Grypania is an early, tube-shaped fossil from the Proterozoic eon. The organism, with a size over one centimeter and consistent form, could have been a giant bacterium, a bacterial colony, or a eukaryotic alga.[2] The oldest probable Grypania fossils date to about 2100 million years ago (redated from the previous 1870 million)[2][3] and the youngest extended into the Ediacaran period.[4] This implies that the time range of this taxon extended for 1200 million years.
| Grypania Temporal range:
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| Grypania spiralis fossil | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | |
| Genus: | Grypania Walter, Oehler & Oehler, 1976[1]
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| Type species | |
| Grypania spiralis Walter, Oehler & Oehler, 1976
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References
edit- ^ M. R. Walter, John H. Oehler & Dorothy Z. Oehler (1976). "Megascopic algae 1,300 million years old from the Belt supergroup, Montana: a reinterpretation of Walcott's Helminthoidichnites". Journal of Paleontology. 50 (5): 872–881. JSTOR 1303584.
- ^ a b Han, T. M.; Runnegar, B. (1992-07-10). "Megascopic eukaryotic algae from the 2.1-billion-year-old negaunee iron-formation, Michigan". Science. 257 (5067): 232–235. Bibcode:1992Sci...257..232H. doi:10.1126/science.1631544. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 1631544.
- ^ Schneider, D. A., Bickford, M. E., Cannon, W. F., Schulz, K. J., & Hamilton, M. A. (2002). Age of volcanic rocks and syndepositional iron formations, Marquette Range Supergroup: implications for the tectonic setting of Paleoproterozoic iron formations of the Lake Superior region. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 39(6), 999-1012.
- ^ Wang, Y., Wang, Y., & Du, W. (2016). The long-ranging macroalga Grypania spiralis from the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation, Guizhou, South China. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, 1-10.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grypania.
- Grypania spiralis (scroll down) in "Major Events in the History of Life"
- Grypania spiralis photo gallery, specimens from Negaunee Iron Formation, Michigan
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