Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Trilobozoa, Precambrian Tri-Radial Organisms

  • Published:
Paleontological Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Representatives of Trilobozoa, a group of tri-radially symmetrical animals, were re-examined based on the material from a new, extensive collection of macrofossils from the Late Ediacaran (Vendian) sediments of the southeastern White Sea region. In addition to body imprints, the collection contains specimens suggesting that trilobozoans could move independently. The shield-like body of trilobozoans consisted of three antimeres. Each antimere has a cluster of grooves on the outer surface and an inner cavity. The system of branched grooves is interpreted as a ciliary organ for gathering food particles, and the elongated inner cavities associated with it are interpreted as digestive organs. It is suggested that trilobozoans were slow-moving benthic seston-feeders of a coelenterate level of organization.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Arendt, Yu.A., Three-armed crinoids, Trudy Paleontol. Inst. Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1981, vol. 189, pp. 1–195.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Borkhwardt, D.V. and Nessov, L.A., New finds of the remains of Vendian (Precambrian) multicellular organisms on the Winter Coast of the White Sea, Trudy Zool. Inst. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 1999, vol. 277 (Materialy po istorii fauny Yevrazii), pp. 50–57.

  3. Chesunov, A.V., Biologiya morskikh nematod (Biology of marine nematodes), Moscow: Tovarishchestvo nauchnykh izdaniy KMK, 2006.

  4. Clites, E.C., Droser, M.L., and Gehling, J.G., The advent of hard-part structural support among the Ediacara biota: Ediacaran harbinger of a Cambrian mode of body construction, Geology, 2012, vol. 40, pp. 307–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Dzik, J., Anatomical information content in the Ediacaran fossils end their possible zoological affinities, Integr. Comp. Biol., 2003, pp. 114–126.

  6. Fedonkin, M.A., New representatives of Precambrian coelenterates in the north of the Russian Platform, Paleontol. Zh., 1980, no. 2, pp. 7–15.

  7. Fedonkin, M.A., Belomorian biota of Vendian (Precambrian skeletal fauna of the north of the Russian Platform), Trudy Geol. Inst. Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1981, vol. 342, pp. 7–99.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Fedonkin, M.A., Nonskeleton fauna of the Podolsky Transnistria, in Vend Ukrainy (The Vendian of Ukraine), Velika-nov, V.A., Aseeva, E.A., Fedonkin, M.A., Eds., Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 1983a, pp. 128–139.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Fedonkin, M.A., The organic world of the Vendian, Itogi nauki i tekhniki. Stratigrafiya. Paleontologiya (Results of Science and Technology. Stratigraphy. Paleontology), VINITI, 1983b, vol. 12, pp. 1–127.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Fedonkin, M.A., Promorphology of Vendian Radialia, in Stratigrafiya i paleontologiya drevneyshego fanerozoya (Stratigraphy and paleontology of the earliest Phanerozoic), Moscow: Nauka, 1984, pp. 30–58.

  11. Fedonkin, M.A., Systematic description of Vendian Metazoa, in Vendskaya sistema. Istoriko-geologicheskoye i paleontologicheskoye obosnovaniye. 1. Paleontologiya (The Vendian System. Historical-Geological and Paleontological Substantiation, vol. 1. Paleontology). Moscow: Nauka, 1985, pp. 70–106.

  12. Fedonkin, M.A., Non-skeletal fauna of the Vendian and its place in the evolution of Metazoa, Trudy Paleontol. Inst. Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1987, vol. 226, pp. 1–174.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Fedonkin, M.A., Systematic description of Vendian Metazoa, in The Vendian System, vol. 1. Paleontology, Sokolov, B.S. and Iwanowski, A.B., Eds., Berlin: Springer, 1990, pp. 71–120.

