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the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
Precambrian palaeontology in the light of molecular phylogeny – an example: the radiation of the green algae
Abstract. The problem of the antiquity of the radiation of the green algae (phylum Viridiplantae) has been hotly debated and is still controversial today. A method combining Precambrian paleontology and molecular phylogeny is applied to shed light on this topic. As a critical method, molecular phylogeny is essential for avoiding taxonomic mistakes. As a heuristic method, it helps us to discern to what extent the presence of such and such clade is likely at such and such time, and it may even suggest the attribution of some fossil to a clade whose taxonomic position will be distinctly defined even though it has no previously known representative. Some well characterized Precambrian fossils of green algae are Palaeastrum and Proterocladus at Svanbergfjellet (ca. 750 Ma), Tasmanites and Pterospermella at Thule (ca. 1200 Ma), Spiromorpha at Ruyang (ca. 1200 Ma) and Leiosphaeridia crassa at Roper (ca. 1450 Ma). The position of these fossils in the taxonomy and the phylogeny of the Viriplantae is discussed. The conclusions are that the Chlorophyceae and the Ulvophyceae were separated long before 750 Ma, that the Chlorophyta and the Streptophyta were separated long before 1200 Ma and that the last common ancestor of the Viridiplantae and the Rhodophyta was possibly two billion years old.
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RC S1604: 'Review of Teyssèdre', Anonymous Referee #3, 05 Oct 2007
- AC S1607: 'Reply to referee 3', Teyssèdre, 09 Oct 2007
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RC S1787: 'Referee Comment', Anonymous Referee #4, 02 Nov 2007
- AC S1865: 'Author's answer', Teyssèdre, 12 Nov 2007
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RC S1604: 'Review of Teyssèdre', Anonymous Referee #3, 05 Oct 2007
- AC S1607: 'Reply to referee 3', Teyssèdre, 09 Oct 2007
-
RC S1787: 'Referee Comment', Anonymous Referee #4, 02 Nov 2007
- AC S1865: 'Author's answer', Teyssèdre, 12 Nov 2007
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Cited
5 citations as recorded by crossref.
- The role of cyanobacteria in the assemblage of the Lakhanda Microbiota T. German & V. Podkovyrov 10.1134/S0031030111020079
- Variations in the Properties of Extractable “Humic Matter” and Associated Kerogen in Sediments through Geologic Time: Their Significance for Precambrian Biological Evolution and Paleoecology T. Jackson 10.1080/01490451.2017.1401182
- Accounting for Uncertainty in the Evolutionary Timescale of Green Plants Through Clock-Partitioning and Fossil Calibration Strategies Y. Nie et al. 10.1093/sysbio/syz032
- Variations in the abundance of photosynthetic oxygen through Precambrian and Paleozoic time in relation to biotic evolution and mass extinctions: evidence from Mn/Fe ratios T. Jackson 10.1016/j.precamres.2015.04.005
- Origin and evolution of green plants in the light of key evolutionary events Z. Zhang et al. 10.1111/jipb.13224