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A NEW FOSSIL ALGA FROM THE SILURIAN OF MICHIGAN
Author(s) -
Taggart Ralph E.,
Parker Lee R.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1976.tb13225.x
Subject(s) - paleozoic , thallus , biology , pelagic zone , benthic zone , paleontology , genus , taxon , ordovician , peninsula , ecology , botany
The record of Paleozoic algal diversity is strongly biased toward calcareous and stromatolitic types due to the general paucity of well preserved compression fossils of other taxa. A new genus, Thalassocystis (type species T. striata) is described on the basis of compression fossils in middle Silurian dolomite from the northern peninsula of Michigan. The plant is characterized by a short branched thallus, each branch terminated by an enlarged bladder‐like structure. The plants were deposited in a tropical, shallow water marine environment but whether they were benthic, adventive to the pelagic zone, or completely pelagic cannot be determined from the evidence available.