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Charniodiscus concentricus. Ediacaran Fauna

This is probably Charniodiscus concentricus., a Spindle-shaped form of Vendozoan from Mistaken Point, Cape Race, Newfoundland. Stratigraphically the Cape Race material is from the Mistaken Point Formation dated at 565 Ma +or- 3 Ma. Ediacaran (=Vendian) period of Precambrian age. Bruce Stinchcomb presents several forms on page 100-101 in figures 8-14 and 8-17 along with #2 the medusiform also from Cape Race.

The Vendian marks the first appearance of a group of large fossils collectively known as the "Vendian biota" or "Ediacara fauna." The question of what these fossils are is still not settled to everyone's satisfaction; at various times they have been considered algae, lichens, giant protozoans, or even a separate kingdom of life unrelated to anything living today. Some of these fossils are simple blobs that are hard to interpret and could represent almost anything. Some are most like cnidarians, worms, or soft-bodied relatives of the arthropods. Others are less easy to interpret and may belong to extinct phyla. But besides the fossils of soft bodies, Vendian rocks contain trace fossils, probably made by wormlike animals slithering over mud.