Palaeolyngbya kerpii sp. nov., a large filamentous cyanobacterium with affinities to Oscillatoriaceae from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert

Krings, Michael (2019): Palaeolyngbya kerpii sp. nov., a large filamentous cyanobacterium with affinities to Oscillatoriaceae from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert. In: Palz, Bd. 93, Nr. 3: S. 377-386

Abstract

The Lower Devonian Rhynie chert contains abundant fossil evidence of cyanobacteria. However, only a few of these fossils have been described. A newly discovered type of cyanobacterial filament is 22 to > 30 mu m wide, and thus substantially larger than all filamentous cyanobacteria previously known from the Rhynie chert. Trichomes are uniseriate, composed of short, discoid cells not constricted at the cross walls, and enveloped in a distinct sheath. Because the filaments correspond in morphology to Palaeolyngbya barghoorniana, a fossil cyanobacterium described from the Precambrian, they are assigned to the fossil genus Palaeolyngbya and formally proposed as a new species, P. kerpii. Palaeolyngbya is attributed to the Oscillatoriaceae (Oscillatoriales) and compared to the modern genus Lyngbya sensu lato. All specimens of P. kerpii occur in a small area of clear chert intercalated between substrate layers, and thus support the hypothesis that substrate served as a conservation trap for delicate microbial life in the Rhynie setting.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Geowissenschaften > Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 550 Geowissenschaften, Geologie
• ISSN: 0031-0220
• Sprache: Englisch