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Johan Lindgren

Johan Lindgren

Senior lecturer

Johan Lindgren

The fossil alga Chaetocladus gracilis revisited : new material from the Silurian of Sweden

Author

  • Johan Pettersson
  • Per Ahlberg
  • Anders Lindskog
  • Johan Lindgren
  • Mats E. Eriksson

Summary, in English

In 2006, a new species of non-calcified dasycladalean alga, Chaetocladus gracilis, from the upper Silurian of Skåne (Scania), southernmost Sweden, was erected. The original description was based on a single incomplete fossil recovered from the abandoned limestone quarry at Bjärsjölagård, a classic geologic locality in Scania. Here we present four additional and, importantly, more complete specimens from this same site and type stratum. This new material largely corroborates the general anatomical features of C. gracilis, but also adds some intricate details, most notably with regards to the external sheet-like phytoleim and organisation of the laterals. Elemental mapping confirmed an expected carbonaceous composition of the fossils, which are embedded in a calcareous mudstone. These additional fossils show that the originally described specimen was not a singular occurrence at this locality. Based on the state of preservation of our algal fossils, we note that the mudstone facies of the Ludlow Bjärsjölagård Limestone Member of the Klinta Formation (Öved-Ramsåsa Group), from which all C. gracilis have been recovered, share characteristics with deposits typically referred to as “algal-Lagerstätten”.

Department/s

  • Department of Geology

Publishing year

2020

Language

English

Pages

304-308

Publication/Series

GFF

Volume

142

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Geology

Keywords

  • algal-Lagerstätte
  • Bjärsjölagård Limestone
  • Dasycladalean algae
  • Klinta Formation
  • Lau Event

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1103-5897