Unique preservation of siliceous dinoflagellate motile cells from the Oligocene fossil Lagerstatte of Sieblos, Germany
Unique preservation of siliceous dinoflagellate motile cells from the Oligocene fossil Lagerstatte of Sieblos, Germany
The Triassic to Recent fossil record of the dinoflagellates is represented overwhelmingly by geologically resistant, organic-walled, non-motile resting cysts; such cysts are formed following the sexual phase in the life cycle. Very few confirmed records exist of the motile stage being preserved in the fossil record. This paper reports the occurrence of two very unusual dinoflagellate taphofacies, one developed in bituminous shales and the other in micrites, from the Oligocene fossil Lagerstätte at Sieblos, Hesse, Germany. A new dinoflagellate taxon, Sieblososphaera martini sp. nov. has been identified through analysis of dissociated skeletal elements in the bituminous shales and external moulds and casts in the micrites. The unique preservation of these fossils confirms them not only as primary biogenically silicified motile thecate cells, but also indicates that there was a much greater range of tabulation present within the subfamily Lithoperidiniaceae than has hitherto been recognized.
Oligocene, dinoflagellate, theca, taphonomy, lagerstätte, Sieblos
331-348
Harding, Ian
5d63b829-a9a7-447f-aa3f-62e8d0e715cb
1 March 2020
Harding, Ian
5d63b829-a9a7-447f-aa3f-62e8d0e715cb
Harding, Ian
(2020)
Unique preservation of siliceous dinoflagellate motile cells from the Oligocene fossil Lagerstatte of Sieblos, Germany.
Palaeontology, 63 (2), .
(doi:10.1111/pala.12461).
Abstract
The Triassic to Recent fossil record of the dinoflagellates is represented overwhelmingly by geologically resistant, organic-walled, non-motile resting cysts; such cysts are formed following the sexual phase in the life cycle. Very few confirmed records exist of the motile stage being preserved in the fossil record. This paper reports the occurrence of two very unusual dinoflagellate taphofacies, one developed in bituminous shales and the other in micrites, from the Oligocene fossil Lagerstätte at Sieblos, Hesse, Germany. A new dinoflagellate taxon, Sieblososphaera martini sp. nov. has been identified through analysis of dissociated skeletal elements in the bituminous shales and external moulds and casts in the micrites. The unique preservation of these fossils confirms them not only as primary biogenically silicified motile thecate cells, but also indicates that there was a much greater range of tabulation present within the subfamily Lithoperidiniaceae than has hitherto been recognized.
Text
Harding_edited-ich 30Sept2019 accepted
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 23 September 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 5 December 2019
Published date: 1 March 2020
Additional Information:
Publisher Copyright:
© The Palaeontological Association
Keywords:
Oligocene, dinoflagellate, theca, taphonomy, lagerstätte, Sieblos
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 434720
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/434720
ISSN: 0031-0239
PURE UUID: 7a5378f3-9fe6-43ad-9f5a-943a33fca235
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 07 Oct 2019 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:36
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