Ernietta plateauensis Pflug, 1966
Systematics: Animalia Petalonamae Erniettomorpha
Size: 3-12 cm
Type Horizon and Locality: Late Ediacaran, Schwartzkalk Limestone Member, Kuibis Formation, Nama Group, Namibia
Type Specimen :
This enigmatic sack-like animal lived half buried in the substrate and the hollow body is thought to be also filled with substrate material up to a degree. It was probably a suspension feeder and there is some indication it formed colonies in shallow marine or freshwater environments. The best preserved specimens are from the Nama Group of Namibia, but it is also known from the Wood Canyon Formation of Nevada, US.
Elliott, D. A., Trusler, P. W., Narbonne, G. M., Vickers-Rich, P., Morton, N., Hall, M., ... & Schneider, G. I. (2016). Ernietta from the late Edicaran Nama Group, Namibia. Journal of Paleontology, 90(6), 1017-1026.
Gibson, B. M., Rahman, I. A., Maloney, K. M., Racicot, R. A., Mocke, H., Laflamme, M., & Darroch, S. A. (2019). Gregarious suspension feeding in a modular Ediacaran organism. Science Advances, 5(6), eaaw0260.
Hall, J. G., Smith, E. F., Tamura, N., Fakra, S. C., & Bosak, T. (2020). Preservation of erniettomorph fossils in clay-rich siliciclastic deposits from the Ediacaran Wood Canyon Formation, Nevada. Interface focus, 10(4), 20200012.
Ivantsov, A. Y., Narbonne, G. M., Trusler, P. W., Greentree, C., & Vickers‐Rich, P. (2016). Elucidating Ernietta: new insights from exceptional specimens in the Ediacaran of Namibia. Lethaia, 49(4), 540-554.
Maloney, K. M., Boag, T. H., Facciol, A. J., Gibson, B. M., Cribb, A., Koester, B. E., ... & Laflamme, M. (2020). Paleoenvironmental analysis of Ernietta-bearing Ediacaran deposits in southern Namibia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 556, 109884.
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