Namacalathus

Namacalathus; Temporal range:
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Genus:	†Namacalathus; Grotzinger et al., 2000
Species:	†N. hermanastes
Binomial name
	†Namacalathus hermanastes; Grotzinger et al., 2000

Namacalathus^[a] is a problematic metazoan fossil occurring in the latest Ediacaran. The first, and only described species, N. hermanastes,^[b] was first described in 2000 from the Nama Group of central and southern Namibia.^[1]

A U–Pb zircon age from the fossiliferous rock in Namibia and Oman provides an age for the Namacalathus zone in the range from 549 to 542 Ma, which corresponds to the Late Ediacaran. Alongside Namapoikia and Cloudina, these organisms are the oldest known evidence in the fossil record of the emergence of calcified skeletal formation in metazoans, a prominent feature in animals appearing later in the Early Cambrian. Shore et al. (2021) reported the first three-dimensional, pyritized preservation of soft tissue in Namacalathus hermanastes from the Nama Group (Namibia), and evaluate the implications of this finding for the knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships of this animal; they suggest it is an ancestor of Lophotrochozoan animals such as brachiopods and worms.^[2]

There are only five occurrences of Namacalathus (Namibia, Canada, Oman, Siberia, Paraguay) known to date, all of which are found in association with Cloudina fossils.^[1]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Among the late Precambrian fossil assemblage in the Nama group, Namibia, Namacalathus far outnumber Cloudina and other poorly preserved taxa and ichnofossils found in the formation. The Nama Group fossils occur within thrombolitic facies of immense Proterozoic stromatolitic reefs. Namacalathus lived a benthic existence with its stalk attached to the sea floor by means of a holdfast, or possibly to algal mats growing on the reef surface.

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^ ^a ^b Grotzinger, John P.; Watters, Wesley A.; Knoll, Andrew H. (2000). "Calcified metazoans in thrombolite-stromatolite reefs of the terminal Proterozoic Nama Group, Namibia". Paleobiology. 26 (3): 334–359. doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2000)026<0334:CMITSR>2.0.CO;2. S2CID 52231115.
^ Shore, A. J.; Wood, R. A.; Butler, I. B.; Zhuravlev, A. Yu.; McMahon, S.; Curtis, A.; Bowyer, F. T. (2021). "Ediacaran metazoan reveals lophotrochozoan affinity and deepens root of Cambrian Explosion". Science Advances. 7 (1): eabf2933. Bibcode:2021SciA....7.2933S. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abf2933. PMC 7775780. PMID 33523867.
^ Amthor, Joachim E.; Grotzinger, John P.; Schröder, Stefan; Bowring, Samuel A.; Ramezani, Jahandar; Martin, Mark W.; Matter, Albert (2003). "Extinction of Cloudina and Namacalathus at the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary in Oman". Geology. 31 (5): 431–434. Bibcode:2003Geo....31..431A. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2003)031<0431:EOCANA>2.0.CO;2.
^ Hofmann, Hans J.; Mountjoy, Eric W. (2001). "Namacalathus-Cloudina assemblage in Neoproterozoic Miette Group (Byng Formation), British Columbia: Canada's oldest shelly fossils". Geology. 29 (12): 1091–1094. Bibcode:2001Geo....29.1091H. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<1091:NCAINM>2.0.CO;2.
^ Kontorovich, A.E.; Varlamov, A.I.; Grazhdankin, D.V.; Karlova, G.A.; Klets, A.G.; Kontorovich, V.A.; Saraev, S.V.; Terleev, A.A.; Belyaev, S.Yu.; Varaksina, I.V.; Efimov, A.S.; Kochnev, B.B.; Nagovitsin, K.E.; Postnikov, A.A.; Filippov, Yu.F. (2008). "A section of Vendian in the east of West Siberian Plate (based on data from the Borehole Vostok 3)". Russian Geology and Geophysics. 49 (12): 932–939. Bibcode:2008RuGG...49..932K. doi:10.1016/j.rgg.2008.06.012.
^ Kontorovich, A. E.; Sokolov, B. S.; Kontorovich, V. A.; Varlamov, A. I.; Grazhdankin, D. V.; Efimov, A. S.; Klets, A. G.; Saraev, S. V.; Terleev, A. A.; Belyaev, S. Yu.; Varaksina, I. V.; Karlova, G. A.; Kochnev, B. B.; Nagavitsin, K. E.; Postnikov, A. A.; Filippov, Yu. F. (2009). "The first section of vendian deposits in the basement complex of the West Siberian petroleum megabasin (resulting from the drilling of the Vostok-3 parametric borehole in the Eastern Tomsk region)". Doklady Earth Sciences. 425 (1): 219–222. Bibcode:2009DokES.425..219K. doi:10.1134/S1028334X09020093. S2CID 129356532.
^ Lucas Veríssimo Warren; Fernanda Quaglio; Marcello Guimarães Simões; Claudio Gaucher; Claudio Riccomini; Daniel G. Poiré; Bernardo Tavares Freitas; Paulo C. Boggiani; Alcides Nobrega Sial (2017). "Cloudina-Corumbella-Namacalathus association from the Itapucumi Group, Paraguay: Increasing ecosystem complexity and tiering at the end of the Ediacaran" (PDF). Precambrian Research. 298: 79–87. Bibcode:2017PreR..298...79W. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2017.05.003. hdl:11449/163140.

