Chondroplon bilobatum is a medusoid

Medusa (biology)

In biology, a medusa is a form of cnidarian in which the body is shaped like an umbrella, in contrast with polyps. Medusae vary from bell-shaped to the shape of a thin disk, scarcely convex above and only slightly concave below...

 Ediacaran

Ediacaran

The Ediacaran Period , named after the Ediacara Hills of South Australia, is the last geological period of the Neoproterozoic Era and of the Proterozoic Eon, immediately preceding the Cambrian Period, the first period of the Paleozoic Era and of the Phanerozoic Eon...

 fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

.
It has sand-filled tubes, although these may not have been sand-filled in life. It has a shield-like shape, with one end different from the other, and bilatteral symmetry claims that it posessesglide reflection

Glide reflection

In geometry, a glide reflection is a type of isometry of the Euclidean plane: the combination of a reflection in a line and a translation along that line. Reversing the order of combining gives the same result...

 symmetry are based upon a taphonomic effect deforming some specimens. Chondroplon was originally described by Mary Wade in 1971 from fossils found in South Australia. It was named after chondrophore

Chondrophore

The chondrophores or porpitids are a small and very unusual group of hydrozoans today classified as family Porpitidae. Though it derives from an outdated name for this lineage , some still find the term "chondrophore" useful as a synonym to "porpitid" in discussions of the three genera contained...

s — chitinous floats found on some kinds of colonial floating hydroids.

In addition to the Ediacara Hills

Ediacara Hills

Ediacara Hills are a range of low hills in the northern part of the Flinders Ranges of South Australia, around 650 km north of Adelaide. The area has many old copper and silver mines from mining activity in the late 19th century...

 in South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

 Chondroplon is also found in the White Sea

White Sea

The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...

 area of Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. The host rocks in these areas have been dated as 555 million years old.

The original interpretation was that Chondroplon is a chondrophorine cnidaria

Cnidaria

Cnidaria is a phylum containing over 9,000 species of animals found exclusively in aquatic and mostly marine environments. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that they use mainly for capturing prey. Their bodies consist of mesoglea, a non-living jelly-like substance,...

n. It has also been interpreted as a deformed Dickinsonia

Dickinsonia

Dickinsonia is an iconic fossil of the Ediacaran biota. It resembles a bilaterally symmetrical ribbed oval. Its affinities are presently unknown; most interpretations consider it to be an animal, although others suggest it may be fungal, or a member of an "extinct kingdom".-Species variety:A...

. The Vendobionta theory has them as "fluid–filled quilts". As with most of the Ediacaran biota, scientists are yet to reach agreement on a firm classification for this enigmatic fossil.