Sphaerocodium

Sphaerocodium is a fossil that represents the remains of bacteria in the phylum Cyanobacteria, often called blue-green algae.[1][2]

Sphaerocodium
Temporal range: Ordovician – Triassic
Sphaerocodium kokeni From Triassic of Germany
Scientific classification
Domain:
Bacteria
Phylum:
Cyanobacteria
Genus:
† Sphaerocodium

Rothpletz, 1890
Type species
Sphaerocodium bornemanni
Rothpletz, 1890

The species of Sphaerocodium recorded by the author Rothpletz could be symbiotic intergrowths of different encrusting organisms. Two genera (Rothpletzella and Wetheredella) were proposed in 1948 by Alan Wood to include these forms in two species from the Silurian of Gotland.[3] These acts have sometimes been misinterpreted as dividing Sphaerocodium into two genera and treating Sphaerocodium as a synonym of Rothpletzella, whereas in fact Sphaerocodium is still considered a valid genus.[4]

Sphaerocodium is characterised by having dichotomously-branching tubular filaments made of calcite, which formed encrusting masses on objects. These filaments branch in a fanlike pattern but remain in contact with each other; each filament is approximately 40-100μm wide and 30-50μ high. Filaments are not divided by septa.[5]

Sphaerocodium was formerly assigned to the now-obsolete family porostromata.[6]

Fossil record

This genus is known in the fossil record from the Ordovician to the Triassic (from about 460.9 to 221.5 million years ago). Fossils of species within this genus have been found in Europe, Russia, United States, Canada, China and Australia.[7]

References
  1. "Sphaerocodium". fossiilid.info. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  2. E. Flügel Fossil Algae: Recent Results and Developments
  3. Wood, Alan (1948). ""Sphaerocodium," a misinterpreted Fossil from the Wenlock limestone". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. 59 (1): 9–22. doi:10.1016/S0016-7878(48)80027-1.
  4. Riding, Robert; Fan, Jiasong (2001). "Ordovician Calcified Algae and Cyanobacteria, Northern Tarim Basin Subsurface, China". Palaeontology. 44 (4): 783–810. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00201.
  5. "Calcareous algae, Volume 4 - 1st Edition". www.elsevier.com. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  6. Monty, C. L. (1981). Monty, Claude (ed.). "Spongiostromate vs. Porostromate Stromatolites and Oncolites". Phanerozoic Stromatolites. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer: 1–4. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-67913-1_1. ISBN 978-3-642-67913-1.
  7. "Fossilworks: Sphaerocodium". fossilworks.org. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
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