Insights into the Skeletonization, Lifestyle, and Affinity of the Unusual Ediacaran Fossil Corumbella

Autor(es):Mostrar menos -

Pacheco, Mrian L. A. Forancelli ^[1] ; Galante, Douglas ^[2] ; Rodrigues, Fabio ^[2] ; Leme, Juliana de M. ^[3] ; Bidola, Pidassa ^{[4, 5]} ; Hagadorn, Whitey ^[6] ; Stockmar, Marco ^{[4, 5]} ; Herzen, Julia ^[7] ; Rudnitzki, Isaac D. ^[8] ; Pfeiffer, Franz ^{[4, 5]} ; Marques, Antonio C. ^{[9, 10]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Fed Sao Carlos, Dept Biol, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Brazilian Synchrotron Light Lab, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Geosci, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] Tech Univ Munich, Dept Phys, Garching - Germany

^[5] Tech Univ Munich, Inst Med Engn, Garching - Germany

^[6] Denver Museum Nat & Sci, Dept Earth Sci, Denver, CO - USA

^[7] Helmholtz Zentrum Geesthacht, Inst Mat Res, D-21502 Geesthacht - Germany

^[8] Fed Univ Para, Inst Geosci, BR-66059 Belem, Para - Brazil

^[9] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biosci, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[10] Univ Sao Paulo, Ctr Marine Biol, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: PLoS One; v. 10, n. 3 MAR 30 2015.
• Citações Web of Science: 20

Resumo

The Ediacaran fossil Corumbella is important because it is hypothesized to be a scyphozoan cnidarian, and thus might be one of the rare examples of bona fide Neoproterozoic animals. Unfortunately, its mode of life, style of skeletonization, and taxonomic affinity have been very controversial. Here, we use X-ray micro-CT, SEM, and taphonomic analysis to compare preservational modes of Corumbella, in order to better understand the symmetry, mode of construction, preservational style, and taxonomy of this group. Results suggest that articulated and disarticulated specimens of Corumbella from the Ediacaran of Brazil, Paraguay, and the United States, although sometimes preserved very differently, represent the same taxon-Corumbella werneri. Corumbellids had a thick but flexible theca and probably lived with their basalmost part anchored in the sediment, much like Conotubus. When considered together, these results suggest that Corumbella was one of the first animals to build a skeleton, employing a lamellar microfabric similar to conulariids. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 09/02312-4 - Reconstituição morfológica e análise sistemática de Corumbella werneri Hahn et al. 1982 (Formação Tamengo, Ediacarano, Grupo Corumbá), Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil: implicações paleoecológicas e tafonômicas.
• Beneficiário: Mírian Liza Alves Forancelli Pacheco
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 11/50242-5 - Dimensões da vida marinha: padrões e processos de diversificação em cnidários planctônicos e bentônicos
• Beneficiário: Antonio Carlos Marques
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOTA - Temático