Description

Attenborites janeae (Droser et al., 2018)

Precambrian

Penega Formation

East Angelsk, White Sea, Russia

25mm (1 inch) x 20mm (0.8mm).

Ediacaran, Soft-bodied, Problematica.

Attenborites is a genus of early, Vendian-age animal that hasn’t been assigned to a family, order, class, nor phylum.  It was roughly oval with grooves and ridges visible.  It was originally described based on specimens from the Flinders Ranges, Australia.

The name Attenborites honors naturalist and television host/narrator, David Attenborough for all his lifetime of work promoting science – paleontology in particular.