{{Short description|Genus of animal}} {{Multiple issues| {{One source|date=November 2025}} {{Sources exist|date=November 2025}} }} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Devonian}} | image = Protonympha salicifolia.tif | image_alt = | image_caption = Holotype specimen of ''Protonympha salicifolia'' from the Late Devonian (Frasnian) Gardeau Sandstone near Naples, New York | image2 = Protonympha transversa.jpg | image2_alt = | image2_caption = Holotype specimen of ''Protonympha transversa'' from the Middle Devonian (Givetian) Moscow Formation near Summit, New York | taxon = Protonympha | authority = Clarke 1903 | type_species = | type_species_authority = | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision_ref = <ref name="Retallack2018"/> | subdivision = * ''Protonympha transversa'' * ''Protonympha salicifolia'' | synonyms = | synonyms_ref = }}
'''''Protonympha''''' is a form genus for problematic fossils of Devonian age in New York. It has been of special interest because of its morphological similarity with the iconic Ediacaran fossil ''Spriggina'', and may have been a late surviving vendobiont.<ref name="Retallack2018">{{cite journal| journal=Lethaia| title=Reassessment of the Devonian Problematicum ''Protonympha'' as another post-Ediacaran vendobiont| author=Retallack, G.J.| volume=50| issue=3| pages=406–423| year=2018| doi=10.1111/let.12253|doi-access=free| bibcode=2018Letha..51..406R}}</ref>
== Description == ''Protonympha'' is a flat, quilted fossil, which has previously been compared with the arm of a starfish or an annelid worm, but lacks a segmented carapace or stereom. Its preservation in sandstone is similar to Ediacaran type preservations.<ref>{{cite journal|first=J. J.|last=Sepkoski|year=2002|title=A compendium of fossil marine animal genera|journal=Bulletins of American Paleontology|volume=363|pages=1–560|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10698313|access-date=18 May 2025}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=November 2025}} A less-accepted hypothesis claims the organisms were terrestrial fossils like lichen, with hypothetically interpreted rhizoid-like extensions as possible evidence it may have lived on land or in shallow pools.<ref name="Retallack2018" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
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Category:Devonian animals Category:Controversial taxa Category:Enigmatic prehistoric animal genera
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