caa a22 4500 388017570 CHVBK 20180307124915.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161130e199811 xx s 000 0 eng 10.1017/S0022336000027414 doi S0022336000027414 pii (NATIONALLICENCE)cambridge-10.1017/S0022336000027414 Morphological reconstruction of Miaohephyton bifurcatum, a possible brown alga from the Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation, South China [Elektronische Daten] [Shuhai Xiao, Andrew H. Knoll, Xunlai Yuan] On the basis of morphological and taphonomic study of a large sample population, Miaohephyton bifurcatum Steiner, emend. from the terminal Proterozoic Doushantuo Formation (600-550 Ma), South China, is interpreted as algal fragments shed from their parent thalli for reproductive or environmental reasons. Characters such as regularly dichotomous, multicellular thalli with forked tips, apical and intercalary meristematic growth, abscission structures, and possible conceptacles collectively suggest an affinity with the brown algae, in particular the order Fucales. In conjunction with reports of xanthophyte fossils in older Neoproterozoic rocks, this reinterpretation of Miaohephyton bifurcatum indicates that photosynthetic stramenopiles (chrysophytes, synurophytes, xanthophytes, phaeophytes, and diatoms; or chromophytes sensu stricto) diversified during the Neoproterozoic Era along with the red and green algae. This, in turn, suggests that the secondary endosymbiosis that gave rise to the photosynthetic stramenopiles took place relatively soon after the evolutionary transformation of cyanobacteria to rhodophyte plastids. Copyright © The Paleontological Society Xiao Shuhai Botanical Museum, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambrige, Massachusetts 02138, <sxiao@oeb.harvard.edu, aknoll@oeb.harvard.edu> aut Knoll Andrew H. Botanical Museum, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambrige, Massachusetts 02138, <sxiao@oeb.harvard.edu, aknoll@oeb.harvard.edu> aut Yuan Xunlai Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Academia Sinica, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China aut Journal of Paleontology Cambridge University Press 72/6(1998-11), 1072-1086 0022-3360 72:6<1072 1998 72 JPA https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022336000027414 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022336000027414 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Xiao Shuhai Botanical Museum, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambrige, Massachusetts 02138, <sxiao@oeb.harvard.edu, aknoll@oeb.harvard.edu> aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Knoll Andrew H. Botanical Museum, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambrige, Massachusetts 02138, <sxiao@oeb.harvard.edu, aknoll@oeb.harvard.edu> aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Yuan Xunlai Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Academia Sinica, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Journal of Paleontology Cambridge University Press 72/6(1998-11), 1072-1086 0022-3360 72:6<1072 1998 72 JPA CC0 http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-cambridge