Supplementary data for: Hydrodynamic insights into the palaeobiology of the Ediacaran rangeomorph Fractofusus misrai

The Ediacaran of Newfoundland preserves some of the oldest complex macroscopic communities several of which are dominated by the fractal-like rangeomorph genus Fractofusus. Here we use computational fluid dynamics and a detailed reconstruction of Fractofusus misrai to document for the first time hydrodynamic phenomena associated with this sediment-reclining organism and its rangeomorph elements that: are relevant to interpreting feeding strategies, explain the recently documented rheotropic growth oblique to currents, and provide insights into their impact on the Ediacaran seafloor. Obliquely oriented Fractofusus are common, likely representing a compromise between maximized aspect ratio and minimization of drag. Flow patterns on the upper surface of Fractofusus are consistent with the collection of dissolved and finely particulate nutrients, as well as gas exchange. Fractofusus produce a long wake downstream, demonstrating that reclining Rangeomorpha had potential to modify sedimentati..., Geometry of Fractofusus misrai The three-dimensional models of F. misrai were created using ZBrush Pixologic, Inc. (https://www.maxon.net/en/zbrush; by R. Nicholls), then post-processed using Rhinoceros 3D v.7 (https://www.rhino3d.com) and Blender v.3.4.1 (https://www.blender.org). The geometry was built as a smoothed three million polygon mesh, capturing three orders of rangeomorph branching. Scaling followed published fossil dimensions, and geometries were oriented according to the statistical clusters in Pérez-Pinedo et al. 2023. Finally, results were analyzed with the post-processing visualization engine Paraview (https://www.paraview.org). Computational Fluid dynamics (CFD) Discretization and sensitivity tests were conducted to determine optimal mesh sizes, balancing anatomical resolution with computational efficiency (computing cores, CPU usage; Figs. S1-S2) at which results are independent of the mesh size. Fractofusus misrai geometries, consisting of approximately 300,000 to 500..., , # Supplementary data for: Hydrodynamic insights into the palaeobiology of the Ediacaran rangeomorph Fractofusus misrai [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fxpnvx103](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fxpnvx103) Supplementary materials include: 1) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results from discretization and sensitivity tests conducted to determine optimal mesh sizes, balancing anatomical resolution with computational efficiency (Figs. S1-S3); 2) CFD simulation results from different sizes of *F.misrai* and general view of streamlines (Figs. S4-S6); 3) CFD simulation results from null models (Fig. S7); 4) flow velocity profile (Fig. S8); 5) all numeric results from CFD simulations (Table S1); 6) the *Fractofusus misrai* geometry; and 7) CFD simulation results. ## Description of the data and file structure Fig. S1-S3 show different mesh sizes for both the flow volume region (FVR) and the *F. misrai* geometry. *Fractofusus misrai* geometries, consisting of approximately 300,000 to 500,000...