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Microfossils from the Lower Devonian Rhynie Chert with suggested affinities to the peronosporomycetes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Michael Krings ,
Thomas N. Taylor ,
Edith L. Taylor ,
Hans Kerp ,
Hagen Hass ,
Nora Dotzler  and
Carla J. Harper
Michael Krings
Affiliation:
Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften, Paläontologie und Geobiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, and Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Straße 10, Munich 80333, Germany, ; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence KS 66045-7534, USA, ; ;
Thomas N. Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence KS 66045-7534, USA, ; ;
Edith L. Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence KS 66045-7534, USA, ; ;
Hans Kerp
Affiliation:
Forschungsstelle für Paläobotanik am Geologisch-Paläontologischen Institut, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Hindenburgplatz 57, Münster 48143, Germany, ;
Hagen Hass
Affiliation:
Forschungsstelle für Paläobotanik am Geologisch-Paläontologischen Institut, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Hindenburgplatz 57, Münster 48143, Germany, ;
Nora Dotzler
Affiliation:
Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften, Paläontologie und Geobiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, and Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Straße 10, Munich 80333, Germany, ;
Carla J. Harper
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence KS 66045-7534, USA, ; ;
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Abstract

A conspicuous silicified microfossil, Frankbaronia polyspora n. gen. n. sp., occurs in plant litter and as an inhabitant of microbial mats from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Specimens are elongate-cylindrical, oval, or spherical, thin-walled, and may possess conical or column-like surface projections. Most specimens occur isolated, some are arranged in pairs or short chains. Each specimen contains several small spheres, each in turn with a (sub)centric opaque inclusion. Immature specimens indicate that ontogenesis in this fossil includes the formation of a single centric body of opaque material that subsequently is apportioned among the developing small spheres. Frankbaronia polyspora is quite similar in size and morphology to the oogonia containing oospores seen in certain extant members of the Peronosporomycetes. The Rhynie chert is known to contain the oldest fossil evidence of the Peronosporomycetes but only a single form (Hassiella monospora) has previously been documented. The discovery of a second putative representative of this group of organisms proves that this paleoecosystem is still an important source of new information on the paleodiversity of microbial life.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 86 , Issue 2 , March 2012 , pp. 358 - 367
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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