{{Short description|Extinct species of frondose organism}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = Late Ediacaran<br> ~{{fossil range|579|550.78}} | image = Trepassia_wardae_fossil.png | image_caption = A large specimen of ''Trepassia wardae'' from the Drooks Formation in Newfoundland | genus = Trepassia | parent_authority = Narbonne, Laflamme, Greentree & Trusler, 2009 | species = wardae | authority = (Narbonne and Gehling, 2003) | synonyms = ''Charnia wardi'' <small>Narbonne and Gehling, 2003</small> }}
'''''Trepassia''''' is a 579-million-year-old fossil<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ediacaran Fossils: One Species at a Time {{!}} Smithsonian Ocean|url=http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/fish/ediacaran-fossils-one-species-time|access-date=2021-11-16|website=ocean.si.edu|language=en}}</ref> of Ediacaran rangeomorph. It was first discovered by Guy M. Narbonne, a professor at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada and colleagues in 2009.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal|last1=Narbonne|first1=Guy M.|last2=Laflamme|first2=Marc|last3=Greentree|first3=Carolyn|last4=Trusler|first4=Peter|date=2009|title=Reconstructing a Lost World: Ediacaran Rangeomorphs from Spaniard's Bay, Newfoundland|url=https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-paleontology/volume-83/issue-4/08-072R1.1/Reconstructing-a-Lost-World--Ediacaran-Rangeomorphs-from-Spaniards-Bay/10.1666/08-072R1.1.full|journal=Journal of Paleontology|volume=83|issue=4|pages=503–523|doi=10.1666/08-072R1.1|bibcode=2009JPal...83..503N |s2cid=129788025|issn=0022-3360|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Three years later, Martin D. Brasier added additional description to ''Trepassia.''<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Brasier|first1=Martin D.|last2=Antcliffe|first2=Jonathan B.|last3=Liu|first3=Alexander G.|date=2012|title=The architecture of Ediacaran Fronds|journal=Palaeontology|language=en|volume=55|issue=5|pages=1105–1124|doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01164.x|s2cid=86538017 |issn=1475-4983|doi-access=free|bibcode=2012Palgy..55.1105B }}</ref> The generic name is taken from the French word, trépassés, which translates to "those that have departed forever" (or "corpses") and honors the Trepassey community in Newfoundland. It was originally described as ''Charnia wardi''.
== Morphology == ''Trepassia'' is one of the oldest known rangeomorphs and spanned over one meter in length. Longest specimens of ''T. wardae'' reached {{cvt|185|cm}}.<ref name=Laflamme2007>{{cite journal|first1=M.|last1=Laflamme|first2=G. M.|last2=Narbonne|first3=C.|last3=Greentree|first4=M. M.|last4=Anderson|year=2007|title=Morphology and taphonomy of an Ediacaran frond: Charnia from the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland|journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications|volume=286|pages=237–257|doi=10.1144/SP286.17|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.969.9739&rep=rep1&type=pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818183933/https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.969.9739&rep=rep1&type=pdf|archive-date=18 August 2022 |access-date=18 August 2022}}</ref> It is a long and slender rangeomorph, its structure consists of single-sided branches with both primary and secondary branches rising from a central stalk. The primary branches were capable of minor pivoting as shown in the bundles of secondary branches. The adult specimens of ''Trepassia'' had substantial thickness, shown by the cylindrical cross-section of the frond.<ref name="auto1"/>
The suspension-feed strategy of ''Trepassia wardae'' was that it used its long, slender petalodium for continuous feeding at all heights above the sea floor.<ref name="auto1"/> ''Trepassia'' is believed to have reproduced asexually. Taller organisms were surrounded by large clusters of offspring.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|last=Collins|first=Kelly Foss and Sarah|date=2018-06-26|title=Why life got big|url=https://gazette.mun.ca/research/why-life-got-big/|access-date=2021-11-18|website=Gazette - Memorial University of Newfoundland|language=en-CA}}</ref> It grew by addition of new branches at the tip of the frond. There may be a link between its mode of reproduction and its large body size.<ref name="auto"/>
== Distribution == ''Trepassia'' is found in Spaniard's Bay on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland and in Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve in Newfoundland, Canada.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Trepassia wardae|url=http://www.ediacaran.org/trepassia-wardae.html|access-date=2021-11-16|website=www.Ediacaran.org|language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/> It has also been found in the Inner Meadow site, which has been dated to {{ma|550}}, extending the known age range of ''Trepassia'' into the White Sea assemblage.<ref name="McIlroy2026">{{cite journal |last1=McIlroy |first1=D. |last2=Denyszyn |first2=S. |last3=Olschewski |first3=P. |last4=Rosse-Guillevic |first4=S. |last5=Muirhead-Hunt |first5=H. |last6=Pérez-Pinedo |first6=D. |last7=McKean |first7=C. |last8=Pasinetti |first8=G. |last9=Rideout |first9=B. |last10=Steele |first10=M.P. |last11=Menon |first11=L.R. |last12=Neville |first12=J.M. |last13=Chida |first13=N. |last14=Taylor |first14=R.S. |title=Ediacaran endlings from the Avalon Assemblage and the severity of the Kotlin Crisis: First documentation of the Inner Meadow Lagerstätte, Newfoundland, Canada |journal=Geology |date=29 January 2026 |doi=10.1130/G54217.1}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q51077157}}
Category:Monotypic prehistoric animal genera Category:Rangeomorpha Category:Fossil taxa described in 2009 Category:Ediacaran life Category:Ediacaran Canada