Charnia is an extinct 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). The genus Charnia was named for Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire, England, where the first fossilised specimen was found. Charnia is significant because it was the first Precambrian fossil to be recognized as such.
The living organism grew on the sea floor, 570 to 550 million years ago, and is believed to have fed on nutrients in the water. Despite Charnia's fern-like appearance, it is not a photosynthetic plant or alga because the nature of the fossil beds where specimens have been found implies that it originally lived in deep water, well below the photic zone where photosynthesis can occur.[2]
^"Leicester's fossil celebrity: Charnia and the evolution of early life" (PDF). University of Leicester. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
^Hoyal Cuthill, Jennifer F.; Han, Jian (2018). Álvaro, Javier (ed.). "Cambrian petalonamid Stromatoveris phylogenetically links Ediacaran biota to later animals". Palaeontology. 61 (6): 813–823. doi:10.1111/pala.12393. ISSN 0031-0239.
Charnia is an extinct genus of frond-like lifeforms belonging to the Ediacaran biota with segmented, leaf-like ridges branching alternately to the right...
be Early Cambrian. It was not until the British discovery of the iconic Charnia that the Precambrian was seriously considered as containing life. This...
fossils of animals appear in the Ediacaran, represented by forms such as Charnia and Spriggina. It had long been doubted whether these fossils truly represented...
Although the Ediacaran fossil Charnia used to be classified as a jellyfish or sea pen, more recent study of growth patterns in Charnia and modern cnidarians has...
g. Dickinsonia and Spriggina), Petalonamae (sea pen-like animals, e.g. Charnia), Aspidella (radial-shaped animals, e.g. Cyclomedusa) and Trilobozoa (animals...
cnidarians, mollusks or annelids. Charnia fossils were originally found in the Charnwood Forest in England, hence named Charnia. These fossils are from marine...
the segments are alternate. An analysis of the growth and development of Charnia fossils through laser imaging of the holotype reveals that it cannot be...
Pg N Possibly one of the last representatives of the Ediacaran biota. Charnia masoni, a rangeomorph Scientific classification Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom:...
Chengjiang deposits of Yunnan that was originally aligned with the fossil Charnia (strictly, the Charniomorpha) from the Ediacara biota. However, such an...
concentricus. Later it was discovered that a frond (Charnia masoni) was part of a closely related organism. Charnia differs in the branching structure in the frond...
mud surface at the bottom the sea where it grew. It was over-towered by Charnia and Charniodiscus which grew nearby. Bradgatia has been found in Charnwood...
Longest specimens of Trepassia wardae (also known as Charnia wardi) reached 185 cm (73 in) in length. Charnia masoni is known from specimens as small as only...
PMID 10881389. S2CID 39772232. Antcliffe, J. B.; Brasier, M. D. (2007). "Charnia and sea pens are poles apart". Journal of the Geological Society. 164 (1):...
Ediacarans; it was believed to be a relative of forms such as Charnia. Forms related to Charnia were once believed to be related to sea-pens (pennatulacean...
Eastern Yangtze Gorge, Hubei Province. It was initially classified as Charnia dengyingensis, but Sun Weiguo in 1986, comparing this to findings from...
the Trepassey community in Newfoundland. It was originally described as Charnia wardi; it was referred under this synonym in a 2016 paper. Trepassia is...
chronological basis regardless of biological affinity. These include Hiemalora, Charnia and the arboreomorph Arborea. However, some definitions exclude these organisms...
Charnia masoni, a frondose Late Ediacaran fossil with segmented, leaf-like ridges branching alternately to the right and left from a zig-zag medial suture...
Precambrian times. It was the site of the first-ever recorded discovery of Charnia masoni, the earliest-known large, complex fossilised species on record...
Mason, in rocks near Woodhouse Eaves, subsequently named in his honour as Charnia masoni, required a re-evaluation of when life began. It also resulted in...
Pseudovendia and Shepshedia, are now all regarded as taphomorphs related to Charnia or Charniodiscus. Fluvial taphonomy is concerned with the decomposition...
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