The
first fossils of multicellular green algae appear in the Cambrian
strata of the early Paleozoic Era. Margaretia as shown here was
a thin, frond-like green, carbonaceous algae resembling modern kelp.
Complete algal fossils, identified as Yuknessia simplex and Margaretia
dorus as seen here have also been found in the Burgess shale of
Canada; both genus have been classified as Chlorophytes, a distinct
branch of green algae from the Streptophytes that eventually gave
rise to the land plants. This taxon awaits further study.
Although
Briggs book (see reference below) shows up to three fronds growing
from the base, in Utah I've only seen single and double fronds attached
to the base. A network of small oval holes perforates the fronds.
A few scientists believe Margaretia were a type of sponge or alcyonarian
coral. Margaretia are one of the more common megascopic algae in
the Wheeler and Marjum Formations, but they are usually poorly preserved
and rarely found in the size and having the contrast of this specimen.
Actually, together with filamentous cyanobacteria (commonly called
blue-green algae), algae like Margaretia built large reef systems
that not only supported Cambrian marine life, but photosynthetically
augmented atmospheric oxygen levels thus further driving the amazing
eukaryotic diversification known as the Cambrian Explosion.
This
is both a large and detailed specimen. Note the picture of a section
of the specimen showing a ruffled, sometimes spiny edge, a detail
that usually is not perserved.
Reference:
The Fossils of the Burgess Shale by D. E. Briggs, et al.
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