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Abstract Molecular phylogenetic data suggest that photosynthetic eukaryotes first evolved in freshwater environments in the early Proterozoic and diversified into marine environments by the Tonian Period, but early algal evolution is poorly reflected in the fossil record. Here, we report newly discovered, millimeter- to centimeter-scale macrofossils from outer-shelf marine facies of the ca. 950–900 Ma (Re-Os minimum age constraint = 898 ± 68 Ma) Dolores Creek Formation in the Wernecke Mountains, northwestern Canada. These fossils, variably preserved by iron oxides and clay minerals, represent two size classes. The larger forms feature unbranching thalli with uniform cells, differentiated cell walls, longitudinal striations, and probable holdfasts, whereas the smaller specimens display branching but no other diagnostic features. While the smaller population remains unresolved phylogenetically and may represent cyanobacteria, we interpret the larger fossils as multicellular eukaryotic macroalgae with a plausible green algal affinity based on their large size and presence of rib-like wall ornamentation. Considered as such, the latter are among the few green algae and some of the largest macroscopic eukaryotes yet recognized in the early Neoproterozoic. Together with other Tonian fossils, the Dolores Creek fossils indicate that eukaryotic algae, including green algae, colonized marine environments by the early Neoproterozoic Era.
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Systematic paleontology of macroalgal fossils from the Tonian Mackenzie Mountains Supergroup
Abstract Proterozoic eukaryotic macroalgae are difficult to interpret because morphological details required for proper phylogenetic studies are rarely preserved. This is especially true of morphologically simple organisms consisting of tubes, ribbons, or spheres that are commonly found in a wide array of bacteria, plants, and even animals. Previous reports of exceptionally preserved Tonian (ca. 950−900 Ma) fossils from the Dolores Creek Formation of Northwestern Canada feature enough morphological evidence to support a green macroalgal affinity. However, the affinities of two additional forms identified on the basis of the size distribution of available specimens remain undetermined, while the presence of three unique algal forms supports other reports of increasing algal diversity in the early Neoproterozoic.Archaeochaeta gunchonew genus new species is described as a green macroalga on the basis of its well-preserved morphology consisting of an unbranching, uniseriate thallus with uniform width throughout and possessing an elliptical to globose anchoring holdfast. A larger size class of ribbon-like forms is interpreted asVendotaeniasp. A third size class is significantly smaller thanArchaeochaetan. gen. andVendotaenia,but in the absence of clear morphological characters, it remains difficult to assign. AsArchaeochaetan. gen. andVendotaeniarepresent photoautotrophic taxa, these findings support the hypothesis of increasing morphological complexity and phyletic diversification of macroalgae during the Tonian, leading to dramatic changes within benthic marine ecosystems before the evolution of animals.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1652351
- PAR ID:
- 10510356
- Publisher / Repository:
- Journal of Paleontology
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Paleontology
- Volume:
- 97
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0022-3360
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 499 to 515
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract The rise of eukaryotic macroalgae in the late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic was a critical development in Earth’s history that triggered dramatic changes in biogeochemical cycles and benthic habitats, ultimately resulting in ecosystems habitable to animals. However, evidence of the diversification and expansion of macroalgae is limited by a biased fossil record. Non-mineralizing organisms are rarely preserved, occurring only in exceptional environments that favor fossilization. Investigating the taphonomy of well-preserved macroalgae will aid in identifying these target environments, allowing ecological trends to be disentangled from taphonomic overprints. Here we describe the taphonomy of macroalgal fossils from the Tonian Dolores Creek Formation (ca. 950 Ma) of northwestern Canada (Yukon Territory) that preserves cm-scale macroalgae. Analytical microscopy, including scanning electron microscopy and tomographic x-ray microscopy, was used to investigate fossil preservation, which was the result of a combination of pyritization and aluminosilicification, similar to accessory mineralization observed in Paleozoic Burgess Shale-type fossils. These new Neoproterozoic fossils help to bridge a gap in the fossil record of early algae, offer a link between the fossil and molecular record, and provide new insights into evolution during the Tonian Period, when many eukaryotic lineages are predicted to have diversified.more » « less
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2023.4
