IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-58605-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Morphogenesis of Fractofusus andersoni and the nature of early animal development

Author

Listed:
  • Frances. S. Dunn

    (University of Oxford)

  • Philip C. J. Donoghue

    (University of Bristol)

  • Alexander G. Liu

    (University of Cambridge)

Abstract

Rangeomorphs are among the oldest anatomically complex macroscopic fossil organisms and, originating prior to 574 Ma, they represent the earliest total-group eumetazoans. Rangeomorph morphogenesis is therefore significant for understanding the early diversification of eumetazoan bodyplans. However, previous analyses of rangeomorph development have focused on uniterminal forms (possessing only one frond), leaving biterminal and multiterminal rangeomorph bodyplans poorly understood. We describe a population of the biterminal rangeomorph Fractofusus andersoni from the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve UNESCO World Heritage Site of Newfoundland, Canada, and construct a model of growth in F. andersoni that rationalises variation between Fractofusus, Charnia, Bradgatia and other rangeomorphs, providing a framework for explaining evolutionary transitions between the bodyplans of these members of the eumetazoan stem-group. Our results imply that complex developmental regulatory machinery was already being utilised during the late Ediacaran in the earliest-diverging eumetazoan taxa represented in the fossil record.

Suggested Citation

  • Frances. S. Dunn & Philip C. J. Donoghue & Alexander G. Liu, 2025. "Morphogenesis of Fractofusus andersoni and the nature of early animal development," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58605-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58605-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-58605-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-58605-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58605-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.