# Hiemalora

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{{Short description|Genus of cnidarians}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [Ediacaran](/source/Ediacaran), {{fossil range|565|550|ref=<ref name="Chen2014">{{cite journal | last1 = Chen | first1 = Zhe | last2 = Zhou | first2 = Chuanming | last3 = Xiao | first3 = Shuhai | last4 = Wang | first4 = Wei | last5 = Guan | first5 = Chengguo | last6 = Hua | first6 = Hong | last7 = Yuan | first7 = Xunlai | date = 2014 | title = New Ediacara fossils preserved in marine limestone and their ecological implications | journal = Scientific Reports | volume = 4 | article-number = 4180 | doi = 10.1038/srep04180 | pmid=24566959 | pmc=3933909| bibcode = 2014NatSR...4.4180C }}</ref>}}
| taxon = Hiemalora
| authority = [Fedonkin](/source/Mikhail_A._Fedonkin) 1982
| type_species = †'''''Hiemalora stellaris'''''
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 
*†''H. stellaris'' <small>(Fedonkin, 1980)</small>
*†''H. pleiomorphus'' <small>Vodanjuk, 1989</small>
| synonyms = *†'''''Pinegia''''' <small>Fedonkin, 1980</small>
**†''Pinegia stellaris'' <small>Fedonkin, 1980</small>
}}
thumb|left|A simplified diagram of ''Hiemalora pleiomorpha''. A: discoidal main body, B: marginal set of rod-like radial elements (tentacles?) and C: circular protrusion in the centre of discoidal main body.<ref name="book1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KsFFIrJ8IxEC&dq=hiemalora&pg=PA282|title=The Rise of Animals: Evolution and Diversification of the Kingdom Animalia|first1=Mikhail A.|last1=Fedonkin|first2=James G.|last2=Gehling|first3=Kathleen|last3=Grey|first4=Guy M.|last4=Narbonne|first5=Patricia|last5=Vickers-Rich|date=Mar 16, 2007|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=9780801886799|access-date=July 9, 2022|via=Google Books}}</ref>

'''''Hiemalora''''' is a [fossil](/source/fossil) of the [Ediacaran biota](/source/Ediacaran_biota), reaching around 3&nbsp;cm in diameter, which superficially resembles a [sea anemone](/source/sea_anemone).  The genus has a sack-like body with faint radiating lines originally interpreted as [tentacle](/source/tentacle)s, but discovery of a frond-like structure seemingly attached to some ''Heimalora'' has added weight to a competing interpretation: that it represents the [holdfast](/source/holdfast_(biology)) of a larger organism.<ref name=Hofmann2005>{{cite journal
 | author = Hofmann, H.J.
 | year = 2005
 | title = ''HIEMALORA'' AND OTHER EDIACARAN FOSSILS OF NORTHEASTERN NEWFOUNDLAND, AND CORRELATIONS WITHIN AVALONIA
 | journal = Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs
 | volume = 37
 | issue = 7
 | pages = 485
 | url = http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2005AM/finalprogram/abstract_94964.htm
 | access-date = 2007-08-20
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081010213337/http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2005AM/finalprogram/abstract_94964.htm
 | archive-date = 2008-10-10
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref>

In 2020, a new study was published that described nine different specimens from the Indreelva member, [Digermulen Peninsula](/source/Digermulen_Peninsula), [Finnmark](/source/Finnmark) ([Arctic Norway](/source/Arctic_Norway)).<ref name="Hiemalora Norway">{{Cite thesis|last=Nicholas|first=Hodby|title=The Enigmatic Fossil Hiemalora in the Ediacaran of the Digermulan Peninsula|date=March 2020 |url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1420478&dswid=6357|language=en}}</ref> The specimens described in the paper have high degrees of variation between morphologies and within the specimens that are thought to be of the same species. Some of the representative fossils from that paper either show multiple ''[Aspidella](/source/Aspidella)''-like structures on the same specimen, or a ''[Primocandelabrum](/source/Primocandelabrum)''-like cone visible in one of the fossils.<ref name="Hiemalora Norway"/> All of the examples of fossils in the publication were determined to most likely represent the species ''Hiemalora stellaris'', however, one of the more poorly preserved specimens (D18-50) is thought to have been representative of ''Hiemalora pleiomorphus'', although the latter of the species represented by the specimens does not show parallel ridges running along the poorly preserved central disc.<ref name="Hiemalora Norway"/> A representative of ''H, stellaris'' might have represented a holdfast with a ''[Primocandelabrum](/source/Primocandelabrum)'' frond attached to it, which may further support the theory of ''Hiemalora'' being a holdfast for ''Primocandelabrum''.<ref name="Hiemalora Norway"/>

