: Nauka, P. 224.
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