- Sinotubulites
Taxobox
name = "Sinotubulites"
fossil_range =Ediacaran
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =
phylum_authority =
classis =
classis_authority =
ordo =
ordo_authority =
familia=
familia_authority=
genus = "Sinotubulites"
genus_authority =
subdivision_ranks =
subdivision ="Sinotubulites" is a
genus of small, tube-shaped shelly fossils from theEdiacaran period. It is often found in association with "Cloudina ".Its tube has a "tube-in-tube" structure composed of several thin layers. It bears prominent longitudinal sculptures and / or irregular rings, which were formed by the wrinkles of tube layers, and weaken gradually towards the inner layers.
The organism probably had a sessile life-style, lying on the sea floor. cite journal
date=2007
title=Tube structure and original composition of Sinotubulites: shelly fossils from the late Neoproterozoic in southern Shaanxi, China
journal=Lethaia
doi=10.1111/j.1502-3931.2007.00040.x
url=http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1502-3931.2007.00040.x
author=Chen, Z., Bengtson, S., Zhou, C.-M., Hua, H. and Yue, Z.
volume=41
pages=37]"Sinotubulites" and "Cloudina" (discovered in 1972) are currently the two earliest known fossils of organisms that mineralized shells when alive, and are often found in the same fossil beds. It is remarkable that "Cloudina" specimens often have tiny holes bored in them, which are attributed to predators, while no such borings have been found in "Sinotubulites". This suggests that "Sinotubulites" had evolved features that made it a much less attractive target than "Cloudina". As a result both organisms are important in analyses of the
Cambrian explosion , as predation and the appearance of mineralised components are often cited as possible causes of the "explosion". cite journal
date = 17 July 1992
title = Predatorial Borings in Late Precambrian Mineralized Exoskeletons
journal = Science
volume = 257
issue = 5068
pages = 367
doi = 10.1126/science.257.5068.367
url = http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/257/5068/367
accessdate = 2007-04-24
author = Bengtson, S. and Zhao, Y.
year = 1992
format = abstract ]References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
