Charnia
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Charnia is the genus name given to a frond-like Precambrian plant with segmented ridges branching alternately to the right and left from a zig-zag medial suture. It strongly resembles a chestnut leaf. There is one species, Charnia masoni, discovered in 1957 in Bradgate Park, Leicestershire. The species was named after Charnwood Forest (the area in which it was found), and Roger Mason (the schoolboy who discovered it). It was originally interpreted as an algae (Ford) or a sea pen (Glaessner). One modern interpretation is that it is a Vendazoan built with unipolar iterations of one cell family.
Charnia is one of the most widespread Ediacaran fossils. It has been reported from a number of localities worldwide including England's Charnwood Forest, Newfoundland, Iran, Olenek, South Australia, and the White Sea Coast of Russia.
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For pictures of Charnia, see: