Description

Anfesta stankovskii
Late Precambrian (Vendian)
Verkhovka Formation
East Angelsk, White Sea, Russia
Extremely rare 15mm on 86mm slab. Anfesta has been classified with the triradiate Ediacaran animals like Tribrachidium, but is considerably more rare.

Problematica, Ediacaran. Soft-bodied. Lagerstatten.

According to the latest research, Anfesta was a soft-bodied benthic organism that temporarily attached (but did not adhere) to the substrate of its habitat (microbial mats). The branched furrows on the fossil are imprints of radial grooves on the animal’s surface, while the three central ridges are imprints of cavities within the body. Presumably, this system of grooves and cavities could be related to the collection and digestion of food particles.

Extremely rare and incredibly ancient specimen with nice detail.

The Vendian Period spans about the last 110 million years of the Proterozoic Eon from about 540 to 650 million years ago. It was during the Vendian that soft-bodied, macroscopic life appeared. It was so long ago that maybe just a few microscopic organisms and sponges are the only animals still living today. Even the earliest trilobites were millions of years in the future.