Ediacaran Taxa

Abstract

This page provides full citations, where known, for published Ediacaran epithets encountered in the preparation of this web site, including both currently recognised valid genera and junior synonyms.

Keywords: Vendian, Ediacaran, taxa

Introduction

The following list of Ediacaran taxa is drawn from references I have come across in the course of preparing a general account of the Ediacaran biota. It is not intended to be comprehensive or even representative, but may provide a useful indication of the number and variety of Ediacaran taxa.

List of Published Names

Full citations for a number of published epithets are provided in the following table (table 1) which lists approximately 40 valid genera. Junior synonyms are also noted in the list. I do not know how many valid names of Ediacarans have been published (Clarkson 1993 notes "about 30" which is clearly an underestimate, even allowing for the date of his publication) nor of any objective definition by which we might determine what is or isn’t an "Ediacaran taxon".

Since no suprageneric classification has been widely agreed for many of these problematic forms, the table indicates the morphology of each taxon only by way of broad category.

Related Topics

Further Reading

Other Web Sites

Chordate Origins, Jennifer Duffy, University of Alberta

Taxon	Synonymy/Morphology
Albumares Fedonkin 1976
Anafesta Fedonkin 1984
Annulusichnus
Annulusichnus regularis
Arborea Glaessner & Wade 1966, pp. 619 (? verify)	Jnr. syn. of Charniodiscus
Arborea arborea (Glaessner 1959, p. 383) Glaessner & Wade 1966, pp. 619-620	See Charniodiscus arborea
Archaeaspis Ivantsov 2001, pp. 341-342	Junior homonym of Archaeaspis Repina in Khomentovskii & Repina 1965, p. 116
"Archaeaspis" fedonkini Ivantsov 2001, p.	See Archaeaspinus fedonkini.
Archaeichnum Glaessner 1963
Archaeaspinus Ivantsov 2007, p. 115	Replacement name for Archaeaspis Ivantsov 2001, pp. 341-342
Archaeaspinus fedonkini (Ivantsov 2001) Ivantsov 2007, pl. 2, fig. 4	Bilateral? (not bilateral according to Ivantsov)
Arkarua Gehling 1987
Arkarua adami Gehling 1987
Aspidella Billings 1872	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Aspidella terranovica Billings 1872	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Ausia Hahn & Pflug 1985
Baikalina Sokolov 1972	Possible jnr. syn. of Ernietta
Beltanella
Beltanella gilesi Sprigg 1947, p. 218	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Beltanelliformis Menner 1974	Possibly a jnr. syn. of Nemiana (verify)
Beltanelliformis brunsae Menner 1974
Beltanelloides
Beltanelloides simplex [? Ryabenko et al. 1988]
Bomakiella Fedonkin 1985
Bonata Fedonkin 1980
Bradgatia Boynton & Ford 1995
Charnia Ford 1958
Charnia masoni Ford 1958	Frondose (two vanes)
Charnia wardi Narbonne & Gehling 2003, p. 30	Frondose (two vanes)
Charniodiscus Ford 1958
Charniodiscus arborea (Glaessner 1959, p. 383)	Frondose (two vanes ?? check!)
Charniodiscus oppositus
Chondroplon Wade 1971	Possibly a jnr. syn. of Dickinsonia - see Hofmann 1988
Chondroplon bilobatum	Based on a single, incomplete specimen
Circulichnis [?Gureev 1986]
Circulichnis montanus [?Gureev 1986]
Cochlichnus Hitchcock 1858
Conomedusites
Conomedusites lobatus Glaessner & Wade 1966, p. 608	Disk-shaped (tetrameral symmetry)
Cyclomedusa	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Cyclomedusa davidi Sprigg 1947	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Cyclomedusa delicata Fedonkin 1981	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Cyclomedusa gigantea Sprigg 1949	Jnr. syn. of Cyclomedusa davidi; thus a probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Cyclomedusa minima Fedonkin 1981	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Cyclomedusa minuta Fedonkin 1981 (verify not a misspelling of C. minima)
Cyclomedusa plana Glaessner & Wade 1966, p. 607	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Cyclomedusa radiata Sprigg 1949	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Dickinsonia Sprigg 1947, p. 221 (?)	More or less bilateral (annelid?)
Dickinsonia brachina Wade 1972	More or less bilateral (annelid?)
Dickinsonia costata Sprigg 1947, p. 221	More or less bilateral (annelid?)
