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Dickinsonia as a polypoid organism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2016

James W. Valentine
James W. Valentine*
Affiliation:
Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
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Abstract

Dickinsonia is reconstructed as a benthic polypoid of generally cnidarian design. The oral surface was without tentacles but contained a median oral slit that probably led through a pharynx into an enteron, which was divided into digestive diverticulae by radiating mesenteries; feeding may have been via ciliary tracts. The mesenteries and body wall contained a stiff form of mesogloea. There seems to be no need to postulate a novel constructional grade for this organism, bringing the concept of the Vendozoa into question.

Type
Research Article
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , Fall 1992 , pp. 378 - 382
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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