Ovatoscutum

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Cast of Ovatoscutum concentricium. Scale bar is in mm.
Cast of Ovatoscutum concentricium. Scale bar is in mm.

Ovatoscutum is one of many enigmatic Ediacaran genera, and contains one species, Ovatoscutum concentricium. It is a disk shaped organism with radial symmetry.

Ovatoscutum was first described by Martin Glaessner and Mary Wade in 1966. Mikhail A. Fedonkin places Ovatoscutum in the extinct bilaterian phylum Proarticulata,[1] whilst Waggoner holds that it may have been a free-swimming cnidarian.[2] Dima Grazhdankin believes that many Ediacaran fossils, including Ovatoscutum, represent the traces of microbial colonies. [3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Fedonkin, Mikhail A. 2003. "The origin of the Metazoa in the light of the Proterozoic fossil record". Paleontological Research, vol. 7, no. 1, March 31, 2003. P.35. Retrieved from [1] May 19, 2007
  2. ^ Waggoner, B.M. (1995). "Ediacaran Lichens: A Critique". Paleobiology 21 (3): 393–397. 
  3. ^ Grazhdankin, D. (2001). "Microbial Origin Of Some Of The Ediacaran Fossils". GSA Annual Meeting, November 5-8, 2001.