| Palaeoaplysina Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification
| |
| (unranked): | Archaeplastida |
| Division: | Rhodophyta |
| Class: | Florideophyceae |
| Stem group: | Corallinales |
| Order: | † Archaeolithophyllales (?) |
| Family: | † Palaeoaplysinaceae |
| Genus: | † Palaeoaplysina |
Palaeoaplysina is a genus of tabular, calcified fossils that are a component of many Late Palaeozoic reefs. [1] The fossil acted as a baffle to trap sediment. Historically interpreted as a sponge or hydrozoan, [2] recent studies are converging to its classification in the coralline stem group, placing it among the red algae. [1]
Morphology
The thalloid organism had a series of internal canals opening on one side of the body (presumably the upper side), and volcano-like protuberances on that same side inviting comparison to filter-feeding organisms. On the other hand, it seems to have had a calcified cellular make up akin to that of the coralline reds, suggesting that it was either a stem-group coralline or a coralline-encrusted filter feeder. [3]
Distribution
The organism is widespread in the tropical and near-tropical margin of the Laurentian continent (45–15°N), but is not found elsewhere. [4] Its oldest reported occurrence is Middle Pennsylvanian (mid- to late Moscovian) [5] and youngest is the late Sakmarian. [3] It acts as an important reservoir rock for oil deposits. [3]
See also
- Coralline algae#Evolution
- Other stem-group corallines:
- Arenigiphyllum (Ordovician)
- Petrophyton (Ordovician : Caradoc)
- Graticula (Silurian : Wenlock)
- Halysis (Ordovician)
- Archaeolithophyllum (Pennsylvanian)
- ? Maimonachaetetes (Mississippian)
- ? Palaeoaplysina (Pennsylvanian – Permian; possibly an animal)
- ? Solenoporaceae (Ordovician)
References
- ^ a b K. D. Anderson; B. Beauchamp (2011). Development of a Palaeoaplysina Reef Complex, Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic (PDF). Recovery – 2011 CSPG CSEG CWLS Convention 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
- ^ Davies, G. R.; Nassichuk, W. W. (1973). "The Hydrozoan? Palaeoaplysina from the Upper Paleozoic of Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada". Journal of Paleontology. 47 (2): 251–265. JSTOR 1302890.
- ^ a b c Kaylee Anderson, Benoit Beauchamp (2010). The Origin and Ecology of Late Paleozoic Palaeoaplysina in Arctic Canada: An Aberrant Ancestral Coralline Algae (?) that Grew at a Time of High Atmospheric CO2. GeoCanada. Archived from the original on 2011-03-12. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
- ^ Vachard, D.; Kabanov, P. (2007). "Palaeoaplysinella gen. Nov. And Likinia Ivanova and Ilkhovskii, 1973 emend., from the type Moscovian (Russia) and the algal affinities of the ancestral palaeoaplysinaceae n. Comb". Geobios. 40 (6): 849–860. doi: 10.1016/j.geobios.2007.01.006.
- ^ Ritter, Scott M.; Morris, Thomas H. (August 1997). "Oldest and Lowest Latitudinal Occurrence of Palaeoaplysina: Middle Pennsylvanian Ely Limestone, Burbank Hills, Utah". PALAIOS. 12 (4): 397. Bibcode: 1997Palai..12..397R. doi: 10.2307/3515339. JSTOR 3515339. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
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