Ediacaran Corumbella has a cataphract calcareous skeleton with controlled biomineralization
Gabriel Ladeira Osés,
Rachel Wood,
Guilherme Raffaeli Romero,
Gustavo Marcondes Evangelista Martins Prado,
Pidassa Bidola,
Julia Herzen,
Franz Pfeiffer,
Sérgio Nascimento Stampar,
Mírian Liza Alves Forancelli Pacheco
Affiliations
Gabriel Ladeira Osés
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Recursos Naturais, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luís, Km 235, São Carlos-SP 13565-905, Brazil; School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, James Hutton Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FE, UK; Laboratório de Paleobiologia e Astrobiologia, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Rodovia João Leme dos Santos, Km 110, Sorocaba-SP 18052-780, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Doutorado, Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, 1371, São Paulo-SP 05508-090, Brazil
Rachel Wood
School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, James Hutton Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FE, UK
Guilherme Raffaeli Romero
Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Lago, 562, São Paulo-SP 05508-080, Brazil
Gustavo Marcondes Evangelista Martins Prado
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geoquímica e Geotectônica, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Lago, 562, São Paulo-SP 05508-080, Brazil
Pidassa Bidola
Institute of Materials Physics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Max Plank Straße 1, 21502 Geesthacht, Germany
Julia Herzen
Research Group of Physics of Biomedical Imaging, School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck Straße 1, 85748 Garching b. München, Germany; Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Boltzmannstr. 11, 85748 Garching b. München, Germany
Franz Pfeiffer
Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Boltzmannstr. 11, 85748 Garching b. München, Germany; Chair of Biomedical Physics, Department of Physics, School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck Straße 1, 85748 Garching b. München, Germany; Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, School of Medicine and Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Straße 22D, 81675 Munich, Germany
Sérgio Nascimento Stampar
Laboratório de Evolução e Diversidade Aquática, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Faculdade de Ciências - Câmpus de Bauru, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Av. Eng. Luiz Edmundo Carrijo Coube, 14-01, Bauru-SP 17033-360, Brazil
Mírian Liza Alves Forancelli Pacheco
Laboratório de Paleobiologia e Astrobiologia, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Rodovia João Leme dos Santos, Km 110, Sorocaba-SP 18052-780, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Doutorado, Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, 1371, São Paulo-SP 05508-090, Brazil; Corresponding author
Summary: Corumbella is a terminal Ediacaran tubular, benthic fossil of debated morphology, composition, and biological affinity. Here, we show that Corumbella had a biomineralized skeleton, with a bilayered construction of imbricated calcareous plates and rings (sclerites) yielding a cataphract organization, that enhanced flexibility. Each sclerite likely possessed a laminar microfabric with consistent crystallographic orientation, within an organic matrix. Original aragonitic mineralogy is supported by relict aragonite and elevated Sr (mean = ca. 11,800 ppm in central parts of sclerites). In sum, the presence of a polarisation axis, sclerites with a laminar microfabric, and a cataphract skeletal organization reminiscent of early Cambrian taxa, are all consistent with, but not necessarily indicative of, a bilaterian affinity. A cataphract skeleton with an inferred complex microstructure confirms the presence of controlled biomineralization in metazoans by the terminal Ediacaran, and offers insights into the evolution of development and ecology at the root of the ‘Cambrian radiation’.
