Morania

Morania
Temporal range: Late early Cambrian - Middle Cambrian
Morania fragmenta fossil from Millard County, Utah
Scientific classification
Domain:
Bacteria
Phylum:
Cyanobacteria
Genus:
Morania

Morania is a genus of cyanobacterium preserved as carbonaceous films[1] in the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale.[2] it is present throughout the shale;[3] 2580 specimens of Morania are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 4.90% of the community.[2] It is filamentous,[1] forms sheets,[3] and resembles the modern cyanobacterium Nostoc.[1] It would have had a role in binding the sediment,[3] and would have been a food source for such organisms as Odontogriphus and Wiwaxia.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Carroll Lane Fenton (1943). "Pre-Cambrian and Early Paleozoic algae". American Midland Naturalist. 30 (1): 83–111. doi:10.2307/2421265. JSTOR 2421265.
  2. ^ a b Caron, Jean-Bernard; Jackson, Donald A. (October 2006). "Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale". PALAIOS. 21 (5): 451–65. Bibcode:2006Palai..21..451C. doi:10.2110/palo.2003.P05-070R. JSTOR 20173022. S2CID 53646959.
  3. ^ a b c d Caron, J. B.; Jackson, D. A. (2008). "Paleoecology of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 258 (3): 222–256. Bibcode:2008PPP...258..222C. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.05.023.