A bangiophyte red alga from the proterozoic of arctic Canada

Silicified peritidal carbonate rocks of the 1250- to 750-million-year-old Hunting Formation, Somerset Island, arctic Canada, contain fossils of well-preserved bangiophyte red algae. Morphological details, especially the presence of multiseriate filaments composed of radially arranged wedge-shaped ce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1990-10, Vol.250 (4977), p.104-107
Main Authors: Butterfield, N.J. (Harvard University, Cambridge, MA), Knoll, A.H, Swett, K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ALGAE
Animals
Bangiales
Biological Evolution
CANADA
Carbonate rocks
Cell division
Cell walls
Cells
Cellular biology
Fossils
Geological Phenomena
Geology
Packaging
PALEONTOLOGIA
PALEONTOLOGIE
Paleontology
Proterozoic
Proterozoic Eon
Radiation
Red algae
REGION POLAIRE BOREALE
REGION POLAR BOREAL
Rhodophyta
Rhodophyta - classification
Rhodophyta - cytology
Rocks
Space life sciences
TAXONOMIA
TAXONOMIE
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Summary:Silicified peritidal carbonate rocks of the 1250- to 750-million-year-old Hunting Formation, Somerset Island, arctic Canada, contain fossils of well-preserved bangiophyte red algae. Morphological details, especially the presence of multiseriate filaments composed of radially arranged wedge-shaped cells derived by longitudinal divisions from disc-shaped cells in uniseriate filaments, indicate that the fossils are related to extant species in the genus Bangia. Such taxonomic resolution distinguishes these fossils from other pre-Edicaran eukaryotes and contributes to growing evidence that multicellular algae diversified well before the Ediacaran radiation of large animals
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.11538072