Charniidae is a family of
rangeomorph
The rangeomorphs are a form taxon of frondose Ediacaran Ediacaran biota, fossils that are united by a similarity to ''Rangea''. Some researchers, such as Pflug and Narbonne, suggest that a natural taxon Rangeomorpha may include all similar-look ...
s. It is the only non-monotypic
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
of Rangeomorpha.
Distribution
From the Ediacaran of Australia, Canada, Russia and the United Kingdom, to the
Cambrian
The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...
of Canada.
Taxonomy
The family presents 5 genera:
* †''
Beothukis
''Beothukis mistakensis'' is a rare fossil frond-like member of the Rangeomorpha, described from the Ediacaran of Mistaken Point, Newfoundland. It had been identified since 1992, referred in papers as a "spatulate frond" or "flat recliner", but ...
''
* †''
Bomakellia
''Bomakellia kelleri'' is a species of poorly understood Ediacaran fossil organism represented by only one specimen discovered in the Ust'-Pinega Formation of the Syuzma River from rocks dated 555 million years old. ''Bomakellia'' was original ...
''
* †''
Charnia
''Charnia'' is a genus of frond-like lifeforms belonging to the Ediacaran biota with segmented, leaf-like ridges branching alternately to the right and left from a zig-zag medial suture (thus exhibiting glide reflection, or opposite isometry). T ...
''
* †''
Culmofrons
''Beothukis mistakensis'' is a rare fossil frond-like member of the Rangeomorpha, described from the Ediacaran of Mistaken Point, Newfoundland. It had been identified since 1992, referred in papers as a "spatulate frond" or "flat recliner", but ...
''
* †''
Paracharnia
''Paracharnia'' is a reassessed genus of a fossil reported by Ding and Chen (1981). It is the first Ediacaran metazoan fossilized remains found in China, taken from the Shibantan Member, Dengying Formation, Sinian System in the Eastern Yangtze G ...
''
Gallery
Bomakellia_kelleri.JPG , Artists interpretation of the enigmatic ''Bomakellia kelleri
''Bomakellia kelleri'' is a species of poorly understood Ediacaran fossil organism represented by only one specimen discovered in the Ust'-Pinega Formation of the Syuzma River from rocks dated 555 million years old. ''Bomakellia'' was original ...
''.
Charnia.png , Fossil specimen of ''Charnia masoni
''Charnia'' is a genus of frond-like lifeforms belonging to the Ediacaran biota with segmented, leaf-like ridges branching alternately to the right and left from a zig-zag medial suture (thus exhibiting glide reflection, or opposite isometry). ...
''.
Paracharnia_dengyingensis.png , Artists interpretation of '' Paracharnia dengyingensis''.
See also
*''
Rangea
''Rangea'' is a frond-like Ediacaran fossil with six-fold radial symmetry. It is the type genus of the rangeomorphs.
''Rangea'' was the first complex Precambrian macrofossil named and described anywhere in the world. ''Rangea'' was a centimetre ...
''
References
Rangeomorpha
Charniidae
Ediacaran life
{{Ediacaran-stub