  14. Fedonkin, M.A. and Ivantsov, A.Yu., Ventogyrus, a possible siphonophore-like trilobozoan coelenterate from the Vendian sequence (late Neoproterozoic), northern Russia, in The Rise and Fall of the Ediacaran Biota, Vickers-Rich, P. and Komarower, P., Eds., Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 2007, vol. 286, pp. 187–194.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Fedonkin, M.A., Ivantsov, A.Yu., Leonov, M.V., and Serezhnikova, E.A., Dynamics of evolution and biodiversity in Late Vendian: A view from the White Sea, in The Rise and Fall of the Vendian (Ediacaran) Biota, in Origin of the Modern Biosphere. Transaction of the International Conference on the IGCP Project 493, Moscow, Geos, 2007, pp. 6–9.

  16. Gehling, J.G. and Droser, M.L., Textured organic surfaces associated with the Ediacara biota in South Australia, Earth Sci. Rev., 2009, vol. 96, no. 3, pp. 196–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Gehling, J.G. and Narbonne, G.M., Spindle-shaped Ediacara fossils from the Mistaken Point Assemblage, Avalon Zone, Newfoundland, Can. J. Earth Sci., 2007, vol. 44, pp. 367–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Gehling, J.G. and Rigby, J.K., Long-expected sponges from the Neoproterozoic Ediacara Fauna, Pound Subgroup, South Australia, J. Paleontol., 1996, vol. 70, pp. 185–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Gehling, J.G., Narbonne, G.M., and Anderson, M.M., First named Ediacaran body fossil Aspidella terranovica, Palaeontology, 2000, vol. 43, Part 3, pp. 427–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Glaessner, M.F., Precambrian, in Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Part A., Robison R.A., Teichert C., Ed., Geol. Soc Amer., 1979a, pp. 79–107.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Glaessner, M.F., An echiurid worm from the Late Precambrian, Lethaia, 1979b, vol. 12, pp. 121–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Glaessner, M.F. and Daily, B., The geology and late Precambrian fauna of the Ediacara Fossil Reserve, Rec. South Austr. Mus., 1959, vol. 13, pp. 396–401.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Glaessner, M.F. and Wade M., The Late Precambrian fossils from Ediacara, South Australia, Palaeontology, 1966, vol. 9, Part 4, pp. 599–628.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Grazhdankin, D.V., Ediacaran biota, in Encyclopedia of Geobiology, Reitner, J. and Thiel, V., Eds., Dordrecht: Springer Science + Business Media B.V., 2011, pp. 342–348.

  25. Grazhdankin, D.V., Patterns of evolution of the Ediacaran soft-bodied Biota, J. Paleontol., 2014, vol. 88, no. 2, pp. 269–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Grazhdankin, D.V., Structure and depositional environment of the Vendian Complex in the Southeastern White Sea area, Stratigr. Geol. Corr., 2003, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 313–331.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Hall, C.M.S., Droser, M.L., Clites, E.C., and Gehling, J.G., The short-lived but successful tri-radial body plan: a view from the Ediacaran of Australia, Austr. J. Earth Sci., 2018, pp. 1–11.

  28. Hall, C.M.S., Droser, M.L., Gehling, J.G., and Dzaugis, M.E., Paleoecology of the enigmatic Tribrachidium: New data from the Ediacaran of South Australia, Precambr. Res., 2015, vol. 269, pp. 183–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Ivantsov, Yu.A., White Sea Rangea (macroorganisns of the Late Precambrian), Trudy Arkhangelsk. Tsentr. Russ. Geogr. Obshch., Arkhangelsk, 2017, vol. 5, pp. 279–285.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Ivantsov, A.Yu. and Fedonkin, M.A., Conulariid-like fossil from the Vendian of Russia: a Metazoan clade across the Proterozoic/Palaeozoic boundary, Palaeontology, vol. 45, Part 6., 2002, pp. 1219–1229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Ivantsov, A.Yu. and Zakrevskaya, M.A., The phenomenon of exceptional preservation of Late Precambrian macrofossils, Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Obshchestva, vol. 1, Moscow: PIN RAS, 2018, pp. 46–53.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Ivantsov, A.Yu., Gritsenko, V.P., Paliy, V.M., Velikanov, V.A., Konstantinenko, L.I., Menasova, A.Sh., Fedonkin, M.A., Zakrevskaya, M.A., and Serezhnikova, E.I., Makrofossilii verkhnego venda Vostochnoy Yevropy. Sredneye Pridnestrov’ye i Volyn (Upper Vendian macrofossils of Eastern Europe. Middle Dniester area and Volhynia), Moscow: PIN RAS, 2015, pp. 1–143.

