By: Maya Reid
A 550-million-year-old fossil has been named after Norra Noffke, an Old Dominion University Ocean & Earth sciences A 550-million-year-old fossil has been named after Nora Noffke, an Old Dominion University, Ocean & Earth sciences associate professor. The newly discovered fossil is Noffkarkys ("net of Noffke") was found in the Grant Bluff Formation of Central Mount Stuart, Northern Territory, Australia.
The fossil belongs to the Ediacaran Fauna fossil group, an extinct group that formed the first multicellular organism. The Ediacaran Fauna is about 550 to 600 million years old and still a mystery because their taxonomic position is still unclear.
Noffke's fellow paleontologist, Greg Retallack, professor of paleontology and geology at the University of Oregon, named the fossil from the Jurassic Age. There are many ways to name a fossil. "Names can reflect the morphology of the fossil, to describe the area the fossil was found, or as a nod to another colleague as in my case," said Noffke.
Noffke's love for fossils started as a child when she used to hike with her mother and father on the Schwaebische Alb, a mountain chain in Germany. "This area is rich in fossils of Jurassic age so my path to geology and paleontology was set in stone very early on," said Noffke. Her love for ancient organisms will now live on as "a simple act by a colleague who gave a kind nod."
Noffke and Retallack have worked together for years researching fossils. "We collected the fossils on a 10 km transect up and down Central Mount Stuart in the geographical center of Australia," said Retallack. He named the fossil after Noffke because of her work on microbially induced sedimentary structures, or MISS. "These structures are common in Precambrian rocks, especially in fossil soils, which are my specialty," said Retallack.
"While I am not working on Ediacara fossils they do occur where bacteria once formed thick carpets (called 'microbial mats') on the floor of a shallow ocean," said Noffke. "Noffke's current study pertains to microbial mats in a modern setting along the coast. "We want to know how they respond to changes of the shoreline and what kind of traces they leave behind in the sand," said Noffke.
Microbial mats are organic layers resembling a blue-grey carpet which is composed of trillions of microorganisms specifically photoautotrophic cyanobacteria. These microbial mats have been very common throughout Earth's history with great examples residing along the Virginia coast. "Such traces can be found in rocks as well, dating back as far as 3.4 billion years ago in the Pilbara region of Australia," said Noffke. "Microbial mat traces may very well be on other planets, such as Mars."