User:C.Comatus/Vendotaenid

Lead:
Vendotaenids are Ediacaran macro-fossils. Their presence is useful in determining the evolution of Precambrian life, however, Vendotaenids are not common and there is little data on them.

History:
On the Lower Krol Formation from the Himachal Lesser Himalaya of India, a Vendotaenid algae was discovered by Tewari in 1988. Tyrasotaenia and Vendotaenia were recorded from the Naintal syncline of the Kumon Lesser Himalaya. The new genus Krolotaenia gnilvoskaya was created after the discovery on the Lower Krol Formation.

Morphology:
The major taxa proposed are as follows: Vendotaenia, Krolotaenia, Daltaenia, Aataenia, Katnia, Laminarites, Prototania, Sinotaenia, Vindhyania? The organism reaches around 15 cm in length and are around a millimetre in width. They are often found as red or black ribbons within the bedding plane. The remains are often curved, unbranched and have been found twisted or untwisted. Vendotaenia tends to be untwisted whereas Tyrasotaenia tends to be twisted. Observations have found that the Krolotaenia genus lateral branching is common, but in it is very uncommon for a branch to branch into two parallel ribbons. Tyrostaenia and Krolotaenia are different in that Tyrostaenia has unbranched and crumpled ribbons whereas Krolotaenia lacks these features.

Classification:
Previously thought to be brown algae, Vendotaenids are now thought to be giant sulfide-reducing bacteria.