Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 6, 2026

Processing Embryo, Eggshell, and Fungal Culture for Scanning Electron Microscopy
Published on: August 16, 2019
Early Devonian (~410 mya) microfossils resembling Characiopsis (Tribophyceae) and Characium (Chlorophyceae)
Michael Krings1,2, Carla J Harper1,2, Edith L Taylor2
1Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften, Paläontologie und Geobiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, SNSB-Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Straße 10, 80333, Munich, Germany.
Abstract:
Unusual microfossils that occurred associated with fungal spores in the Lower Devonian (~410 mya) Windyfield chert from Scotland were composed of a narrow stipe (2.5-9 μm long) to which was attached an obovoid or elongate drop-shaped cell up to 14 μm long; a basal attachment pad was present in several specimens. The fossils were strikingly similar morphologically to certain present-day unicellular freshwater Tribophyceae and Chlorophyceae, but affinities to the fungal phylum Chytridiomycota also cannot be ruled out. This discovery adds to the inventory of distinctive microbial morphologies in the early non-marine paleoecosystems.
More Related Videos
08:09Microfocus X-ray CT microCT Imaging of Actinia equina Cnidaria, Harmothoe sp. Annelida, and Xenoturbella japonica Xenacoelomorpha
Published on: August 6, 2019
15:39Characterization of Calcification Events Using Live Optical and Electron Microscopy Techniques in a Marine Tubeworm
Published on: February 28, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Diversity of Protists III
The Fossil Record
Other Algae
Green Algae
Fungal Phylum Microsporidia
Diversity of Protists I