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The early Mesozoic radiation of dinoflagellates.
| Fensome, R.A., MacRae, R. A., Moldowan, J. M., Taylor, F. J. R., and Williams, G. | |
| 1996 | |
| Paleobiology, 22(3), pp. 329-338.Paleobiology, 22(3), pp. 329-338. | |
| The early Mesozoic radiation of dinoflagellates. |
Fensome, R. A., MacRae, R. A., Moldowan, J. M., Taylor, F. J. R., and Williams, G.L., 1996. The early Mesozoic radiation of dinoflagellates. Paleobiology, 22(3), pp. 329-338. Abstract.--Dinoflagellates are a major component of the marine microplankton and, from fossil evidence, appear to have been so for the past 200 million years. In contrast, the pre-Triassic record contains only equivocal occurrences of dinoflagellates, despite the fact that comparative ultrastructural and molecular phylogenetic evidence indicates a Precambrian origin for the lineage. Thus, it has often been assumed that the dearth of Paleozoic fossil dinoflagellates was due to a lack of preservation or recognition and that the relatively sudden appearance of dinoflagellates in the Mesozoic is an artifact of the record. However, new evidence from a detailed analysis of the fossil record and from the biogeochemical record indicates that dinoflagellates did indeed undergo a major evolutionary radiation in the early Mesozoic.