MINI REVIEW article
Front. Ecol. Evol.
Sec. Paleoecology
Determining the mode of life of Ediacaran rangeomorphs in deep marine settings of Peri-Gondwanan Avalonia
Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada
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Abstract
As we continue to explore the early evolution of the Eumetazoa, important evidence is coming from the oldest Ediacaran biotas of Avalonia. Fundamental to understanding the ecology an evolution of the earliest soft-bodied complex animals is an understanding of their paleobiology and paleoecology. The paleobiology and mode of life of the extinct pseudofractal clade Rangeomorpha is an ongoing challenge. We have made significant progress in understanding aspects of their growth and branching, but determining their life attitude is difficult and requires consideration of a range of data types summarized herein. The importance of the mode of life stems from a need to know their spatial distributions and height in the water column as we try to determine how the first complex epibenthic communities interacted with their environment.
Summary
Keywords
Ediacaran3, Hydrodynamics4, Paleoecology5, Procumbent1, Rangeomorph2
Received
13 January 2026
Accepted
19 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 McIlroy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Duncan McIlroy
Disclaimer
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