Origins of Life

Lacking a plausible model for the emergence of telos (purposive, representational, and evaluative relationships, as in life and consciousness) from simple material and energetic processes, the sciences operate as though all teleological relationships are physically epiphenomenal. Alternatively, in religion and the humanities it is assumed either that telos influences the material world from an outside or transcendental source or that it is a fundamental and ineffable property of things. We argue that a scientifically sound and intuitively plausible model for the physical emergence of teleological dynamics is now realizable. A methodology for formulating such a model and an exemplar case—the autocell—are presented. An autocell is an autocatalytic set of molecules that produce one another and also produce molecules that spontaneously accrete to form a hollow container, analogous to the way virus capsules form. The molecular capsules that result will spontaneously enclose some of the nearby molecules of the autocatalytic set, keeping them together so that when the autocell is broken open autocatalysis will resume. Autocells are thus self-reconstituting, self-reproducing, and minimally evolvable. They are not living and yet have necessary precursor attributes to telos, including individuality, functional interdependence of parts, end-directedness, a minimal form of representation, and a normative (evaluational) relationship to different environmental properties. The autocell thus serves as a missing link between inanimate (nonlife) and animate (living) phenomena. We conclude by discussing the challenges that a natural origin for telos poses for religious thought.

The Modern Synthesis explains the evolution of life at a mesolevel by identifying phenotype–environmental interactions as the locus of evolution and by identifying natural selection as the means by which evolution occurs. Both micro- and macroevolutionary schools of thought are post-synthetic attempts to evolutionize phenomena above and below organisms that have traditionally been conceived as non-living. Microevolutionary thought associates with the study of how genetic selection explains higher-order phenomena such as speciation and extinction, while macroevolutionary research fields understand species and higher taxa as biological individuals and they attribute evolutionary causation to biotic and abiotic factors that transcend genetic selection. The microreductionist and macroholistic research schools are characterized as two distinct epistemic cultures where the former favor mechanical explanations, while the latter favor historical explanations of the evolutionary process by identifying recurring patterns and trends in the evolution of life. I demonstrate that both cultures endorse radically different notions on time and explain how both perspectives can be unified by endorsing epistemic pluralism.

A deep research in the philosophical (between phenomenology and new metaphysics) anthropology of Zubiri looking for how the human person connects and grows with others from metaphysical root until social development, studying love as personalist connection. Origin, embryo ontological status and death are also studied.

The work of Daniel Sennert (1572-1637), professor of medicine at the Lutheran University of Wittenberg, encompasses the cluster of issues raised by the early seventeenth-century intersection of matter theories and the life sciences, where the origin of life emerged as one of the most important questions. There the belief in spontaneous generation was particularly pertinent. Sennert wrote a treatise precisely on this subject, entitled "De spontaneo viventium ortu," published at the end of his masterpiece "Hypomnemata physica" (Frankfurt, 1636). There he developed a corpuscular interpretation of the origin of life to explain spontaneous generation, while biological generation provided the foundational model for his philosophical reflections in general. This article first analyzes Sennert’s discussions on the “normal” generation of living beings (plants, animals and human beings), the discussions which provide the basis of his doctrine on the origin of souls. Then his theory of spontaneous generation is examined on its own.


1. Introduction
2. The Origin of the Soul in Normal Generation
2.1. The Giver of Forms and Astral Causality
2.2. The Eduction of Forms
2.3. Jacob Schegk and Plastic Force
2.4. The Nature of the Seed and Its “Spiritus”
3. Spontaneous Generation in Sennert
3.1. The Soul, Seminal Principle and Corpuscles
3.2. The Atoms of Living Beings and Their Souls
4. Conclusions

This short text summarizes the work in biology proposed in our book, Perspectives on Organisms, where we analyse the unity proper to organisms by looking at it from different viewpoints. We discuss the theoretical roles of biological time, complexity, theoretical symmetries, singularities and critical transitions. We explicitly borrow from the conclusions in some key chapters and introduce them by a reflection on "incompleteness", also proposed in the book. We consider that incompleteness is a fundamental notion to understand the way in which we construct knowledge. Then we will introduce an approach to biological dynamics where randomness is central to the theoretical determination: randomness does not oppose biological stability but contributes to it by variability, adaptation, and diversity. Then, evolutionary and ontogenetic trajectories are continual changes of coherence structures involving symmetry changes within an ever-changing global stability.

