Elucidating the morphology and ecology of Eoandromeda octobrachiata from the Ediacaran of South Australia
Date
2023
Authors
Botha, T.
Sherratt, E.
Droser, M.
Gehling, J.
Garcia-Bellido, D.
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Journal article
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Papers in Palaeontology, 2023; 9(6):e1530-1-e1530-15
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Tory L. Botha, Emma Sherratt, Mary L. Droser, Jim G. Gehling and Diego C. García-Bellido
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Abstract
Eoandromeda octobrachiata is a poorly understood Ediacaran organism, with spiral- octoradial arms, found in South Australia and South China. The informal Nilpena member of the Rawnsley Quartzite, Flinders Ranges in South Australia preserves more than 200 specimens of Eoandromeda. Here we use the novel application of rotational geometric morphometrics together with palaeoenvironmental information to provide a better insight into their palaeobiology and ecology and to address conflicting hypotheses regarding mode of life and taxonomic affinity. We find that Eoandromeda likely had a radially symmetrical shape in life, was cone-shaped and had a high relief off the microbial mat. Analysis of the symmetric and asymmetric shape components revealed they deform strongly in the direction of palaeocurrent, therefore are thought to be made of a flexible material. Almost all specimens are compressed flat. Specimens that appear to have not fully collapsed support the idea that Eoandromeda was likely cone-shaped and further suggest that they possibly collapsed spirally. Our shape analysis along with observed morphological features support the benthic mode of life hypothesis rather than pelagic. Morphological and ecological inconsistencies such as a lack of biradial symmetry and a benthic mode of life do not support the hypothesis of a Ctenophora taxonomic affinity.
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© 2023 The Authors. Papers in Palaeontology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Palaeontological Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.