This interpretation would stand against its original classification in the [medusoid](/source/Medusae) [Cnidaria](/source/Cnidaria); it would also consign a once-popular hypothesis placing ''Hiemalora'' in the [chondrophore](/source/chondrophore)s,<ref name=Seilacher2005>{{cite journal
 | author = Seilacher, A. |author2=Buatois, L.A. |author3=Gabriela Mangano, M.
 | year = 2005
 | title = Trace fossils in the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition: Behavioral diversification, ecological turnover and environmental shift
 | journal = Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
 | volume = 227
 | issue = 4
 | pages = 323–356
 | doi = 10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.06.003 
 |author-link=Adolf Seilacher |bibcode=2005PPP...227..323S }}</ref> on the basis of its tentacle structure, to the dustbin.  Studies testing the feasibility of the hypothesis investigated the possibilities that such fragile tentacles could be preserved, and concluded that it would be very improbable — especially as many ''Hiemalora'' bearing beds also contain such fossils as ''[Cyclomedusa](/source/Cyclomedusa)'', but do not preserve the tentacles on these organisms.<ref name=Narbonne1994>{{cite journal
 | author = Narbonne, G.M.
 | year = 1994
 | title = New Ediacaran Fossils from the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwestern Canada
 | journal = Journal of Paleontology
 | volume = 68
 | issue = 3
 | pages = 411–416
| jstor=1306192| doi = 10.1017/S0022336000025816
 | bibcode = 1994JPal...68..411N
 | s2cid = 133215767
 }}</ref>

''Hiemalora'' has been identified in a wide range of facies and locations globally.<ref name="book1" /><ref name="Hofmann2005" /><ref name=Waggoner1998>{{cite journal
 | author = Waggoner, B.
 | year = 1998
 | title = The Ediacaran Biotas in Space and Time
 | journal = Integrative and Comparative Biology
 | volume = 43
 | issue = 1
 | pages = 104–113
 | doi = 10.1093/icb/43.1.104
 | pmid = 21680415
 | doi-access = free
 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Parihar |first=V.S. |last2=Hukmaram |last3=Kumar |first3=Pawan |last4=Khichi |first4=C.P. |last5=Harsh |first5=Anshul |date=2021-11-01 |title=Hiemalora stellaris from Ediacaran Sonia Sandstone of Jodhpur Group of Marwar Supergroup, Western Rajasthan, India |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/jour-geosocindia/article/97/11/1447/632304/Hiemalora-stellaris-from-Ediacaran-Sonia-Sandstone |journal=Journal of the Geological Society of India |language=en |volume=97 |issue=11 |pages=1447–1453 |doi=10.1007/s12594-021-1885-x |issn=0974-6889|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Etymology==
The genus was originally named ''Pinegia'',<ref name=Fedonkin1980>{{cite journal
 | author = Fedonkin, M.A.
 | year = 1980
 | title = New representatives of the Precambrian coelenterates in the northern Russian platform
 | journal = Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal
 | pages = 7–15
 | volume=2
 |language=ru
}}</ref> but was renamed two years later when it was realised that a genus of Permian insect already bore the name.
<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fedonkin|first=M.A.|year= 1982|title=New generic name for the Precambrian coelenterates|journal=Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal|volume=2|pages=137|language=ru}}</ref><ref name=Narbonne1994/> The revised name comes from Latin ''hiemalis ora'', "winter coast".

==See also==
* [List of Ediacaran genera](/source/List_of_Ediacaran_genera)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://geol.queensu.ca/museum/exhibits/ediac/tentacle.html Image] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060612231029/http://geol.queensu.ca/museum/exhibits/ediac/tentacle.html |date=2006-06-12 }}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1627163}}

Category:Ediacaran life
Category:Incertae sedis
Category:Ediacaran Newfoundland and Labrador
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1982

{{paleo-biota-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hiemalora](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiemalora) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiemalora?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.