The palaeopascichnids are a relatively abundant component of the Ediacara biota. The eponymous Palaeopascichnus delicatus consists of serially arranged, millimetre‐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 characterized by their greater size and possession of stercomata within their cells. The morphometric variation in palaeopascichnids is assessed using material from the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada. The application of quantitative morphological analysis to the study of over 90 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 fossil and 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 Ediacara biotas of Gondwana and Baltica.

中文翻译：

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Ediacaran属Palaeopascichnus内吗啡的定量和统计判别

古孢子虫是埃迪卡拉生物群中相对丰富的组成部分。同名的Palaeopascichnus delicatus由连续排列的毫米级的类胡萝卜素小室组成，这些小室被不同地解释为运动，觅食痕迹和各种亲和力的人体化石的证据。Palaeopascichnus最近已经被比深海Xenophyophora的特点是其更大的规模和持有其细胞内stercomata的大型底栖原生动物的现存组。使用来自加拿大纽芬兰的阿瓦隆半岛的材料评估古菌的形态学变化。定量形态学分析在研究90多个保存完好的古龟标本中的应用展示了腔室形状和大小以及沿着腔室系列的行为的巨大变化。形态计量学和多元统计分析相结合，可以识别数据集中的自然群体，从而证明形态物种内部和形态之间的变异性。与化石和现存的原生生物类群的支持所提出的原生生物化石亲和力的palaeopascichnids形态比较Palaeopascichnus，使关于冈瓦纳和波罗的海后来的伊迪卡拉生物群的这一突出的元素中的多样性和差异进一步的解析。