Fig. 9

Large xenophyophorian rhizopods appear to have lived on shallow-marine bottoms in Ediacaran times (lowermost block). During the phanerozoic (middle block) they retreated into the deep sea, where several genera survive today (uppermost block). The lack of overcrossings in all fossil forms (including Benkovacina n.gen.) suggests that they were flatly attached to, or embedded into, microbial mats (right block diagram). In contrast, modern Stannophyllum is rooted in an upright position (left block diagram). All scale bars are 1 cm. In the Ediacaran group, the scale bar in the centre applies to all drawings except Intrites and Yelovichnus. Modified from Seilacher et al. (2003), Intrites and Yelovichnus drawings by Anton Legouta