Thallophycoides

Discovery and naming

Fossil material of Thallophycoides was found in the middle of the Doushantuo Formation, Guizhou Province of South China and formally described in 1989.

The generic name Thallophycoides refers to its similarities with the genus Thallophyca. The specific name phloeatus derives from the Greek word Phloe, to mean "skin or bark", in reference to the cortical cells of the thallus.

Description

Thallophycoides phloeatus is a globular alga that is millimetric to centimetric in its dimensions, with a thallus that can get up to 1.5 mm in length and 1.1 mm in width. The medullary cells are spheroidal to ellipsoidal in shape, and are tightly packed together, whilst the cortical cells are often found empty, with all cells sitting around 1.7-3.1 μm in diameter. Due to the lack of any notable cell or thallus differentiation between these two cells, it has been postured to be either an early or stem group florideophyte red algae.

Thallophycoides was originally considered to be a free-floating algae, floating on the waters surface, although recent studies suggest it to be a benthic alga, inferred from how its lobate protrusions and tissues grew.

Notes

References

References

1. (2011). "Stratigraphy and paleogeography of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation (ca. 635-551 Ma) in South China". Gondwana Research.
2. (January 1992). "New data on multicellular thallophytes and fragments of cellular tissues from Late Proterozoic phosphate rocks, South China". Lethaia.
3. (2004). "Phosphatized multicellular algae in the Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation, China, and the early evolution of florideophyte red algae". American Journal of Botany.
4. (January 2022). "Diverse multicellular algae from the early Ediacaran Doushantuo chert nodules and their palaeoecological implications". Precambrian Research.