Recently reported signs of liquid water on early Mars and volcanic activity suggest that Mars’s subsurface could harbour traces of microbial life, making the tracing of life on Earth’s subsurface even more compelling. Caves on Earth host an especially interesting variety of mineral-utilizing microorganisms and biological processes, which may be recognized as biosignatures. Subsurface filamentous fabrics, fossil bacteria preserved in minerals, mineralized nano-sized structures and biologically generated textures have been some of the proposed models for extraterrestrial biosignatures. Intriguing filamentous structures consisting of long reticulated filaments rich in C, Ca, Mn, Fe or Si have been found concealed within speleothems in limestone caves and lava tubes all over the world. They were characterized as mineralized hollow filaments with hexagonal and diamond-shaped  chambers resembling honeycombed structures. In this study, microscopy techniques, such as FESEM-EDS, TEM-EDS, CLSM, and ancillary chemical and mineralogical techniques were conducted to recognize biominerals, microbial fabrics or fossil bacteria as possible biosignatures valuable for astrobiology. We focused on enigmatic reticulated filaments found in Ardales cave (Spain), a granite spring water tunnel in Porto (Portugal) and four lava tubes from Canary Islands (Spain), Easter Island (Chile) and Galápagos Islands (Ecuador). Although TEM analyses revealed that in some cases, the mineralized reticulated filaments contain bacterial cells, extensive culturing and molecular biology analyses were elusive to identification. A great research effort is needed in order to ascertain either the affiliation of these sheath-forming microorganisms and their metabolic capabilities, most likely related to the oxidation of mineral compounds, for tracing biological processes on early Earth.( p. 15)

Living systems employ several mechanisms and behaviors to achieve robustness and maintain themselves under changing internal and external conditions. Regulation stands out from them as a specific form of higher-order control, exerted over the basic regime responsible for the production and maintenance of the organism, and provides the system with the capacity to act on its own constitutive dynamics. It consists in the capability to selectively shift between different available regimes of self-production and self-maintenance in response to specific signals and perturbations, due to the action of a dedicated subsystem which is operationally distinct from the regulated ones. The role of regulation, however, is not exhausted by its contribution to maintain a living system’s viability. While enhancing robustness, regulatory mechanisms play a fundamental role in the realization of an autonomous biological organization. Specifically, they are at the basis of the remarkable integration of biological systems, insofar as they coordinate and modulate the activity of distinct functional subsystems. Moreover, by implementing complex and hierarchically organized control architectures, they allow for an increase in structural and organizational complexity while minimizing fragility. Finally, they endow living systems, from their most basic unicellular instances, with the capability to control their own internal dynamics to adaptively respond to specific features of their interaction with the environment, thus providing the basis for the emergence of minimal forms of cognition.

In his "Platonic Theology on the Immortality of Souls" (1482), Marsilio Ficino defended the idea of the world's universal animation. In this purpose, he especially developed a ‘Platonic’ interpretation of spontaneous generation, relying not only on the notions of Ideas and the World-Soul but also on his own theory of the ‘earth’s soul’ (anima terrae), which influenced a number of natural philosophers in the end of the Renaissance such as Giordano Bruno and Johannes Kepler. This study analyzes the Ficinian theory in the mirror of the criticism formulated by Fortunio Liceti in his "On the Spontaneous Generation of Living Beings" (1618).

1. Introduction
2. Liceti's "De spontaneo viventium ortu" (1618)
3. Junior Platonicists and the World-Soul
4. Major Platonists and the Ideas
5. Ficino and the Earth's Soul
6. Cicero's "De natura deorum" as the source of Ficino?

We present a compilation on the evolutive processes that led to the gene emergence that should help readers who are not familiar with the subject to understand the mechanisms that might have shaped it over time. The main challenge in these processes is that they must be coherent with the emergence of self-reproducing systems from simple in- and organic chemistry as well as being compatible with natural selection. As in other sciences like physics, the detailed understanding of the most fundamental processes led to key breakthrough technological achievements. For instance, the artificially induced evolution of catalytic systems under directed selective constraints is an important issue for the processing industry. It is amazing to realize how fast complex biological systems arose and evolved in the early time of Earth. Here, it has been our aim to try to give a constructive view of how chemical information contributed to biological self-organization.

