Rangeomorph
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Rangeomorphs are soft-bodied creatures, neither animals nor plants that appeared 575 million years ago at the beginning of the Ediacaran period. They survived about 30 million years, forming 80% of the fossils found from that period, until the Cambrian explosion of modern species after which they rapidly declined.
In 2004 extremely well-preserved fossils discovered in Newfoundland, Canada revealed some details of rangeomorph structure. They consist of branching "frond" elements each a few centimeters long, each of which is itself composed of many smaller branching tubes held up by a semi-rigid organic skeleton. This self-similar fractal-like structure could have been formed using fairly simple developmental patterns.
External links
- Article in New Scientist (http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996162)