Precambrian environment: rangeomorphs (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, August 05, 2015, 22:15 (3399 days ago) @ David Turell

More information on this strange organism, very simple compared to the Cmbrians:-http://www.livescience.com/51725-earliest-known-complex-reproduction.html?cmpid=NL_LS_weekly_2015-08-05-"The creatures prospered in the ocean during the late Ediacaran period, between 580 million and 541 million years ago, just before the Cambrian era. Rangeomorphs could grow up to 6.5 feet (2 meters) in length, but most were about 4 inches (10 centimeters) long.-"What's more, rangeomorphs don't appear to have been equipped with mouths, organs or the ability to move around, and the animals likely absorbed nutrients from the water, the researchers said. However, these ancient organisms had an unusually complex reproductive strategy for their time: They likely sent out an "advance party" to settle a new neighborhood, and then colonized the new area, the researchers said. -***-"Using a combination of statistical techniques, high-resolution GPS and computer modeling, the researchers found an intriguing pattern in the distribution of Fractofusus populations. The larger Fractofusus, or "grandparent" specimens, were randomly distributed around the environment, surrounded by distinctive populations of smaller "parent" and "children" Fractofusus, the researchers said.-"These patterns of grandparent, parent and children Fractofusus are similar to biological clustering seen in modern plants, the researchers said. In fact, it's likely the creatures had two reproductive methods: The grandparents were likely born from ejected waterborne seeds or spores, whereas the parents and children likely grew from "runners," sent by the older generation, just as strawberry plants grow today.-"The "generational" clustering suggests that Fractofusus reproduced asexually using runners called stolons. However, it's unclear whether the waterborne seeds or spores were sexual or asexual in nature, the researchers said."