The Jesuit father Athanasius Kircher (1602–1680) tried to interpret the Creation of the world and to explain the origin of life in the last book of his geocosmic encyclopedia, "Mundus subterraneus" (Amsterdam, 1664–1665). His interpretation largely depended on the ‘concept of seeds’ which was derived from the tradition of Renaissance ‘chymical’ (chemical and alchemical) philosophy. The impact of Paracelsianism on his vision of the world is also undeniable. Through this undertaking, Kircher developed a corpuscular perspective to explain the spontaneous generation of living beings. The present study examines Kircher's theory and its relationship with his chymical interpretation of the Creation in order to place it in its own intellectual and historical context and will uncover one of its most important sources.

1. Introduction
2. Creation, Chaotic Matter and Panspermia
3. The Three Principles and The Influence of Paracelsianism
4. Plastic Power
5. Spontaneous Generation and Corpuscles of Life

La Terre est née il y a 4,6 milliards d'années (4,6 Ga). Les bactéries fossiles les plus anciennes datent de 3,5 Ga mais des traces chimiques font penser que la vie bactérienne est apparue il y a 3,8 Ga. Mais par quel processus? On a montré en 1953 que des acides aminés pouvaient être produits dans une soupe chimique de la Terre primitive. Depuis, la théorie s'est enrichie de belles découvertes sur les bactéries de l'extrême et les bactéries fossiles, et a été précisée dans ses fondements chimiques. Malgré cela, les chercheurs admettent que ce ne sont que des hypothèses et qu'ils ne savent rien des origines de la vie. Leurs scénarios restent fondés sur un schéma qui s'essouffle en postulant la rencontre aléatoire des molécules et leur sélection naturelle. Seule, la découverte d'acides aminés et de bactéries dans des météorites venues de l'espace annonce un changement de vue. Une nouvelle science s'amorce parallèlement, énonçant que les réactions chimiques et biologiques sont guidées par des champs informationnels électromagnétiques. Cela rejoint les connaissances ancestrales sur la formation des corps célestes et des corps humains par des sons et des codes de géométrie sacrée.

The term biology is of Greek origin meaning the study of life. On the other hand, chemistry is the science of matter, which deals with matter and its properties, structure, composition, behavior, reactions, interactions and the changes it undergoes. The theory of abiogenesis maintains that chemistry made a transition to biology in a primordial soup. To keep the naturalistic ‘inanimate molecules to human life’ evolution ideology intact, scientists must assemble billions of links to bridge the gap between the inanimate chemicals that existed in the primordial soup and anatomically modern humans. Even though the proponents of a natural origin of life expressed much optimism for providing their theories, presently there is a detailed compilation of information seriously questioning this doctrine. This reductionistic ideology has always failed to answer two simple questions: (1) What is the minimum number of parts that are essential for a living organism to survive? (2) By what mechanism do these parts get assembled together? Evolutionists say a series of prebiotic processes and developments guide networks of dynamically linked small molecules and amphiphiles to form biological macromolecules, membraneous compartments, and finally primitive cells. However, none of these proposed pathways to life appears to be credible. The continuous advancement in various fields of science are not only providing major challenges to reductionistic ideology but are supplying increasing evidence for a systemic concept of life as an organic whole. Several leading researchers in the field of ‘origin of life’ are continually concluding that there are major scientific problems attached with all existing naturalistic ‘origin of life’ hypothesis. Only by taking into account all biological activities collectively as a system can a satisfactory elucidation of the living state be realized. In this present paper an attempt has been made to present a few significant challenges to the theory of abiogenesis based on the peer reviewed scientific literature. Subsequently, a non-reductionistic concept of life as a system is proposed as an alternative for resolving some of the problems inherent in origin of life research.

Urmăresc în materialul de față, câteva chestiuni-limită din câmpul cercetării științifice, care în ultimele decenii au generat dezbateri aprinse, menționând poziții care sugerează că ele ar ascunde discontinuități de fond, ce fragmentează tabloul științific al lumii, descrierea micro- și macro-cosmosului, abordarea lumi vii și a omul. În legătură cu acestea, propun câteva înțelesuri provenite din reflecția teologiei ortodoxe, care aduc în discuție legătura dintre cunoașterea științifică și viața omului.

