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Charniodiscus

Genus of extinct Ediacaran lifeform

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Charniodiscus was first found in Charnwood Forest in England, and named by Trevor D. Ford in 1958. The name is derived from the fact that Ford described a holdfast consisting only of a double concentric circle, his species being named Charniodiscus concentricus. Later it was discovered that a frond (Charnia masoni) was part of a closely related organism. Charnia differs in the branching structure in the frond.

Charniodiscus specimens are known from across the globe dating to around 565 to 550 million years ago.

Species are distinguished by the number of segments, the presence or absence of distal spines, and by shape ratios.

The former species C. arboreus, C. oppositus, and C. spinosus are considered to belong to their own genus Arborea, which was formerly treated as a synonym of Charniodiscus. Another former species, C. longus, was in 2023 transferred to its own genus, Akrophyllas. The status of C. yorgensis needs to be restudied.

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Monotypic taxonTaxonomic group with only one subordinate taxonSpecies descriptionFormal description of a discovered speciesParaphylyType of taxonomic groupIUCN Red ListInventory of the global conservation status of biological speciesSubtropicsGeographic and climate zoneCommon nameName generally used for a taxon, group of taxa or organism(s)