Data from: Anatomical and ontogenetic reassessment of the Ediacaran frond Arborea arborea and its placement within total group Eumetazoa

Organisms in possession of a frondose body plan are amongst the oldest and
most enigmatic members of the soft‐bodied Ediacaran macrobiota. Appraisal
of specimens from the late Ediacaran Ediacara Member of South Australia
reveals that the frondose taxon Arborea arborea probably possessed a
fluid‐filled holdfast disc, the size and form of which could vary within
populations. Mouldic preservation of internal anatomical features provides
evidence for tissue differentiation, and for bundles of tubular structures
within the stalk of the organism. These structures connect in a fascicled
arrangement to individual lateral branches, before dividing further into
individual units housed on those branches. The observed fascicled
branching arrangement, which seemingly connects individual units to the
main body of the organism, is consistent with a biologically modular
construction for Arborea, and raises the possibility of a colonial
organization. In conjunction with morphological characters previously
recognized by other authors, including apical‐basal and front‐back
differentiation, we propose that to the exclusion of all alternative known
possibilities, Arborea can be resolved as a total group eumetazoan.