"Starting in Summer of 1996, and for each Summer thereafter, the Orgone Biophysical Research Lab (OBRL) has offered a weekend laboratory seminar on Bions and the Reich Blood Test. The basic discoveries of Wilhelm Reich on bions and biogenesis1 were covered, as well as his findings on the cancer biopathy, and the specific protocols of the Reich blood test2. Instructors for the seminar have included Dr. Bernard Grad, Dr. Richard Blasband, Dr. Stephen Nagy and Dr. James DeMeo, who covered a far-ranging subject material: the basics of light-microscopy of living preparations, various experiments and preparations for the creation and observation of Reich’s bions (orgone energy vesicles), the technique and interpretation of the Reich blood test, reviews of Reich’s findings on the cancer biopathy, and the relationship of these findings to modern discoveries in biology and medicine. On this last point, for example, Reich’s bions appear quite similar to the extremophiles and nanobacteria of modern biology. In medicine, mycoplasma and cell-wall deficient forms are suggestive of bionous origins, while the widely-used term “apoptosis” describes a process of cellular disintegration and breakdown into micro-vesicles appearing functionally identical to Reich’s discovery of the bionous disintegration of cells. For these and other reasons, Reich’s findings from the 1930s still attract scientific interest."

The study of life remote in space has strong parallels with the study of life remote in time. Both are dependent on decoding those historic phenomena called 'fossils', here taken to include biogenic traces of activity and waste products. There is the shared problem of data restoration from incomplete data sets; the importance of contextual analysis of potentially viable habitats; the centrality of cell theory; the need to reject the null hypothesis of an abiogenic origin for candidate cells via morphospace analysis; the need to demonstrate biology-like behaviour (e.g., association with biofilm-like structures; tendency to form clusters and 'mats'; and a preference for certain substrates), and of metabolism-like behaviour (e.g., within the candidate cell wall; within surrounding 'waste products'; evidence for syntrophy and metabolic cycles; and evidence for metabolic tiers). We combine these ideas into a robust protocol for demonstrating ancient or extra-terrestrial life, drawing examples from Earth's early geological record, in particular from the earliest known freshwater communities of the 1.0 Ga Torridonian of Scotland, from the 1.9 Ga Gunflint Chert of Canada, from the 3.4 Ga Strelley Pool sandstone of Australia, and from the 3.46 Ga Apex Chert also of Australia.

Primary scientific literature documents frequency oscillations in both the geosphere and the biosphere arising from a host of different phenomena. At certain frequencies there are known associations between geological oscillations and biological oscillations. This raises the question as to whether these phenomena are functionally related. A compilation of the literature was undertaken, covering a spectral range of 18 orders-of-magnitude extending from 955 Ky/cycle (1.29E-14 Hz) to 0.10 ms/cycle (1.00E+4 Hz), noting those frequencies where there was geological-biological concordance. Concordance was determined for 28 frequency groupings distributed in 10 defined cycle bands within the geological-biological spectrum. The ultradian component of the circadian cycle band was the only band showing little geological-biological concordance, with concordance only at its extreme high-frequency values. Of the 384 references examined reporting geological or biological frequencies, 21 specifically mention concordances between geological and biological oscillations. Further, there are geological and biological frequencies where there are no apparent concordances between the two data sets, indicating that the histogram presented is far from a random distribution. At frequencies where there exists geological and biological concordance, a geological frequency can entrain biological frequencies and provoke a biological response. Lower frequencies affect populations; higher frequencies affect individual organisms. Frequencies of geological-biological concordance provide opportunity for the establishment of multiple interrelated zeitgebers, with disruption of these relationships potentially resulting in physiologic dysfunction, predisposing organisms toward the development of pathology and/or extinction. Précis: Oscillations across eighteen orders-of-magnitude in both the geosphere and the biosphere exhibit concordances where there may be entrainment with resultant geological-biological communication.

The concept of spontaneous generation is traced from the 17th century up to 2005, summarizing the most recent research from the history of biology.  The concept of spontaneous generation was always debated in a context where its theological implications mattered, notwithstanding denial of this by scientists such as Pasteur.

