2018
DOI: 10.1111/jpy.12790
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Digging deeper: why we need more Proterozoic algal fossils and how to get them

Abstract: Known Proterozoic algal fossils raise compelling questions about the origin and diversification of cyanobacteria and eukaryotic algae, and their ecological influence in deep time. This Perspectives article describes particular examples of persistent evolutionary and biogeochemical issues whose resolution would be aided by additional algal fossil evidence from Proterozoic deposits, which have been the subjects of recent intensive study. New Proterozoic geosciences literature relevant to the early diversificatio… Show more

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Cited by 7 publications
(4 citation statements)
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“…However, the morphological simplicity of these taxa means that diagnostic chlorophyte features are few and subject to evolutionary convergence 54 , 55 . The interpretation of Proterocladus as a chlorophyte and specifically as a siphonocladalean has also been questioned 10 , 11 , 18 , largely on the basis of its morphological simplicity 54 , 56 . Compared with previously described specimens of Proterocladus 17 , the new material reported here offers additional phenotypic features—including a differentiated holdfast, akinetes, siphonocladous organization, and distinct branching pattern—that strengthen a morphological comparison and suggest a phylogenetic affinity with siphonocladalean chlorophytes ( Supplementary Table 1 ).…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
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“…However, the morphological simplicity of these taxa means that diagnostic chlorophyte features are few and subject to evolutionary convergence 54 , 55 . The interpretation of Proterocladus as a chlorophyte and specifically as a siphonocladalean has also been questioned 10 , 11 , 18 , largely on the basis of its morphological simplicity 54 , 56 . Compared with previously described specimens of Proterocladus 17 , the new material reported here offers additional phenotypic features—including a differentiated holdfast, akinetes, siphonocladous organization, and distinct branching pattern—that strengthen a morphological comparison and suggest a phylogenetic affinity with siphonocladalean chlorophytes ( Supplementary Table 1 ).…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“… 15 that questions its rhodophyte or even archaeplastid interpretation), the ~1.05 Ga Bangiomorpha 7 , and ~0.6 Ga florideophytes from the Doushantuo Formation 16 . Similarly, Proterozoic chlorophytes are represented by only one plausible genus, the ~0.72 Ma Proterocladus 17 , which is preserved as fragments and thus its phylogenetic interpretation has been questioned due to the scanty morphological information 10 , 11 , 18 . The poor record of Proterozoic archaeplastid fossils means large uncertainties in their stratigraphic ranges 19 , hence limiting their values as fossil calibrations in molecular clock studies.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Similarly, the assignment of the middle Neoproterozoic filamentous fossil Proterocladus (ca. 750 Mya) to the Cladophorales (27,28) is questioned (3,29). Reliable chlorophytan fossils include resistant outer walls of prasinophyte cysts known as phycomata in Ediacaran and Paleozoic deposits (30,31) and fossils of siphonous seaweeds (Bryopsidales, Dasycladales) from the Cambro-Ordovician onward (32)(33)(34)(35)(36).…”
Section: Significancementioning
confidence: 99%
“…Recently, a new species, P. antiquus, has been described from one-billion-year-old deposits 28 , prompting further interest in the phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses of the Ulvophyceae. Based on the apparent coenocytic thallus architecture and its resemblance with extant Cladophora and Cladophoropsis species, Proterocladus has been attributed to the Cladophorales, although its taxonomic placement remains contentious 18,29 . Thus, it is appropriate to more thoroughly evaluate Proterocladus in a phylogenetic context to better constrain the evolution of ulvophyceans.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%