Kingdom incertae sedis Species †B. mistakensis | Genus †Beothukis | |
Similar Rangeomorph, Bradgatia, Pectinifrons, Fractofusus misrai, Thectardis | ||
Beothukis mistakensis is a rare fossil frond-like rangeomorph, described from the Ediacaran of Mistaken Point, Newfoundland. It had been identified since 1992, referred in papers as a "spatulate frond" or "flat recliner", but not formally described until 2009. The original fossils from which the genus has been described are still in situ, but replicas are preserved at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Morphology
Beothukis appears as a frond composed of two rows of branches that depart from a central growth axis, 12.5–15.5 cm long and 4.5–6 cm wide. No secondary fronds appear. The alternations are irregularly spaced.
Beothukis is considered morphologically intermediate between Trepassia (previously known as Charnia wardi) and Bradgatia.