This paper explores the connection between the second law of thermodynamics and the emergence and evolution of life on Earth. 60 years ago Schrodinger understood that the thermodynamically-open nature of living systems exempted them from the constraints imposed by the second law, but it was not clear why such systems should exist at all. Now we’re coming to realize that, not only are open systems ubiquitous, but they are likely, and perhaps even necessary. Some open systems are characterized as dissipative, and they emerge as the system they are embedded in attempts to return closer to thermodynamic equilibrium. The emergence of life itself is a response of the surrounding system to the thermodynamic imperative of the second law. The stability and efficiency of metabolic processes over evolutionary time, as well as properties of entire ecosystems emerged to counter the effects of energy gradients applied to them.

Focused ion beam (FIB) milling permits the accurate extraction of ultrathin (c. 100 nm) cross sectional lamellae from microfossils found in geological thin sections. Subsequent TEM analysis of these lamellae can provide unique insights into the ultrastructure, chemistry and taphonomy of Precambrian microfossils at the micrometer to nanometer scale. Combining serial FIB milling with SEM imaging extends this capability to three dimensional (3D) tomographic reconstruction and visualization of Precambrian microfossils, revealing information not available in light microscopy.

Due to the rise in philosophical anthropology and the philosophy of mind there is a need to re-consider afresh the theological debate surrounding the origin of the soul. I address this particular issue in the context of the recent philosophical and theological literature that is also conversant with Ecclesiastical literature surrounding the topic by suggesting that there are, at least, three distinct options within the theology of origins. I proceed in two sections. First, I lay out the variety of positions on the soul within the philosophy of mind literature often called substance dualism. In this section, I suggest there are broadly three variations of substance dualism. These include pure substance dualism, composite or compound substance dualism, and emergent substance dualism. I compare and contrast these variations, discuss the particular problems related to each, and argue that each ‘naturally’ coheres with a particular view of origins based on the metaphysical relationship between the body and soul. Second, I lay out the three positions on the soul’s origin in the remainder of the paper. I put forth that there is not only traducianism and creationism the two most obvious positions within Ecclesiastical history, but also emergent substance dualism with materialist origins deserving further consideration in the theological literature. Furthermore, within the positions, excluding emergent substance dualism with materialist origins, there is variation within each yet still naturally falling under the particular said category. This, then, contributes to literature not only by drawing from recent philosophical literature in the fortification of the Christian view on origins, but, additionally, by putting forth one relatively new position that has not been systematized in the theological literature. Finally, I offer that theologians will benefit in three specific ways from the discussion over substance dualism and the theology of the soul’s origin.

Life is an inordinately complex unsolved puzzle. Despite significant theoretical progress, experimental anomalies, paradoxes, and enigmas have revealed paradigmatic limitations. Thus, the advancement of scientific understanding requires new models that resolve fundamental problems. Here, I present a theoretical framework that economically fits evidence accumulated from examinations of life. This theory is based upon a straightforward and non-mathematical core model and proposes unique yet empirically consistent explanations for major phenomena including, but not limited to, quantum gravity, phase transitions of water, why living systems are predominantly CHNOPS (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur), homochirality of sugars and amino acids, homeoviscous adaptation, triplet code, and DNA mutations. The theoretical framework unifies the macrocosmic and microcosmic realms, validates predicted laws of nature, and solves the puzzle of the origin and evolution of cellular life in the universe. Life 2012, 2 2

In his treatise "De spontaneo viventium ortu," published at the end of his masterpiece "Hypomnemata physica" (Wittenberg, 1636), the professor of medicine at Wittenberg, Daniel Sennert (1572-1637), built his corpuscular interpretation of the origin of life upon a singular synthesis of Aristotelian hylomorphism and Democretean atomism. By this theory, he tired to explain among other things the spontaneous generation of living beings. The present study examines Sennert’s theory of biological generation and in particular his ideas on the atoms of living beings and the souls conveyed by these atoms. It reveals that Sennert’s reading of the professor of medicine at Padua Fortunio Liceti’s (1577-1657) work "De spontaneo viventium ortu" (Vicenza, 1618) was a major factor by which his atomist conviction was reinforced after 1619. The present case-study of Sennert sheds light on the impact of biological speculations on the evolution of early modern matter theories.

