Rod S Taylor
I am a post-doctoral research fellow and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
I am working on the palaeobiology and taphonomy of the Ediacaran fossils found at Mistaken Point, Spaniard's Bay and Bonavista, Newfoundland, Canada.
Phone: 1-709-325-7189
Address: Department of Earth Sciences
Alexander Murray Building
9 Arctic Avenue
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, NL A1B 3X5 CANADA
I am working on the palaeobiology and taphonomy of the Ediacaran fossils found at Mistaken Point, Spaniard's Bay and Bonavista, Newfoundland, Canada.
Phone: 1-709-325-7189
Address: Department of Earth Sciences
Alexander Murray Building
9 Arctic Avenue
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, NL A1B 3X5 CANADA
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Papers by Rod S Taylor
Ediacaran organisms, many with remarkable preservation. One of the most numerically dominant groups of organisms in the assemblage is the Rangeomorpha, a frondose clade characterized by self-similar, repeating branching architecture known worldwide from rocks of Ediacaran age. Variations in branching characters and gross morphology have historically been used to divide this group, but there has been little consistency in taxonomic approach to the Rangeomorpha, concomitantly there are conflicting opinions that have resulted in some overlapping taxonomic diagnoses. Here we investigate one such taxonomic dispute, the Beothukis/ Culmofrons problem. The two genera were recently synonymized into Beothukis based on the assertion that some characters were of different taxonomic rank than others. Subsequent debate has focused on which taxonomic characters displayed by the Rangeomorpha should be used for genus- and species-level subdivision. To test the validity of using continuous versus discrete characters in rangeomorph taxonomy we use a combination of morphometrics and statistical analysis to identify natural clusters within our specimen dataset which was collected from Beothukis sensu lato including material that was, until recently, attributed to Culmofrons. The results of the cluster assignment validates the differentiation between Beothukis mistakensis and Beothukis (Culmofrons) plumosa, but cannot—in isolation—be used to determine at what taxonomic rank that distinction should be made. We demonstrate a considerable degree of variation within Beothukis and Culmofrons, which has not yet been recorded for unifoliate rangeomorph taxa.
Ediacaran organisms, many with remarkable preservation. One of the most numerically dominant groups of organisms in the assemblage is the Rangeomorpha, a frondose clade characterized by self-similar, repeating branching architecture known worldwide from rocks of Ediacaran age. Variations in branching characters and gross morphology have historically been used to divide this group, but there has been little consistency in taxonomic approach to the Rangeomorpha, concomitantly there are conflicting opinions that have resulted in some overlapping taxonomic diagnoses. Here we investigate one such taxonomic dispute, the Beothukis/ Culmofrons problem. The two genera were recently synonymized into Beothukis based on the assertion that some characters were of different taxonomic rank than others. Subsequent debate has focused on which taxonomic characters displayed by the Rangeomorpha should be used for genus- and species-level subdivision. To test the validity of using continuous versus discrete characters in rangeomorph taxonomy we use a combination of morphometrics and statistical analysis to identify natural clusters within our specimen dataset which was collected from Beothukis sensu lato including material that was, until recently, attributed to Culmofrons. The results of the cluster assignment validates the differentiation between Beothukis mistakensis and Beothukis (Culmofrons) plumosa, but cannot—in isolation—be used to determine at what taxonomic rank that distinction should be made. We demonstrate a considerable degree of variation within Beothukis and Culmofrons, which has not yet been recorded for unifoliate rangeomorph taxa.
The Manuels River Hibernia Interpretation Centre is located adjacent to the CBS Highway in Manuels, approximately 2 km southward from the end of Manuels River. Although the primary mandate of this facility is education, work has commenced there to re-examine the Middle Cambrian trilobite fauna found on the river. Preliminary efforts will include a summation of the previously published literature relevant to the trilobite fauna of the area. Longer term goals include bed-by-bed collection of new material throughout the entire Middle Cambrian sequence on Manuels River; followed by identification and description of this new material, plus reconsideration of this fauna in regional and global contexts.
concentrated at the growing tip and decreasing along the hypha and 3) assodated with developing septa. In contrast, protoplask showed a distinct but diffuse pattern of ffuorescence throughout the cytoplasm. Reconstruction of serial sections through individual protoplasts showed that cytoplasmic microtubules occur in the region near the nuclear spindle pole body but are concentrated mainly in elongated cellular extensions which give the protoplasts their unique spindle shape.