View source for Funisia

{{Short description|Genus of animal discovered as an Australian fossil}}
{{Italic title}}
{{distinguish|Tunisia}}
{{use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{use Australian English|date=December 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = [[Ediacaran]], {{fossilrange|555}}
| image = Funisia (science).jpg
| image_caption = ''Funisia'' specimens, as illustrated in the original article
| genus = Funisia
| parent_authority = Droser & Gehling, 2008
| species = dorothea
| authority = Droser & Gehling, 2008
}}
'''''Funisisa''''' is a genus of [[extinct]], colonial sponge-like organisms from the late [[Ediacaran]] of [[South Australia]]. It is a [[Monotypic taxon|monotypic]] genus, containing only ''Funisisa dorothea''.

== Discovery and naming ==
The fossil material of ''Funisia'' was found in the Ediacara Member of the [[Rawnsley Quartzite]], [[ Nilpena Ediacara National Park]], South Australia in 2007, and formally described and named in 2008.<ref name="droser">{{cite journal | journal = Science | date = 21 March 2008 | volume = 319 | issue = 5870 | pages = 1660–1662 | doi = 10.1126/science.1152595 | title = Synchronous Aggregate Growth in an Abundant New Ediacaran Tubular Organism | author1 = Mary L. Droser |author2= James G. Gehling | pmid = 18356525| s2cid = 23002564 }}</ref>

The generic name ''Funisia'' is after the Latin "rope", and is pronounced to rhyme with [[Tunisia]].<ref>[http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/319/5870/1660/DC1 Supporting online material]</ref>
The name ''dorothea'' is in honour of Dorothy Droser, the mother of [[Mary L. Droser]], one of the scientists who studied the organism.<ref name="times"/>

==Description==

''Funisia'' was a nonmotile organism resembling an upright worm<ref name="droser"/> that stood about {{cvt|0.3|m}} tall.<ref name="times">{{cite news | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3593959.ece | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080727010504/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3593959.ece | url-status = dead | archive-date = 27 July 2008 | date = March 21, 2008 | title = Fossil sheds light on the history of sex | work = [[The Times]] | location=London | first=Lewis | last=Smith | accessdate=2010-05-03}}</ref><ref name="reuters">{{cite news | url = http://www.enn.com/sci-tech/article/33330 | title = Early life on Earth - no predators, plenty of sex | publisher = [[Reuters]] | date=21 March 2008 }}</ref><ref name="physorg">{{cite news | url = http://www.physorg.com/news125241587.html | title = Research shows Earth's earliest animal ecosystem was complex and included sexual reproduction | date = March 20, 2008 }} Source: [[University of California - Riverside]] via physorg.com</ref>  Because individuals grew in dense collections of animals the same age, it is believed to have reproduced sexually, as well as reproduced by budding like modern sponges and corals.<ref name="reuters"/> Although the [[evolution of sex]] took place before the origin of animals, and evidence of sexual reproduction is observed in [[red algae]] {{Ma|1200}},<ref name=Butterfield2000>{{cite journal| first1 = N. J. | title = ''Bangiomorpha pubescens n. gen., n. sp.'': implications for the evolution of sex, multicellularity, and the Mesoproterozoic/Neoproterozoic radiation of eukaryotes | url = https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/paleobiol/issue/26/3  | accessdate = 2021-06-16 | journal = Paleobiology | volume = 26 | issue = 3 | pages = 386–404 | date = 2000-09-01| last1 = Butterfield| issn = 0094-8373 | doi = 10.1666/0094-8373(2000)026<0386:BPNGNS>2.0.CO;2 | s2cid = 36648568 | url-access = subscription }}</ref> ''Funisia'' is one of the oldest known animals for which there is evidence of sexual reproduction.<ref name="physorg"/>

== Affinities ==
Its relationship to other animals is unknown, but it may belong within the [[Porifera]] (sponges), [[Cnidaria]],<ref name="droser"/> a basal [[metazoa]]n similar to sponges<ref>D. H. Erwin, M. Laflamme, S., M. Tweedt, E. A. Sperling, D. Pisani, and K. J. Peterson. 2011. The Cambrian Conundrum: Early Divergence and Later Ecological Success in the Early History of Animals. Science 334(6059):1091-1097</ref> or an early [[varisarca]]n vendobiont.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cavalier-Smith |first1=Thomas |title=Origin of animal multicellularity: precursors, causes, consequences—the choanoflagellate/sponge transition, neurogenesis and the Cambrian explosion |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |date=5 February 2017 |volume=372 |issue=1713 |pages=20150476 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2015.0476|pmc=5182410 }}</ref> A recent paper has tentatively supported the placement of ''Funisia'' within Porifera, and also placed it within the newly erected family, [[Olgunidae]], alongside ''[[Vaveliksia]]'' and ''[[Olgunia]]'', which bare notable similarities with each other from being colonial, having tubular or sac-like bodies rising above the surface of the seafloor, and small attachment disks.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Luzhnaya |first1=E. A. |title=New Vendian Metazoa with Colonial Organization |journal=Paleontological Journal |date=April 2025 |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=113–118 |doi=10.1134/S0031030125600027}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of Ediacaran genera]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q15104340|from2=Q2084726}}

[[Category:Ediacaran life]]
[[Category:Enigmatic prehistoric animal genera]]
[[Category:Prehistoric invertebrates of Australia]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 2008]]