Dickinsonia elongata Glaessner & Wade 1966, p. 621	More or less bilateral (annelid?)
Dickinsonia lissa
Dickinsonia tenuis Glaessner & Wade 1966, p. 622	More or less bilateral (annelid?)
Didymaulichnus Young 1972
Ediacaria Sprigg 1947
Ediacaria booleyi Crimes, Insole & Williams 1995, pp. 100-103
Ediacaria flindersi Sprigg 1947, p. 215	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Eoporpita Wade 1972
Ernietta Pflug 1970
Glaessneria
Glaessneria imperfecta Gureev 1987	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Glaessnerina Germs 1973	Probable jnr. syn. of Charnia (see Runnegar 1992)
Gordia Emmons 1884
Hagenetta Hahn & Pflug 1988	Jnr. syn. of Beltanelliformis
Harlaniella Sokolov 1972
Helminthoidichnites Fitch 1850
Hiemalora Fedonkin 1982	Disk-shaped, with ?tentacles
Hiemalora pleiomorphus Vodanjuk 1989
Hiemalora stellaris (Fedonkin 1980) Fedonkin 1982
Inaria Gehling 1987	Pentaradial; possibly an early echinoderm
Inaria karli Gehling 1987
Intrites
Irridinitus
Irridinitus multiradiatus Fedonkin 1983	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Ivesia Boynton & Ford 1995
Jampolium
Jampolium wyrzhykoowskii Gureev 1988	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Khatyspytia	Foliate/frondose?
Kimberella
Kimberella quadrata
Kimberia	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Kimberia quadrata Glaessner & Wade 1966, pp. 611-612
Kuibisia
Lorenzinites Glaessner & Wade 1966, p. 609 (?)	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Lorenzinites rarus Glaessner & Wade 1966, p. 609	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Madigania <type sp> Sprigg 1949, p. 93	Jnr. syn. of Cyclomedusa ?sp?
Madigania annulata Sprigg 1949, p. 93	Jnr. syn. of Ediacaria flindersi; thus a probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Marywadea Glaessner 1976	Jnr. syn. of Spriggina
Mawsonia
Mawsonites Glaessner & Wade 1966, pp. 607 (?)	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Mawsonites spriggi Glaessner & Wade 1966, pp. 607-608	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Medusina
Medusina asteroides Sprigg 1949, p. 90	Jnr. syn. of Medusinites asteroides
Medusina mawsoni Sprigg 1949, p. 89	Jnr. syn. of Medusinites ??
Medusinites	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Medusinites asteroides (Sprigg 1949, p. 90) Glaessner & Wade 1966, pp. 605-606	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Medusinites filamentis Sprigg 1949	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Medusinites paliji [?Ryabenko et al. 1988]
Medusinites patellaris Sokolov 1972	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Namalia Germs 1968	Jnr. syn. of Ernietta
Namapoikia Wood et al. 2002	Domal, tubular or sheet-like; fully biomineralised
Namapoikia rietoogensis Wood et al. 2002
Nasepia
Nemiana Palij 1976	Jnr. syn. of Beltanelliformis
Nemiana brunsae (Menner 1974)	= Beltanelliformis brunsae
Neonereites Seilacher 1960
Neonereites renarius
Nimbia Fedonkin 1980	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Nimbia occlusa Fedonkin 1980, p. 8	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Nimbia gaojiashanensis	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Onega Fedonkin 1976
Ovatoscutum Glaessner & Wade 1966, p. 612 (?)	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Ovatoscutum concentricum Glaessner & Wade 1966, pp. 612-613	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Palaeohelminthoida	Trace fossil: broad, meandering hypichnial ridges
Palaeopascichnus Palij 1976
Paliella Fedonkin 1980
Paliella patelliformis Fedonkin 1980	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Paracharnia Sun 1986
Paramedusium
Paramedusium africanum G�rich 1933	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Parvancorina Glaessner 1958
Parvancorina minchami Glaessner 1958, p. 187	Bilateral
Persimedusites
Persimedusites chahgazensis Hahn & Pflug 1980
Phyllozoon Jenkins & Gehling 1978
Phyllozoon hanseni Jenkins & Gehling 1978
Planolites Nicholson 1873
Planomedusites
Planomedusites patellaris Sokolov 1972	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Podolimirus Fedonkin 1983
Praecambridium Glaessner & Wade 1966, pp. 623 (?)
Praecambridium sigillum Glaessner & Wade 1966, pp. 623-625	More or less bilateral
