Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Fractal creatures filtered the Precambrian oceans

Fractal creatures filtered the Precambrian oceans


The comprehensive study of the anatomical organization of Rangéomorphes can lift a mystery about these strange marine living organisms on Earth, there are 575 million years. Branches that are composed and which duplicate according to a fractal model light on their feeding mode.

If they were all organized on the same basis of fractal branches, as shown in these 3D reconstructions, the Rangéomorphes grew vertically from 10 to 200 cm.  coloring book pages Horizontal spongy forms of these animals could also cover 58 square meters of ocean surface.  © University of Cambridge

We knew that was not Rangéomorphes plant nor fungus sailors, but many animals belonging to the phylum of Petalonamae . For about 40 million years ago, during the Ediacaran , they dominated the world's oceans, living attached to a substrate at different depths. Before they occur, life was microscopic.

However, we disregarded their mode of nutrition . From specimens fossils , researchers have managed to recreate the 3D morphology of 11 taxa and measure their functional properties.

Three main types, vertical and horizontal, have been highlighted: tall, thin, shaped fir other side flourished in the way of trees lapsed and a shape resembling a sponge deployed on the seabed. These plans fractal organization that are unlike any other known reinforce the idea that they have their clade, that is to say, their own group comprising the ancestors and all descendants.

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