[Grotzinger2000-3] Grotzinger, John P.; Watters, Wesley A.; Knoll, Andrew H. (2000). "Calcified metazoans in thrombolite-stromatolite reefs of the terminal Proterozoic Nama Group, Namibia". Paleobiology. 26 (3): 334–359. doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2000)026<0334:CMITSR>2.0.CO;2. S2CID 52231115.

[4] Shore, A. J.; Wood, R. A.; Butler, I. B.; Zhuravlev, A. Yu.; McMahon, S.; Curtis, A.; Bowyer, F. T. (2021). "Ediacaran metazoan reveals lophotrochozoan affinity and deepens root of Cambrian Explosion". Science Advances. 7 (1): eabf2933. Bibcode:2021SciA....7.2933S. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abf2933. PMC 7775780. PMID 33523867.

[Amthor2003-5] Amthor, Joachim E.; Grotzinger, John P.; Schröder, Stefan; Bowring, Samuel A.; Ramezani, Jahandar; Martin, Mark W.; Matter, Albert (2003). "Extinction of Cloudina and Namacalathus at the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary in Oman". Geology. 31 (5): 431–434. Bibcode:2003Geo....31..431A. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2003)031<0431:EOCANA>2.0.CO;2.

[Hofmann2001-6] Hofmann, Hans J.; Mountjoy, Eric W. (2001). "Namacalathus-Cloudina assemblage in Neoproterozoic Miette Group (Byng Formation), British Columbia: Canada's oldest shelly fossils". Geology. 29 (12): 1091–1094. Bibcode:2001Geo....29.1091H. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<1091:NCAINM>2.0.CO;2.

[Kontorovich2008-7] Kontorovich, A.E.; Varlamov, A.I.; Grazhdankin, D.V.; Karlova, G.A.; Klets, A.G.; Kontorovich, V.A.; Saraev, S.V.; Terleev, A.A.; Belyaev, S.Yu.; Varaksina, I.V.; Efimov, A.S.; Kochnev, B.B.; Nagovitsin, K.E.; Postnikov, A.A.; Filippov, Yu.F. (2008). "A section of Vendian in the east of West Siberian Plate (based on data from the Borehole Vostok 3)". Russian Geology and Geophysics. 49 (12): 932–939. Bibcode:2008RuGG...49..932K. doi:10.1016/j.rgg.2008.06.012.

[Kontorovich2009-8] Kontorovich, A. E.; Sokolov, B. S.; Kontorovich, V. A.; Varlamov, A. I.; Grazhdankin, D. V.; Efimov, A. S.; Klets, A. G.; Saraev, S. V.; Terleev, A. A.; Belyaev, S. Yu.; Varaksina, I. V.; Karlova, G. A.; Kochnev, B. B.; Nagavitsin, K. E.; Postnikov, A. A.; Filippov, Yu. F. (2009). "The first section of vendian deposits in the basement complex of the West Siberian petroleum megabasin (resulting from the drilling of the Vostok-3 parametric borehole in the Eastern Tomsk region)". Doklady Earth Sciences. 425 (1): 219–222. Bibcode:2009DokES.425..219K. doi:10.1134/S1028334X09020093. S2CID 129356532.

[9] Lucas Veríssimo Warren; Fernanda Quaglio; Marcello Guimarães Simões; Claudio Gaucher; Claudio Riccomini; Daniel G. Poiré; Bernardo Tavares Freitas; Paulo C. Boggiani; Alcides Nobrega Sial (2017). "Cloudina-Corumbella-Namacalathus association from the Itapucumi Group, Paraguay: Increasing ecosystem complexity and tiering at the end of the Ediacaran" (PDF). Precambrian Research. 298: 79–87. Bibcode:2017PreR..298...79W. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2017.05.003. hdl:11449/163140.

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