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Evolution Caught in the Act: Evidence from Microfossil Morphology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2017

Stephen J. Culver
Stephen J. Culver*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858-4353
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Microfossils are of prime importance in documenting patterns of evolution due to their great abundance (often tens of thousands to millions of specimens in a hand sample) and widespread distribution (in both time and space) in the fossil record. The term “microfossil” is often used for paleontological material that requires a microscope for its study, no matter what its biological affinities. For the purposes of this article we will be looking at the remains of protists (single-celled organisms). The several examples I discuss in this chapter are of three groups of planktonic (floating) protists: the calcareous nannoplankton (tiny plant-like protists whose single cell is covered in minute calcitic scales), the radiolaria (animal-like protists with siliceous shells), and the planktonic foraminifera (animal-like protists with calcitic shells). These organisms have been the subject of extensive study because the material from which they are often extracted, cores of deep-sea sediments, are usually comprised of a more complete sedimentological record (i.e., have fewer breaks) than shallow shelf deposits. Hypotheses of evolutionary history have been constructed for many groups (lineages) of microfossils using specimens from deep-sea cores. Ancestor-descendent relationships have been recognized by tracking shape and form (morphologic) changes through time. This approach to reconstruction of evolutionary history provides an empirical record of morphologic evolution; that is, a record based on observations.

Type
Section 3: Evidence for Evolution
Information
The Paleontological Society Special Publications , Volume 11: Evolution: Investigating the Evidence, 2nd ed. , 2002 , pp. 127 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © 1999, 2002 by The Paleontological Society 

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