Chitinozoan
Group of marine microfossils / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Chitinozoan?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Chitinozoa (singular: chitinozoan, plural: chitinozoans) are a group of flask-shaped, organic walled marine microfossils produced by an as yet unknown organism.[1] Common from the Ordovician to Devonian periods (i.e. the mid-Paleozoic), the millimetre-scale organisms are abundant in almost all types of marine sediment across the globe.[2] This wide distribution, and their rapid pace of evolution, makes them valuable biostratigraphic markers.[3][4]
Chitinozoan | |
---|---|
Scanning electron micrograph of a late Silurian chitinozoan from the Burgsvik beds, showing its flask-like shape | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | |
Phylum: | |
Class: | Chitinozoa Eisenack 1931 |
Subgroups | |
|
Their bizarre form has made classification and ecological reconstruction difficult. Since their discovery in 1931, suggestions of protist, plant, and fungal affinities have all been entertained. The organisms have been better understood as improvements in microscopy facilitated the study of their fine structure, and it has been suggested that they represent either the eggs or juvenile stage of a marine animal.[5] However, recent research has alternatively suggested that they represent the test of a group of protists with uncertain affinities.[6]
Chitinozoan ecology is also open to speculation; some may have floated in the water column, where others may have attached themselves to other organisms. Most species were particular about their living conditions, and tend to be most common in specific paleoenvironments. Their abundance also varied with the seasons.