Protodipleurosoma
Protodipleurosoma rugulosum Fedonkin 1980	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Protodipleurosoma wardi Sprigg 1949, p. 79	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Protolyella (Protolyellia? check spelling)
Protolyella (Protolyellia? check spelling) asteroides (Sprigg 1949, p. 89) Harrington & Moore 1956, p. F155	Jnr. syn. of Medusinites asteroides
Protoniobia Sprigg 1949
Pseudorhizostomites howchini Sprigg 1949	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Pseudorhopilema chapmani Sprigg 1949	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Pteridinium G�rich 1933 (something wrong with one of these two refs)
Pteridinium simplex G�rich 1930, p. 637	Frondose (three vanes ?? check!)
Rangea G�rich 1929
Rangea arborea ?Glaessner ??	Frondose (two vanes ?? check!)
Rangea grandis Glaessner & Wade 1966, p. 616	Frondose (two vanes ?? check!)
Rangea longa Glaessner & Wade 1966, pp. 614-616	Frondose (two vanes ?? check!)
Rangea schneiderhoehoni G�rich 1929	Frondose (two vanes ?? check!)
Redkinia Sokolov 1976
Rugoconites Glaessner & Wade 1966, p. 611 (?)	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Rugoconites enigmaticus Glaessner & Wade 1966, p. 611	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Sekwia [?Ryabenko et al. 1988]
Sekwia kaptarenkoe [?Ryabenko et al. 1988]
Sellaulichnus Jiang 1982
Skinnera Wade 1969
Spatangopsis
Spriggia Southcott 1958	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry)
Spriggia annulata (Sprigg ??) Southcott 1958, p. 59	Jnr. syn. of Cyclomedusa davidi
Spriggia wadea Sun 1986	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Spriggina Glaessner 1958	More or less bilateral (some argue Spriggina is frondose)
Spriggina floundersi	More or less bilateral (some argue Spriggina is frondose)
Spriggina? ovata Glaessner & Wade 1966, pp. 622-623	More or less bilateral (some argue Spriggina is frondose)
Stromatoveris Shu, Conway Morris & Han 2006, p. 733	Foliate with blunt stalk
Stromatoveris psygmoglena Shu, Conway Morris & Han 2006, p. 733	Foliate with blunt stalk
Swartpuntia Narbonne, Saylor & Grotzinger 1997	Frondose
Swartpuntia germsi Narbonne, Saylor & Grotzinger 1997	Frondose
Tateana <type sp?> Sprigg 1949, p. 86	Jnr. syn. of Cyclomedusa ?sp?
Tateana inflata Sprigg 1949	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
?? Tentaculato
Thectardis Clapham et al. 2004, p. 1031	Conical
Thectardis avalonensis Clapham et al. 2004, pp. 1031-1035	Conical
Tirasiana Palij 1976
Tirasiana concentralis Bekker 1977	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Tirasiana coniformis Palij 1976	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Tirasiana disciformis Palij 1976	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Tribrachidium Glaessner 1959, p. 389 (?)	Disk-shaped (triradial symmetry)
Tribrachidium heraldicum Glaessner 1959, p. 389	Disk-shaped (triradial symmetry)
Triforillonia Gehling, Narbonne & Anderson 2000, p. 451	Three-lobed (triradial symmetry)
Triforillonia costellae Gehling, Narbonne & Anderson 2000, pp. 451-452	Three-lobed (triradial symmetry)
Vaizitsinia	Foliate/frondose?
Vendella Gureev	Disk-shaped (radial symmetry); possibly a jnr. syn. of Beltanelliformis or Nemiana
Vendella haelenicae
Vendella larini Gureev 1987	Probable jnr. syn. of Aspidella terranovica
Vendia Keller 1969	Not bilateral?
Vendia janae Ivantsov 2001, p. 341	Not bilateral?
Vendia sokolovi Keller 1969	Not bilateral?
Vendoconularia Ivantsov & Fedonkin 2002	Six-faced cone
Vendoconularia triradiata Ivantsov & Fedonkin 2002
Vendomia Keller 1976	Not bilateral?
Vendomia menneri Keller 1976	Not bilateral?
Ventogyrus Ivantsov & Grazhdankin 1997	Described as "boat like"
type sp.?
Wigwamiella Runnegar 1991
Windermeria Narbonne 1994	Dickinsoniid
Windermeria aitkeni Narbonne 1994	Dickinsoniid
Yelovichnus Fedonkin 1985
Yorgia	Not bilateral?
Yorgia waggoneri Ivantsov 1999	Not bilateral?
Table 1: Full citations, where available, for published Ediacaran epithets encountered in the preparation of this web site, including both currently recognised valid genera and junior synonyms. Wherever possible, full references are provided below.

