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The early Mesozoic radiation of dinoflagellates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

R. A. Fensome ,
R. A. MacRae ,
J. M. Moldowan ,
F. J. R. Taylor  and
G. L. Williams
R. A. Fensome
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Post Office Box 1006, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, B2Y 4A2
R. A. MacRae
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4
J. M. Moldowan
Affiliation:
Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-2115
F. J. R. Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T
G. L. Williams
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Post Office Box 1006, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, B2Y 4A2
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Abstract

Dinoflagellates are a major component of the marine microplankton and, from fossil evidence, appear to have been so for the past 200 million years. In contrast, the pre-Triassic record contains only equivocal occurrences of dinoflagellates, despite the fact that comparative ultrastructural and molecular phylogenetic evidence indicates a Precambrian origin for the lineage. Thus, it has often been assumed that the dearth of Paleozoic fossil dinoflagellates was due to a lack of preservation or recognition and that the relatively sudden appearance of dinoflagellates in the Mesozoic is an artifact of the record. However, new evidence from a detailed analysis of the fossil record and from the biogeochemical record indicates that dinoflagellates did indeed undergo a major evolutionary radiation in the early Mesozoic.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , Summer 1996 , pp. 329 - 338
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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References

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