Miaohephyton

Miaohephyton Temporal range: Ediacaran PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Chromalveolata
Phylum:	Heterokontophyta
Class:	Phaeophyceae (?)
Genus:	†Miaohephyton Chen, 1991 emend. Steiner, 1994
Binomial name
M. bifurcatum Chen, 1991 emend. Steiner, 1994[1]
Synonyms
Gracilogia Ding, 1992

Miaohephyton is a carbonaceous compression fossil of a thalloid organism that has been interpreted as a brown alga.^[1] Its Neoproterozoic age (600 to 550 million years ago) is incompatible with molecular clocks that estimate the divergence of the brown algae around 300 million years ago, leading to suggestions that its "brown algal" features are the result of convergence.^[2]

The organism grew both by apical growth (leading to bifurcation) and intercalary growth (increasing the distances between nodes).^[1] Some specimens are smooth, whereas others bear rounded structures that are interpreted as conceptacles.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Shuhai Xiao; Andrew H. Knoll; Xunlai Yuan (November 1998). "Morphological Reconstruction of Miaohephyton bifurcatum, a Possible Brown Alga from the Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation, South China". Journal of Paleontology 72 (6): 1072–1086. doi:10.2307/1306737. JSTOR 1306737.  edit
2. ^ Brown, J. W.; Sorhannus, U. (2010). "A Molecular Genetic Timescale for the Diversification of Autotrophic Stramenopiles (Ochrophyta): Substantive Underestimation of Putative Fossil Ages". PLoS ONE 5 (9): e12759. Bibcode 2010PLoSO...512759B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012759. PMC 2940848. PMID 20862282. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2940848.  edit