Auroralumina is a genus of cnidarians from the Ediacaran of Charnwood Forest; the only species is Auroralumina attenboroughii.[1] It is the earliest known animal predator. Auroralumina is the oldest crown-group cnidarian.[1]

Auroralumina
Temporal range: Late Ediacaran, 562 – 557 Ma
Reconstruction of Auroralumina attenboroughii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Subphylum: Medusozoa
Genus: Auroralumina
Dunn et al., 2022
Species:
A. attenboroughii
Binomial name
Auroralumina attenboroughii
Dunn et al., 2022

Fossil

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Biology

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Holotype (top left), on a slab of Ediacaran rock containing Charnia (lower right) and Bradgatia (left)

The fossil, whose name recalls the Latin for "dawn lantern", has been described as the earliest known animal predator: since its structure places it among the cnidaria, which have stinging cells (cnidocytes) on their tentacles, it is presumed that they used these to catch small planktonic animals. The fossil consists of a pair of bifurcating (forking) tubes in which the animals lived, the earliest such structure to be recorded. It has been dated to 560 million years ago using zircon crystals in the rock. The only species in the genus, A. attenboroughii, is named for the English natural history presenter David Attenborough, who went to school in Leicestershire, where the fossil was found.[1][2]

Phylogeny

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Phylogenetic analyses recover Auroralumina as a stem-group medusozoan.[1]

Animalia

Ctenophora  

Cnidaria

Anthozoa  

Auroralumina  

other stem-group Medusozoa (e.g. Conulariida)  

crown-group Medusozoa  

Bilateria  

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Dunn, F. S.; Kenchington, C. G.; Parry, L. A.; Clark, J. W.; Kendall, R. S.; Wilby, P. R. (25 July 2022). "A crown-group cnidarian from the Ediacaran of Charnwood Forest, UK". Nature Ecology & Evolution. doi:10.1038/s41559-022-01807-x. PMC 9349040.
  2. ^ Amos, Jonathan (25 July 2022). "Ancient fossil is earliest known animal predator". bbc.co.uk. BBC News. Retrieved 25 July 2022.