COMPARATIVE TAPHONOMY OF VENDIAN GENERA BELTANELLOIDES AND NEMIANA: TAXONOMY AND LIFESTYLE

Abstract

Taphonomic analysis of new material from Verdian sequences of the White Sea and southwestern Ukraine provides data for a better definition of both the widely distributed fossil taxa of Beltanelloides and Nemiana. A new type of Beltanelloides preservation is described, so it is now possible to attribute some sandstone imprints to this taxon. Nemiana simplex seems to have a lifestyle and level of body organization comparable with that of sponges. The narrow range of facies in which Nemiana occurs, when compared to the much broader range of Beltanelloides, is compelling evidence for a benthic lifestyle of Nemiana.