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1 June 2014 A New Enigmatic, Tubular Organism from the Ediacara Member, Rawnsley Quartzite, South Australia
Lucas V. Joel, Mary L. Droser, James G. Gehling
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Abstract

Here we reconstruct a new tubular, serially divided organism with a bilateral morphology from the Ediacaran of South Australia. The organism, Plexus ricei new genus new species, was a broadly curving tube that resided on the Ediacaran seafloor. Plexus ricei individuals range in size from 5 to 80 cm long and 5 to 20 mm wide, and are comprised of two main components: a rigid median tubular structure and a fragile outer tubular wall. Plexus ricei is preserved as an external mold on bed soles, and as a counterpart cast on bed tops in sandstones interpreted to represent deposition between storm and fairweather wave-base. The phylogenetic affinities of P. ricei are uncertain; P. ricei symmetry implies a bilaterian origin, but a lack of defined anterior and posterior ends precludes definitive assignment.

Lucas V. Joel, Mary L. Droser, and James G. Gehling "A New Enigmatic, Tubular Organism from the Ediacara Member, Rawnsley Quartzite, South Australia," Journal of Paleontology 88(2), 253-262, (1 June 2014). https://doi.org/10.1666/13-058
Accepted: 1 March 2013; Published: 1 June 2014
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