Many thanks to Peter for the ID.
Thanks
Frez
Bizarre Diatom? (solved)
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Bizarre Diatom? (solved)
Well this is an odd one. It's shaped like an Amoeba test. Since it was found in a fossil deposit from Oamaru, it's doubtful that it is. I have never seen a test survive the rigors of fossilization or the acid bath used to clean the diatomite. It would have to be siliceous meaning a radiolarian or diatom. What appear to be punctae indicate a diatom, but the overall shape says radiolarian. What do you think?
Many thanks to Peter for the ID.
Thanks
Frez
Many thanks to Peter for the ID.
Thanks
Frez
Last edited by Frez on Sun Oct 21, 2012 12:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Cactusdave
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Peter M. Macdonald
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- Location: Berwickshire, Scotland
Frez,
What you have here is a small-headed flat turnip! Or, to be more precise, the radiolarian Plannapus microcephala. The generic name refers to the flattened turnip-like shape of this species - see Barry O'Connor 1997 "New Radiolaria from the Oligocene and early Miocene of Northland, New Zealand" in Micropaleontology, vol 43, pp. 63-100.
I vividly remember when I bought some Oamaru diatom slides and put the first one under the microscope. This was my first look at Oamaru fossils in the flesh. I knew what to expect with the diatoms, but was really excited to see that some of the slides had as many radiolaria as diatoms. They really are such beautifully sculpted things.
Your picture, being a well executed stack, is much better than any of those in O'Connor's paper.
Regards,
Peter
What you have here is a small-headed flat turnip! Or, to be more precise, the radiolarian Plannapus microcephala. The generic name refers to the flattened turnip-like shape of this species - see Barry O'Connor 1997 "New Radiolaria from the Oligocene and early Miocene of Northland, New Zealand" in Micropaleontology, vol 43, pp. 63-100.
I vividly remember when I bought some Oamaru diatom slides and put the first one under the microscope. This was my first look at Oamaru fossils in the flesh. I knew what to expect with the diatoms, but was really excited to see that some of the slides had as many radiolaria as diatoms. They really are such beautifully sculpted things.
Your picture, being a well executed stack, is much better than any of those in O'Connor's paper.
Regards,
Peter
Hi Peter
Thanks for the excellent ID! After studying Oamaru slides for almost a decade, this is the first time one of these turniped, err...turned ip, turned up!
http://www.radiolaria.org/image.htm?sp_ ... ivision=27 has some examples of the O'Conner plates you may have been referring to.
Thank you again
Frez
Thanks for the excellent ID! After studying Oamaru slides for almost a decade, this is the first time one of these turniped, err...turned ip, turned up!
http://www.radiolaria.org/image.htm?sp_ ... ivision=27 has some examples of the O'Conner plates you may have been referring to.
Thank you again
Frez
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Peter M. Macdonald
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:59 pm
- Location: Berwickshire, Scotland
Frez,
Yes - those are the plates. They look a little better in the original than they do on the web.
I like the idea that the seventh picture is a photo by Haeckel! His multi volume Die Radiolarien is available from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. He was the original author of your species, although he placed it in the genus Dicolocapsa.
Peter
Yes - those are the plates. They look a little better in the original than they do on the web.
I like the idea that the seventh picture is a photo by Haeckel! His multi volume Die Radiolarien is available from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. He was the original author of your species, although he placed it in the genus Dicolocapsa.
Peter