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Complex noncalcified macroalgae from the Silurian of Cornwallis Island, Arctic Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Steven T. Loduca ,
Michael J. Melchin  and
Heroen Verbruggen
Steven T. Loduca
Affiliation:
1Department of Geography and Geology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, 48197, USA,
Michael J. Melchin
Affiliation:
2Department of Earth Sciences, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G 2W5, Canada,
Heroen Verbruggen
Affiliation:
3Phycology Research Group and Center for Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, Building S8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium,
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Abstract

Thin beds of silty limestone within a Ludlovian (Ludfordian) section of the Cape Phillips Formation on Cornwallis Island, Arctic Canada, contain numerous specimens of noncalcified macroalgae in association with dendroid and graptoloid graptolites, brachiopods, and trilobites. The algal material, preserved as carbonaceous compressions, represents three new taxa, each characterized by a central axis surrounded by laterals. Laterals of Eocladus xiaoi n. gen. n. sp. are thin and branch to the fifth order whereas those of Chaetocladus captitatus n. sp. are undivided and form a distinctive capitulum. Thalli of Palaeocymopolia nunavutensis n. gen. n. sp. have a branched, serial-segmented form and a corticated structure. On the basis of thallus architecture, all three taxa are assigned to the extant green algal order Dasycladales. Parallels exist between this macroalgal assemblage and a modern macroalgal association in Florida Bay.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 85 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 111 - 121
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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