| Ceratophyton Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Ceratophyton Kiryanov, 1979 |
| Species | |
Ceratophyton is a genus of Cambrian acritarch, around 100–200 µm in length, produced by a eukaryotic (metazoan?) organism.
Affinity
Ceratophyton has been interpreted as an originally chitinous component of a metazoan.[2][3] An arthropod relationship has been proposed,[4] although on a more conservative view it is difficult to provide confident classification beyond saying that they are fragments of a eukaryote.[2] Particular species, however, show promising similarity to the sclerites of modern priapulid worms.[5]
Species
C. vernicosum
This species, the type, comprises a single unornamented cone.[1] This species occurs in platform settings in western Russia in the Lontova and Lyukati horizons, first occurring in the local base of the 'Cambrian'.[2][6] In Poland it occurs from the base of the Cambrian (Platysolenites zone) to the Schmidtiellus zone.[6]
It has been reported from the middle Cambrian of Belgium, although these specimens are short on diagnostic features.[3]
It also occurs below the T. pedum zone, indicating the presence of the producer in the Ediacaran period.[7]
C. circufuntum
This species is represented by single cones that have rings around their bases.[1]
C. duplicum
| Part of a series on |
| The Cambrian explosion |
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This taxon has a double wall, resembling a pair of stacked cones; it may represent a taphomorph of C. vernicosum.[2]
C. dumufuntum
This single cone has short conical spines, which occur on its basal region.[1] This species is known from the mid-to-late Atdabanian siltstones of the Ouldburra formation of Australia.[7][8]
C. spinuconum
This species again comprises a single cone; it has spines and processes along both margins.[1]
Differences from other taxa
Ceratophyton differs from the taxon Veryhachium in having a basal opening.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The Cambrian biostratigraphy of the Stansbury Basin, South Australia. Russian Academy of Sciences: Transactions of the Palaeontological Institute. 2001.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Moczydlowska, M. (2008). "New records of late Ediacaran microbiota from Poland". Precambrian Research. 167 (1–2): 71–92. Bibcode:2008PreR..167...71M. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2008.07.007.
- 1 2 Michel VANGUESTAINE & Renaud LÉONARD (2005). "NEW BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC AND CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHIC DATA FROM THE SAUTOU FORMATION AND ADJACENT STRATA (CAMBRIAN, GIVONNE INLIER, REVIN GROUP, NORTHERN FRANCE) AND SOME LITHOSTRATIGRAPHIC AND TECTONIC IMPLICATIONS". Geologica Belgica. 8 (4): 131–144.
- ↑ Steiner, M.; Fatka, O. I. (1996). "Lower Cambrian tubular micro-to macrofossils from the Paseky Shale of the Barrandian area (Czech Republic)". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 70 (3–4): 275. doi:10.1007/BF02988075. S2CID 128966084.
- ↑ Butterfield, N. J.; Harvey, T. H. P. (2011). "Small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs): A new measure of early Paleozoic paleobiology". Geology. 40: 71–74. doi:10.1130/G32580.1.
- 1 2 Wright, A. E.; Fairchild, I. J.; Moseley, F.; Downie, C. (2009). "The Lower Cambrian Wrekin Quartzite and the age of its unconformity on the Ercall Granophyre". Geological Magazine. 130 (2): 257. doi:10.1017/S0016756800009900.
- 1 2 Jago, J. B.; Zang, W. L.; Sun, X.; Brock, G. A.; Paterson, J. R.; Skovsted, C. B. (2006). "A review of the Cambrian biostratigraphy of South Australia". Palaeoworld. 15 (3–4): 406. doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2006.10.014.
- ↑ Kovalevych, V. M.; Zang, W. -L.; Peryt, T. M.; Khmelevska, O. V.; Halas, S.; Iwasinska-Budzyk, I.; Boult, P. J.; Heithersay, P. S. (2006). "Deposition and chemical composition of early Cambrian salt in the eastern Officer Basin, South Australia". Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. 53 (4): 577. Bibcode:2006AuJES..53..577K. doi:10.1080/08120090600686736. S2CID 140600170.