Fuxianospira gyrata Chen and Zhou, 1997

Taxonomy

?Macroalgae

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Chlorophyta
Class: incertae sedis
Order: incertae sedis
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: Fuxianospira
Species: Fuxianospira gyrata
Author Citation Chen and Zhou, 1997

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Paleozoic
Period: Cambrian
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Series 2 Epoch
International Age: Stage 3

Stratigraphy

Heilinpu Formation

Provenance

Acquired by: Purchase/Trade

Dimensions

Length: 2.5 cm
Width: 2 cm

Location

Jiucun Township
Chengjiang City
Yunnan Province
China

• cambrian
• chengjiang
• china
• fuxianospira
• heilinpu
• macroalgae
• tff-oilshale-pfl2612
• yuanshan
• yunnan

Comments

Although originally described as an alga, F. gyrata is now regarded by some authors as a coprolite (e.g., Steiner et al. 2005).
Taxonomy from GBIF.org.
Description and remarks by Chen and Zhou 1997., p. 88 : "Thread cylindrical, unbranchial, with a uniform, flattened width of 1.2mm and a preserved length of at least 20cm. Surface bears a tightly and helically coiled structure.
Remarks: This is the most abundant alga in the Chengjiang biota. Most of the thread are preserved within a microturbidite mud layer and show irregular twisting, indicating that the thread was extremely flexible. Specimens probably sank to the bottom from the overlying water column, in a very low-energy environment, before the incursion of minor mud flow.”

Restoration by Chen and Zhou 1997., p. 89:

References:

Chen, J.Y., and Zhou, G., (1997) Biology of the Chengjiang fauna. Bulletin of the National Museum of Natural Science, v. 10, p. 11–105.
Hou, X., Aldridge, R., Bergstrom, J., Siveter, D.J., Siveter, D., and Feng, X., (2004) The Cambrian Fossils of Chengjiang, China: The Flowering of Early Animal Life. Malden, Wiley Blackwell, 233 p.
Maletz, J., Steiner, M., and Fatka, O., (2005) Middle Cambrian pterobranchs and the question: What is a graptolite? Lethaia, v. 38, p. 73–85.
Fu, X., Wu, M., Zhao, Y., Zhu, W., and Yang, Y., (2012) Discovery of macroalgae from the Cambrian Tsinghsutung Formation of Guizhou. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, v. 51, p. 56–63.
Wang, P.L., LoDuca, S. T., Wu, M. Y. et al., (2021) Benthic primary producers in exceptionally preserved Cambrian biotas of North China, Palaeoworld , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palwor.2021.01.009