Bomakellia
Ediacaran fossil organism
title: "Bomakellia" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rangeomorpha", "charniidae", "ediacaran-life", "white-sea-fossils", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1985"] description: "Ediacaran fossil organism" topic_path: "general/rangeomorpha" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomakellia" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Ediacaran fossil organism ::
| fossil_range = Ediacaran | image = | image_caption = | genus = Bomakellia | parent_authority = Fedonkin, 1985 | species = kelleri | authority = Fedonkin, 1985
Bomakellia is an extinct petalonamid from the Late Ediacaran. It is estimated to have lived some 555 million years ago, and has only been found in the Ustʹ Pinega Formation in Northwestern Russia. Originally described as a primitive arthropod-like creature, more recent studies have seen it placed within the phylum Petalonamae. Bomakellia kelleri is the only species.
Discovery
The holotype, and only, fossil of Bomakellia was found in the Syuzma River of the Ustʹ Pinega Formation, in Arkhangelsk Oblast of Northwestern Russia, and described in 1985.
Description
Bomakellia kelleri has a frond-like shape, growing up to 90 mm in height.
Affinities
File:Bomakellia_kelleri_e.JPG|An outdated reconstruction of Bomakellia kelleri as a proto-arthropod, based on B. M. Waggoner's interpretation. File:Bomakellia kelleri.JPG|A more recent reconstruction of Bomakellia kelleri, this time as a petalonamid, based on Dzik J's interpretation.
When originally described in 1985, Bomakellia was interpreted to be a form of early arthropod, However, this interpretation has not been widely accepted, and in some cases not acknowledged.
More recent studies have placed Bomakellia within the family Charniidae, which itself is a part of the clade Rangeomorpha, and phylum Petalonamae, based on a better re-description of the singular fossil.
References
References
- M. A. Fedonkin. (1985). "Systematic Description of Vendian Metazoa". Vendian System: Historical–Geological and Paleontological Foundation.
- Dzik, J.. (2002). "Possible ctenophoran affinities of the precambrian "sea-pen" ''Rangea''". Journal of Morphology.
- McMenamin, Mark A. S.. (1998). "The Garden of Ediacara". New York: Columbia University Press.
- Fryer, G.. (1999). "Cambrian animals: evolutionary curiosities or the crucible of creation?". Hydrobiologia.
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