  33. Ivantsov, A.Yu., Vickers-Rich, P., and Zakrevskaya, M.A., Conical Precambrian fossils of Namibia and Russia, Trudy Arkhangelsk. Tsentr. Russ. Geogr. Obshch., Arkhangelsk, 2018, vol. 6, pp. 249–258.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Ivantsov, A.Yu., Nagovitsyn, A.L., Zakrevskaya, M.A., Traces of locomotion of Ediacaran macroorganisms, Geosciences, 2019a, vol. 9, no. 9, Article 395, pp. 2–11.

  35. Ivantsov, A.Yu., Zakrevskaya, M.A., and Nagovitsyn, A.L. Morphology of integuments of the Precambrian animals, Proarticulata, Invertebr. Zool., 2019b, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 19–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Ivantsov, A.Yu., Vickers-Rich, P., Zakrevskaya, M.A., and Hall, M., Conical thecae of Precambrian macroorganisms, Paleontol. J., 2019c, vol. 53, no. 11, pp. 18–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Jenkins, R.J.F., Functional and ecological aspects of Ediacaran assemblages, Origin and early evolution of the Metazoa, N.Y.: Plenum Press, 1992, pp. 131–176.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Keller, B.M. and Fedonkin, M.A., New finds of fossils in the Valdai Precambrian series along the Suzma River, Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR. Ser. Geol., 1976, no. 3, pp. 38–44.

  39. Kouchinsky, A., Bengtson, S., Feng, W., Kutygin, R., and Val’kov A.K., 2009. The Lower Cambrian fossil Anabaritids: affinities, occurrences and systematics, J. Syst. Pal., vol. 7, no. 3., 2009, pp. 241–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Laflamme, M., Darroch, S.A.F., Tweedt, S.M., Peterson, K.J., and Erwin, D.H., The end of the Ediacara: Extinction, biotic replacement, or Cheshire Cat?, Gondwana Res., 2013, vol. 23, pp. 558–573.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Malakhov, V.V., Major stages in the evolution of eukaryotic organisms, Paleontol. J., 2003, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 584–591.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Narbonne, G.M., The Ediacara biota: Neoproterozoic origin of animals and their ecosystems, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 2005, vol. 33, pp. 421–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Narbonne, G.M., Saylor, B.Z., and Grotzinger, J.P., The youngest Ediacaran fossils from southern Africa, J. Paleontol., 1997, vol. 71, no. 6, pp. 953–967.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Narbonne, G.M., Laflamme, M., Trusler, P.W., Dalrymple, R.W., and Greentree, C., Deep-water Ediacaran fossils from Northwestern Canada: taphonomy, ecology, and evolution, J. Paleontol., 2014, vol. 88, no. 2, pp. 207–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Paliy, V.M., Posti, E., and Fedonkin, M.A., Soft-bodied Metazoa and fossil traces of animals in the Vendian and Early Cambrian, in Paleontologiya verkhnedokembriyskikh i kembriyskikh otlozheniy Vostochno-Evropeyskoy platformy (Paleontology of the Upper Precambrian and Cambrian deposits of the East European Platform), Moscow: Nauka, 1979, pp. 49–82.

