Internal anatomy and scale architecture of a giant skeletonised metazoan from uppermost Ediacaran-earlymost Fortunian deposits of NW France.

DOI

Worldwide, palaeontological localities yielding infracentimetric shells of Ediacaran – Early Fortunian age are relatively abundant, providing generally tubular shells such as Cloudina. By contrast, the deposits of the Ediacaran-Fortunian transition in Brittany, NW France, provide for the first-time giant organisms (up to 50 cm), with an exoskeleton made of scales of various sizes. Moreover, the bilaterian symmetry of each specimen is conspicuous, and an anterior/posterior axis can be deduced of two possible eye capsules located at the putative anterior end. Despite compaction, the specimens are preserved in three dimensions. Thus preliminary investigations have demonstrated that the scales are arranged like tiles on a roof. Microcomputed tomography (PPC-SRµCT) could be an opportunity to describe and understand the detailed anatomy and the phylogeny of unexpected giant squeletized metazoans, anterior to the Cambrian Radiation, and their place in the early evolution of metazoans.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.15151/ESRF-ES-2158745789
Metadata Access https://icatplus.esrf.fr/oaipmh/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_datacite&identifier=oai:icatplus.esrf.fr:inv/2158745789
Provenance
Creator Didier NÉRAUDEAU; Jules CHARRONDIÈRE ORCID logo; Ninon ROBIN ORCID logo; Vincent FERNANDEZ ORCID logo
Publisher ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility)
Publication Year 2028
Rights CC-BY-4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
OpenAccess true
Representation
Resource Type Data from large facility measurement; Collection
Discipline Particles, Nuclei and Fields