''Andiva ivantsovi'' is a

Vendian The Ediacaran Period ( ) is a geological period that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period 635 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Cambrian Period 538.8 Mya. It marks the end of the Proterozoic Eon, and the ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

, identified to be a

bilaterian The Bilateria or bilaterians are animals with bilateral symmetry as an embryo, i.e. having a left and a right side that are mirror images of each other. This also means they have a head and a tail (anterior-posterior axis) as well as a belly an ...

triploblastic Triploblasty is a condition of the gastrula in which there are three primary germ layers: the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. Germ cells are set aside in the embryo at the blastula stage, which are incorporated into the gonads during organo ...

animal in the

Ediacaran The Ediacaran Period ( ) is a geological period that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period 635 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Cambrian Period 538.8 Mya. It marks the end of the Proterozoic Eon, and th ...

phylum In biology, a phylum (; plural: phyla) is a level of classification or taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class. Traditionally, in botany the term division has been used instead of phylum, although the International Code of Nomenclature f ...

Proarticulata Proarticulata is a proposed phylum of extinct, bilaterally symmetrical animals known from fossils found in the Ediacaran (Vendian) marine deposits, and dates to approximately . The name comes from the Greek () = "before" and Articulata, i.e. ...

, known from the

Winter Coast The Winter Coast (''Zimniy Bereg'', russian: Зимний Берег) is a coastal area in Arkhangelsk Oblast in northwest Russia. It is located on the eastern side of the Dvina Bay in the White Sea, between the Northern Dvina delta and Cape Voro ...

White Sea The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is su ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It was first discovered in 1977, and described as a new species in a new

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Mikhail Fedonkin Academician Mikhail Aleksandrovich Fedonkin (russian: Михаи́л Алекса́ндрович Федо́нкин; born June 19, 1946) is a Russian paleontologist specializing in documentation of the earliest animals' body fossils, tracks, an ...

in 2002. It lived about 555 million years ago. Fossils of ''Andiva'' also occur in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. All known fossils of ''Andiva'' are external molds.

Description

''Andiva'' was between long and from wide, with a bilaterally symmetrical shape, larger on the anterior end and narrower at the posterior. The anterior part features a smooth "fringe" followed by a surface "covered by fine ribs and sutura", also described as a "quilt" with narrow, tightly packed chambers The symmetry of these ribs is a glide symmetry, that is, in which the corresponding segments on the left and right sides do not line up, but are staggered. This is a feature shared by other forms belonging to the proposed

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

. The original reconstruction by Fedonkin proposed that the ridged surface was a convex, thin

carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...

made of a chitin-like, non mineralized substance, protecting the animal while "creeping or gliding" over the sea bed. In the same reconstruction, the smooth zone was considered an imprint of the soft tissue beneath the dorsal carapace.

Association

''Andiva'' is often found together with other species from the Ediacara biota, like '' Dickinsonia'', ''

Yorgia ''Yorgia waggoneri'' is a discoid Ediacaran organism. It has a low, segmented body consisting of a short wide "head", no appendages, and a long body region, reaching a maximum length of . It is classified within the extinct animal phylum Proarti ...

'', ''

Kimberella ''Kimberella'' is an extinct genus of bilaterian known only from rocks of the Ediacaran period. The slug-like organism fed by scratching the microbial surface on which it dwelt in a manner similar to the gastropods, although its affinity with ...

'', '' Brachina'', ''

Parvancorina ''Parvancorina'' is a genus of shield-shaped bilaterally symmetrical fossil animal that lived in the late Ediacaran seafloor. It has some superficial similarities with the Cambrian trilobite-like arthropods. Etymology The generic name is derived ...

'', ''

Tribrachidium ''Tribrachidium heraldicum'' is a tri-radially symmetric fossil animal that lived in the late Ediacaran (Vendian) seas. In life, it was hemispherical in form. ''T. heraldicum'' is the best known member of the extinct group Trilobozoa. Etymol ...

'' and others.

Taxonomy and relationships

Morphologically, ''Andiva'' most closely resembles ''

Ovatoscutum ''Ovatoscutum concentricum'' is one of many enigmatic organisms known from the Ediacaran deposits of the Flinders Ranges, Australia, and the White Sea area in Russia, dating around 555 Ma. Etymology The generic name ''Ovatoscutum'' is derived fr ...

'', '' Chondroplon'' and, more distantly, ''Dickinsonia'', as part of the proposed

. ''

Archaeaspinus ''Archaeaspinus fedonkini'' is an extinct proarticulatan organism from the Late Precambrian (Ediacaran) period. Background ''Archaeaspinus'' was discovered in Zimnii Bereg, the Winter Coast of the White Sea in Russia, by A. Yu. Ivantsov in 2001 ...

'' and '' Cyanorus'' have also been directly compared to it. Jerzy Dzik includes ''Andiva'' in the

Dipleurozoa Dipleurozoa (or Dickinsoniomorpha) are extinct proarticulate organisms of the Ediacaran period, which had a flat and more or less ovoid shape. Polychaete worms were treated, however it seems more likely that they were vendobionts. The most repr ...

, with ''Chondroplon'' as the closest relative, separated from ''Dickinsonia'' and closer to ''Yorgia'', ''

Praecambridium ''Praecambridium sigillum'' is an extinct organism that superficially resembles a segmented trilobite-like arthropod. It was originally described as being a trilobite-like arthropod, though the majority of experts now place it within the Proartic ...

'', ''Archaeaspinus'' and ''

Vendia ''Vendia'' is a genus of oval-shaped, Ediacaran fossils ranging from 4.5 to 12.5 mm long. The body is completely segmented into isomers, which are arranged alternately in two rows longitudinal to the axis of the body. The larger isomers cov ...

'', since all of them are sharing a dextrally bent dorsal medial chamber.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4754504 Cephalozoa Prehistoric bilaterian genera Monotypic prehistoric animal genera Fossil taxa described in 2002 White Sea fossils Ediacaran life Fossils of Russia

Description

Association

Taxonomy and relationships

See also

References