References

Anderson, M.M. 1978: Ediacaran fauna. In Lapedes, D.N. (ed.) 1978: Yearbook of science and technology. McGraw-Hill, pp. 146-149.

Clapham, Matthew E.; Narbonne, Guy M.; Gehling, James G.; Greentree, Carolyn; Anderson, Michael M. 2004: Thectardis avalonensis: A new Ediacaran fossil from the Mistaken Point biota, Newfoundland. Journal of Paleontology 78: 1031-1036.

Clarkson, E.N.K. 1993: Invertebrate paleontology and evolution (3rd ed.) Chapman and Hall.

Crimes, T.P.; Insole, A.; Williams, B.P.J. 1995: A rigid-bodied Ediacaran biota from Upper Cambrian strata in Co. Wexford, Eire. Geological Journal 30: 89-109.

Fedonkin, M.A. 1980: Novye Predstaviteli Dokembriyskikh Kishechnopolostnykh na Severe Russkoy Platformy (New Precambrian Coelenterata in the North of the Russian Platform). Paleontologicheskiy Zhurnal 2: 7-15.

Fedonkin, M.A. 1981: Vendian White Sea biota. Akademie Nauka SSSR, Moscow 342: 1-98 [in Russian].

Fedonkin, M.A. 1990: Systematic descriptions of Vendian metazoa. In Sokolov, B.S.; Iwanoski, A.B. (eds.) 1990: The Vendian System. Vol. 1, Paleontology. Springer, pp. 71-120.

Ford, T.D. 1958: Precambrian fossils from Charnwood Forest. Yorkshire Geological Society Proceedings, 31: 211-217.

Gehling, J.G. 1987: Earliest known echinoderm - a new Ediacaran fossil from the Pound Subgroup of South Australia. Alcheringa 11: 337-345.

Gehling, James G.; Narbonne, Guy M.; Anderson, Michael M. 2000: The first named Ediacaran body fossil, Aspidella terranovica. Palaeontology 43 (3): 427-456.

Glaessner, M.F. 1958: New fossils from the base of the Cambrian in South Australia. Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Aust. 81: 185-188.

Glaessner, M.F. 1959. In Glaessner, M.F.; Daily, B. 1959: The geology and late Precambrian fauna of the Ediacara Fossil Reserve. Rec. S. Aust. Mus. 13: 369-401.

Glaessner, Martin F.; Wade, Mary 1966: The late Precambrian fossils from Ediacara, South Australia. Palaeontology 9 (4), pp. 599-628.

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Harrington, H.J.; Moore, R.C. 1956. In Moore, R.C. (ed.) 1956: Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Part F, Coelenterata. Geol. Soc. Am.

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Ivantsov, A. Y.; Fedonkin, M.A. 2002: Conulariid-like fossil from the Vendian of Russia: a metazoan clade across the Proterozoic/Palaeozoic boundary. Palaeontology 45: 1219-1229.

Ivantsov, A.Y.; Grazhdankin, D.V. 1997: A new representative of the Petalonamae from the Upper Vendian of the Arkhangelsk region. Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal 31: 1-16.

Narbonne, Guy M. 1994: New Ediacaran fossils from the MacKenzie Mountains, northwestern Canada. Journal of Paleontology 68: 411-416.

Narbonne, Guy M.; Gehling, James G. 2003: Life After Snowball: The Oldest Complex Ediacaran Fossils. Geology 31(1): 27-30.

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Palij, V.M. 1976: Remains of Soft-Bodied Animals and Trace Fossils from the Late Precambrian and Early Cambrian of Podolia. In Paleontologiyi i Stratigrafiya Verkhnego Kembriya i Nizhnego Paleozoya Yugo-Zapada Vostochno - Europeiskoi Platformy, 63-77.

Runnegar, B. 1992: Proterozoic Fossils of Soft-Bodied Metazoans (Ediacara Faunas). In Schopf, J.W.; Klein, C. (eds.) 1992: The Proterozoic Biosphere: A Multidisciplinary Study. Cambridge, pp. 999-1007.

Ryabenko, V.A. et al. 1988: Biostratigrafiya i Paleogeograficheskie Rekonstruktzii Dokembriya Ukrainy. Kiev, USSR, Naukova Dumka, 140 pp.

Shu, D.-G.; Conway Morris, S.; Han, J. 2006 in Shu, D-G.; Conway Morris, S.; Han, J.; Li, Y.; Zhang, X.-L.; Hua, H.; Zhang, Z.-F.; Liu, J.-N.; Guo, J.-F.; Yao, Y.; Yasui, K. 2006: Lower Cambrian vendobionts from China and early diploblast evolution. Science 312: 731-734.

Sprigg, R.C. 1947: Early Cambrian (?) Jellyfishes from the Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Aust. 71: 212-224.

Sprigg, R.C. 1949: Early Cambrian ‘Jellyfishes’ of Ediacara, South Australia, and Mt. John, Kimberley District, Western Australia. Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Aust. 73: 72-99.

Wood, Rachel A.; Grotzinger, John P.; Dickson, J.A.D. 2002: Proterozoic Modular Biomineralized Metazoan from the Nama Group, Namibia. Science 296: 2383-2386.

Zhang, L.Y. 1986: A Discovery and Preliminary Study of the Late Stage of Late Gaojiashan Biota from Sinian in Nianqiang County, Shaanxi. Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Xi'an Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources Bulletin 13: 67-88 [in Chinese with English abstract].

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