Auroralumina

Auroralumina
Temporal range: Ediacaran
Auroralumina attenboroughii reconstruction.jpg
Reconstruction of Auroralumina attenboroughii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Subphylum: Medusozoa
Genus: Auroralumina
Dunn et al., 2022
Species:
A. attenboroughii
Binomial name
Auroralumina attenboroughii
Dunn et al., 2022

Auroralumina is a genus of cnidarians from the Ediacaran of Charnwood Forest; the only species is Auroralumina attenboroughii. It is the earliest known animal predator.

Fossil

Biology

Holotype (top left), on a slab of Ediacaran rock containing Charnia (lower right) and Bradgatia (left)

The fossil, whose name recalls the Latin for "dawn lantern", has been described as the earliest known animal predator: since its structure places it among the cnidaria, which have stinging cells (cnidocytes) on their tentacles, it is presumed that they used these to catch small planktonic animals. The fossil consists of a pair of bifurcating (forking) tubes in which the animals lived, the earliest such structure to be recorded. It has been dated to 560 million years ago using zircon crystals in the rock. The only species in the genus, A. attenboroughii, is named for the English natural history presenter David Attenborough, who went to school in Leicestershire, where the fossil was found.

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic analyses recover Auroralumina as a stem-group medusozoan.

Animalia

Ctenophora Comb jelly.jpg

Cnidaria

Anthozoa Actinostola 3.jpg

Auroralumina Auroralumina attenboroughii reconstruction.jpg

other stem-group Medusozoa Estonian Museum of Natural History - Conularia.png

crown-group Medusozoa Moon jellyfish at Gota Sagher (cropped).JPG

Bilateria Ikaria wariootia (detail).jpg


This page was last updated at 2022-08-26 18:39 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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