  46. Rahman, I.A., Darroch, S.A.F., Racicot, R.A., and Laflamme, M., Suspension feeding in the enigmatic Ediacaran organism Tribrachidium demonstrates complexity of Neoproterozoic ecosystems, Sci. Adv., 2015, vol. 1, no. 10, pp. 1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Ruppert, E.E., Fox, R.S., Barnes, R.D., et al., Invertebrate zoology: a functional evolutionary approach, 7th Ed., Boston, MA: Thomson Learning Inc., 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Seilacher, A., Late Precambrian and early Cambrian Metazoa: preservational or real extinctions?, Holland H.D., and Trendall, F., Eds., in Patterns of Change in Earth Evolution: Dahlem Konferenzen, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 1984, pp. 59–168.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Seilacher, A., Vendozoa: organismic construction in the Proterozoic biosphere, Lethaia, 1989, vol. 22, pp. 229–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Seilacher, A., Vendobionta and Psammocorallia: lost construction of Precambrian evolution, J. Geol. Soc., 1992, vol. 149, pp. 607–613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Seilacher, A., Biomat-related lifestyles in the Precambrian, Palaios, 1999, vol. 14, pp. 86–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Seilacher, A., Grazhdankin, D.V., and Leguta, A., Ediacaran biota: The dawn of animal life in the shadow of giant protists, Paleontol. Res., 2003, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 43–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Seilacher, A., The nature of vendobionts, in The Rise and Fall of the Ediacaran Biota, Vickers-Rich, P. and Komarower, P. Eds., Geological Society, London. Special Publications, 286, 2007, pp. 387–397.

    Google Scholar 

  54. Stankovsky, A.F., Verichev, E.M., and Dobeiko, M.P., Vendian of the South-Eastern White Sea, in Vendskaya sistema. Istoriko-geologicheskoye i paleontologicheskoye obosnovaniye. 2. Stratigrafiya i geologicheskiye protsessy (Vendian system. Historical-geological and Paleontological Substantiation, 2. Stratigraphy and Geological Processes. Moscow: Nauka, 1985, pp. 67–76.

  55. Val’kov, A.K., Biostratigrafiya nizhnego kembriya vostoka Sibirskoy platformy (Uchuro-mayskiy rayon) (Biostratigraphy of the Lower Cambrian of the eastern Siberian Platform (Uchuro-Maya region)), Moscow: Nauka, 1982.

  56. Van Iten, H., Zhu, M.-Y., Li, G.-X., Redescription of Hexaconularia He and Yang, 1986 (Lower Cambrian, South China): implications for the affinities of conulariid-like small shelly fossils, Palaeontology, 2010, vol. 53, Part 1, pp. 191–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Vickers-Rich, P., Ivantsov, A.Yu., Trusler, P.W., Narbonne, G.M., Hall, M., Wilson, S.A., Greentree, C., Fedonkin, M.A., Elliot, D.A., Hoffmann, K.H., and Schneider, G.I., Reconstructing Rangea: new discoveries from the Ediacaran of Southern Namibia, J. Paleontol., 2013, vol. 87, no. 1, pp. 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Wade, M., Medusae from uppermost Precambrian or Cambrian sandstones, central Australia, Palaeontology, 1969, vol. 12, Part 3, pp. 351–365.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The photographs were taken by A.V. Mazin (Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow).

Funding

Fieldwork and preparation of the fossil material were supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, grant no. 17-05-02212-a. Laboratory and theoretical studies were supported by the grant from the Russian Science Foundation (grant no. 19-14-00346) and the grant for fundamental research on the topic of the state assignment at the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences “The Emergence of Life, the Formation of the Biosphere, and the Development of Ancient Biotas”.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117647, Moscow, Russia

    A. Yu. Ivantsov & M. A. Zakrevskaya

Authors
  1. A. Yu. Ivantsov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. A. Zakrevskaya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Yu. Ivantsov.

Additional information

Translated by S. Nikolaeva

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ivantsov, A.Y., Zakrevskaya, M.A. Trilobozoa, Precambrian Tri-Radial Organisms. Paleontol. J. 55, 727–741 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030121070066

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030121070066

Keywords:

Search

Navigation