1. Introduction
2. L’origine de l’âme dans la génération normale
2-1. Le donateur des formes et la causalité astrale
2-2. L’éduction des formes
2-3. Jacob Schegk et la force plastique
2-4. La nature de la semence et du spiritus séminal
3. La génération spontanée selon Sennert
3-1. L’âme, le principe séminal et les corpuscules
3-2. Les atomes des vivants et leur âme
4. Conclusions

The ∼1000 Ma Torridon Group of northwest Scotland are here shown to contain a rich diversity of organic walled microfossils preserved in exceptional detail within sedimentary phosphate. The phosphatic nodules and bands in which they occur are autochthonous, as are the organic fossils they contain. The associated sedimentology of this phosphate is shown to be consistent with a lacustrine setting. Informal taxonomic treatment of the microfossils allows statistical assessment of the relative abundances of different morphotypes across a range of lacustrine environments. Exceptional preservation of pristine organic-walled eukaryotes and prokaryotes, together with a taphonomic spectrum in both physicochemical and biological degradational conditions allows a picture to be built of the earliest lacustrine ecological communities.

Book review of a 2016 compilation of essays regarding the historical Adam. Essays range from a variety of disciplines: biology, anthropology, biblical studies, theology, and paleontology (to name a few). The review may also be read at the JBTS website: http://jbtsonline.org/review-of-searching-for-adam-genesis-the-truth-about-mans-origin-edited-by-terry-mortenson/

Since the 1990s, results coming in from molecular phylogenetics necessitate
us to recognize that Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) occurs massively across all three
domains of life. Nonetheless, many of the mechanisms whereby genes can become
transferred laterally have been known from the early twentieth century onward. The
temporal discrepancy between the first historical observations of the processes, and
the rather recent general acceptance of the documented data, poses an interesting epistemological
conundrum: Why have incoming results on HGT been widely neglected
by the general evolutionary community and what causes for a more favorable reception
today? Five reasons are given: (1) HGT was first observed in the biomedical sciences
and these sciences did not endorse an evolutionary epistemic stance because of
the ontogeny/phylogeny divide adhered to by the founders of the Modern Synthesis.
(2) Those who did entertain an evolutionary outlook associated research on HGT with
a symbiotic epistemic framework. (3) That HGT occurs across all three domains of
life was demonstrated by modern techniques developed in molecular biology, a field
that itself awaits full integration into the general evolutionary synthesis. (4) Molecular
phylogenetic studies of prokaryote evolution were originally associated with exobiology
and abiogenesis, and both fields developed outside the framework provided by the
Modern Synthesis. (5) Because HGT brings forth a pattern of reticulation, it contrasts
the standard idea that evolution occurs solely by natural selection that brings forth
a vertical, bifurcating pattern in the “tree” of life. Divided into two parts, this chapter
first reviews current neo-Darwinian “tree of life” versus reticulate “web of life”
polemics as they have been debated in high-profile academic journals, and secondly,
the historical context of discovery of the various means whereby genes are transferred
laterally is sketched. Along the way, the reader is introduced to how HGT contradicts
some of the basic tenets of the neo-Darwinian paradigm.

The siliciclastic lacustrine rocks of the~1000 Ma Diabaig Formation, northwest Scotland, contain a remarkable diversity of macroscopic structures on bedding planes that can be compared with various kinds of microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS). Field sedimentological investigations, combined with laboratory analysis of bedding planes and petrographic study of thin sections have allowed us to characterise a range of depositional environments and document the spectrum of biological structures. MISS are reported from frequently subaerial environments, through commonly submerged facies, and down to permanently sub-wavebase settings. Palaeoenvironmental conditions (water depth, exposure, hydrodynamic energy) control the distribution of MISS within these facies. This demonstrates that mat-forming microbial communities were arguably well adapted to low light levels or periodic exposure. Some MISS from the Diabaig Formation are typical of Precambrian microbial mats, including reticulate fabrics and 'old elephant skin' textures. In addition to these, a number of new and unusual fabrics of putative microbial origin are described, including linear arrays of ridges and grooves (cf. 'Arumberia') and discoidal structures that are comparable with younger Ediacaran fossils such as Beltanelliformis. These observations indicate that benthic microbial ecosystems were thriving in freshwater lake systems~1000 Ma, and indicate how microbially induced sedimentary structures may be applied as facies indicators for Proterozoic lacustrine environments. The discovery of structures closely resembling Ediacaran fossils (cf. Beltanelliformis) also serves to highlight the difficulty of interpreting simple discoidal bedding plane structures as metazoan fossils.