Vendia

Taxobox
regnum = "Incertae sedis"
name = "Vendia"

---

image_caption = "Paravendia, Vendia sokolovi, V. rachiata"
phylum = Proarticulata
genus = "Vendia"
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* "V. rachiata"
* "V. janae"
* "V. sokolovi"

"Vendia" is an oval-shaped, Ediacaran fossil with a distinctive branch pattern on the axis. Its size ranges from 4.5 to 12.5 mm. It is composed of alternating segments that decrease in size, with the larger overlapping the smaller ones. Down the centre of the organism are alternating lobes attached to a central axis.

"Vendia" has been found on the Onega Peninsula, Arkhangelsk Oblast of Russia, and was named by Keller in 1969.

Three species,"V. rachiata", "V. janae", and "V. sokolovi", have been described with the following differentiating characteristics:
* "V. rachiata" has 5 segments per side, with short lobes.
* "V. sokolovi" has 7 segments per side
* "V. janae" has distal ends of segments that curve around and meet at the tail point. Larger segments cover the smaller segments. "V. janae" has been recommended to be a separate genus called "Paravendia" by Ivantsov. "Vendia" may be an early arthropod, and resembles the Ediacaran fossil, "Cyanorus". There are also similarities to "Spriggina floundersi" and "Marywadea ovata". "Vendia" has been suggested to be an ancestor of "Skania" from the Cambrian period.

References

* [http://vend.paleo.ru/pub/Ivantsov_2004_eng.pdf New Proarticulata from the Vendian of the Arkhangel’sk Region by Ivantsov]