| Vaveliksia Temporal range: Ediacaran |
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| Artist's reconstruction of V. velikanovi | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | ?Porifera |
| Genus: | Vaveliksia Fedonkin, 1983 |
| Species | |
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Vaveliksia is a genus of sponges or sponge-like organisms from the Ediacaran. Their fossils are found in what is now the shores of the White Sea, along the banks of the Dniester River in Ukraine, and in Australia.
The typical Vaveliksia had a frankfurter-like appearance, with one end attached to the substrate by a disk-like holdfast. The body wall was very thin, and perforated. At the top was a hole, which may be an osculum, if they were indeed true sponges. In V. velikanovi, found only in Precambrian strata of the Dneiper, the top has a crown of wrinkles which was originally interpreted as tentacles (the first fossils were originally thought to be of a polyp-like organism), and the holdfast is relatively flat and disk-like. V. vana, found at the White Sea shores and in Australia, is thinner in diameter, has an unwrinkled top, and the holdfast is much more convex or dome-like. Some specimens of V. vana also had arms.
Ivantsov, A.Y.; Malakhovskaya, Y.E., Serezhnikova, E.A. (2004). "Some Problematic Fossils from the Vendian of the Southeastern White Sea Region". Paleontological Journal 38 (1): 1–9. http://www.vend.paleo.ru/pub/Ivantsov_et_al_2004_eng.pdf. Retrieved 2007-03-08.