Volume 29 1992

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Disarticulated remains of an Ordovician metazoan from the Cedarberg Formation, South Africa: a re-interpretation of Eohostimella parva Kovacs
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1992) Chesselet, Pascale
Small pointed axes previously described as a non-vascular Palaeozoic plant, Eohostimella parva Kovacs 1986, are assigned to Siphonacis parva (Kovacs) Chesselet 1990 n. comb. These carbonaceous compressions are indicator fossils for assemblages of Promissum pulchrum Kovacs 1986, which was initially interpreted as a land plant and is now thought to be a giant conodont. These fossils occur with invertebrates and algae in the Late Ashgillian Soom Shale Member of the Cedarberg Formation, in the Table Mountain Group. E. parva has a distinctive internal structure which invalidates its assignment to Eohostimella Schopf and casts doubt on its placement in the plant kingdom. Presently these small axes are of uncertain affinity although it seems likely that they are the disarticulated remains of a problematic Ordovician metazoan.