Auroralumina

Auroralumina; Temporal range: Late Ediacaran,
	Reconstruction of Auroralumina attenboroughii
Scientific 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

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.

Fossil

Biology

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

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

	Auroralumina

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

crown-group Medusozoa

Bilateria

References

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.
Amos, Jonathan (25 July 2022). "Ancient fossil is earliest known animal predator". bbc.co.uk. BBC News. Retrieved 25 July 2022.

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[Dunn_2022-1] 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.

[2] Amos, Jonathan (25 July 2022). "Ancient fossil is earliest known animal predator". bbc.co.uk. BBC News. Retrieved 25 July 2022.