''Morania'' is a genus of
cyanobacterium
Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blue ...
preserved as
carbonaceous film
A carbonaceous film or carbon film is an organism outline of a fossil. It is a type of fossil found in any rock when organic material is compressed, leaving only a carbon residue or film.
When an organism is buried under many layers of sedimen ...
s
in the
Middle Cambrian
Middle or The Middle may refer to:
* Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits.
Places
* Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man
* Middle Bay (disambiguation)
* Middle Brook (disambiguation)
* Middle Creek (di ...
Burgess Shale
The Burgess Shale is a fossil-bearing deposit exposed in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, Canada. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils. At old (middle Cambrian), it is one of the earliest foss ...
.
it is present throughout the shale;
2580 specimens of ''Morania'' are known from the Greater
Phyllopod bed
The Phyllopod bed, designated by USNM locality number 35k, is the most famous fossil-bearing member of the Burgess Shale fossil ''Lagerstätte''. It was quarried by Charles Walcott from 1911–1917 (and later named Walcott Quarry), and was t ...
, where they comprise 4.90% of the community.
It is filamentous,
forms sheets,
and resembles the modern cyanobacterium ''
Nostoc
''Nostoc'', also known as star jelly, troll’s butter, spit of moon, fallen star, witch's butter (not to be confused with the fungi commonly known as witches' butter), and witch’s jelly, is the most common genus of cyanobacteria found in vari ...
''.
It would have had a role in binding the sediment,
and would have been a food source for such organisms as ''
Odontogriphus
''Odontogriphus'' (from el, ὀδούς , 'tooth' and el, γρῖφος , 'riddle') is a genus of soft-bodied animals known from middle Cambrian Lagerstätte. Reaching as much as in length, ''Odontogriphus'' is a flat, oval bilaterian which ap ...
'' and ''
Wiwaxia
''Wiwaxia'' is a genus of soft-bodied animals that were covered in carbonaceous scales and spines that protected it from predators. ''Wiwaxia'' fossils – mainly isolated scales, but sometimes complete, articulated fossils – are known from ear ...
''.
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q16985953
†Morania
Prehistoric bacteria
Burgess Shale fossils
Wheeler Shale
Cambrian genus extinctions