Tamga (fossil)

Taxobox
name = "Tamga"
fossil_range = Ediacaran


image_size = 200px
color=taxobox color|"incertae sedis"
regnum = "incertae sedis" (Animalia?)
phylum = ?Proarticulata
genus = "Tamga"
species = "T. hamulifera"

"Tamga hamulifera" is a disk-shaped fossil from Precambrian strata of the Onega Peninsula of the White Sea, in Russia.

Description

As mentioned earlier, it is a disk-shaped fossil, and has seven hook-like isomers arranged in a star-like pattern near the posterior region. Opinions are divided on what sort of organism "Tamga" was. Some researchers suggest that it was possibly a proarticulatan like the slightly larger "Onega stepanovi" [Ivantsof, A. Yu. 2007. "Small Vendian transversely Articulated fossils". "Paleontological Journal". Volume 41, Number 2. April, 2007. doi|10.1134/S0031030107020013 Abstract retrieved from [http://www.springerlink.com/content/t213x0g55k650142/] May 19, 2007] . Others have suggested, on account of its small size, that it is actually a fragment of a larger animal, much like the plates of the lobopod "Microdictyon" [Ivantsof, A. Yu. 2007. "Small Vendian transversely Articulated fossils". "Paleontological Journal". Volume 41, Number 2. April, 2007. doi|10.1134/S0031030107020013 Abstract retrieved from [http://www.springerlink.com/content/t213x0g55k650142/] May 19, 2007] .

Etymology

The generic name is taken from the Turkish word, "tamga," meaning seal or cattle brand. The specific name is a crasis compound word, taken from Latin, of "hamulus" (small hook), and the feminine form of "feros", "to bear." Thus, the scientific name can be translated as a "seal that bears small hooks."

References