Data from: A quantitative and statistical discrimination of morphotaxa within the Ediacaran genus Palaeopascichnus

The Palaeopascichnida are a relatively understudied component of the
Ediacaran biota. The eponymous Palaeopascichnus delicatus is comprised of
serially arranged, mm-scale allantoid chambers that have variously been
interpreted as evidence of movement, feeding traces, and body fossils of
various affinities. Palaeopascichnus has most recently been compared to
the deep-marine Xenophyophora, an extant group of large benthic protists
that is characterized by large size and possession of stercomata within
their cells. The construction and growth of the palaeopascichnids, and its
implications for their phylogenetic affinity, are assessed using material
from the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada. The application of
quantitative morphological analysis to the study of over ninety
well-preserved specimens of Palaeopascichnus demonstrates considerable
variation in chamber shape and size, and in behaviour along the chamber
series. The combination of morphometric and multivariate statistical
analysis allows the recognition of natural groups within the dataset,
thereby demonstrating variability within and between morphospecies.
Morphological comparisons of fossil palaeopascichnids with extant
protistan taxa support the proposed protistan affinity of
Palaeopascichnus, allowing further resolution regarding the diversity and
disparity within this prominent element of the later Ediacaran biotas of
Gondwana and Baltica.