Nannotax3 - ntax_main - Papposphaeraceae

Nannotax3 - ntax_main - Papposphaeraceae Nannotax3 - ntax_main - Papposphaeraceae

Papposphaeraceae

Classification: ntax_main -> Coccolith families inc sed -> Papposphaeraceae
Sister taxa: Alisphaeraceae, Papposphaeraceae, Umbellosphaeraceae, narrow rimmed placoliths, Goniolithaceae, Coccolith genera inc sed, U. heterococcoliths

Daughter taxa (time control age-window is: 0-800Ma)		Granddaughter taxa
	Coccolith distal rim serrated
	Papposphaera Coccolith distal rim serrated - elements pentagonal; Coccosphere varimorphic, or dimorphic. All coccoliths have spines but CFCs typically have longer spines and larger calices.	Papposphaera lepida Papposphaera obpyramidalis Pappomonas vexillata Papposphaera sp. type 1 Papposphaera sp. type 4 Papposphaera sp. type 5 Papposphaera sp. type 6 Papposphaera sp. type 2 Papposphaera sagittifera Papposphaera sarion Papposphaera arctica Papposphaera iugifera Papposphaera heldalii Papposphaera thomsenii Papposphaera bourrellii Papposphaera sp. type 3 Papposphaera sp. cf. type 3 Pappomonas sp. type 3 Papposphaera simplicissima Papposphaera sp.
	Pappomonas Coccolith distal rim serrated - elements pentagonal; Coccosphere dimorphic or trimorphic. Processes only on CFCs coccoliths. Calices with 2-fold symmetry BCs without axial spine or node	Pappomonas borealis Pappomonas flabellifera Pappomonas garrisonii Pappomonas weddellensis Pappomonas sp. type 1 Pappomonas sp. type 4 Pappomonas sp. type 5 Pappomonas sp.
	Balaniger Coccolith distal rim with separated elements Coccosphere dimorphic - spines only on some coccoliths, calyx of four rods	Balaniger virgulosa
	Formonsella Coccolith distal rim weakly serrated - elements imbricate rods; Coccosphere dimorphic - BCs with irregular tiles & calicate coccoliths with conical calices	Formonsella pyramidosa
	Quaternariella Coccolith distal rim serrated - elements pentagonal; ?monomorphic, no process	Quaternariella obscura
	Coccolith distal rim smooth; process variable
	Ventimolina Coccoliths hoop-shaped with axial cross; BCs with low windmill-like calyx; CFCs with large bladed process	Ventimolina stellata
	Wigwamma Coccoliths hoop-shaped with rods rising from rim to form wigwam-like structure	Wigwamma annulifera Wigwamma antarctica Wigwamma arctica Wigwamma armatura Wigwamma triradiata Wigwamma sp.
	Pseudowigwamma Monomorphic - body coccoliths are simple hoop-like coccoliths.	Pseudowigwamma scenozonion
	Coccolith distal rim smooth; long, hollow, quadrate, processes on some liths
	Kataspinifera Coccosphere dimorphic. CFCs (and some dispersed liths) with very long spines BCs with very low wall, axial cross and short spine;	Kataspinifera baumannii Kataspinifera sp.
	Picarola Coccospheres varimorphic. All liths with curved quadrate process, but CFCs with larger processes.	Picarola margalefii Picarola sp.
	Vexillarius Coccosphere dimorphic. CFCs (and some dispersed liths) with quadrate central process supported by transverse bar. BCs open or with concetric/longitudinal bars.	Vexillarius cancellifer Vexillarius cereus Vexillarius iaculifer Vexillarius sp. 1 Vexillarius acerviphora Vexillarius sp.
	Fossil genus
	Pocillithus Coccoliths with tall, narrow, quadrate spines; high rim with smooth distal rim. Only known from fossil record,	Pocillithus crucifer Pocillithus spinulifer Pocillithus macleodii Pocillithus sp. - Cretaceous

Taxonomy:

Citation: Papposphaeraceae Jordan & Young, 1990 emend Andruleit & Young 2010

Taxonomic rank: family

Synonyms: The group is sometimes informally refered to as "lightly-calcified coccolithophores".

Taxonomic discussion: The Papposphaeraceae as originally described only included the genera Papposphaera and Pappomonas. Subsequently Andruleit & Young (2010) extended the family to include the narrow-rimmed muroliths group of Young et al. (2003)- i.e. the genera Kataspinifera, Picarola, Vexilarius and Wigwamma.
Additional genera have since been described by Thomsen and co-workers - Formonsella, Porsilidia, and Ventimolina as well as the heterococcolith stage of Quaternariella.
NB Some online databases suggest that the Papposphaeraceae should be considered a junior synonym of the Deflandriaceae (= Prediscosphaeraceae). As discussed by Jordan & Young (1990), this is an outdated suggestion made by Norris (1983) based on superficial similarities between Papposphaera and the Cretaceous genus Prediscosphaera.

Distinguishing features:
Parent taxon (Coccolith families inc sed): 2N: Various heterococcolith groups not obviously related to the well-defined orders
N: mostly unknown
This taxon: Narrow-rimmed muroliths, mostly with prominent central structures.

Farinacci & Howe catalog pages:
Papposphaeraceae + *

Morphology:

As noted by Andruleit & Young (2010) five morphological features characterise this group

The coccoliths have simple narrow murolith rims, i.e. they have a narrow sub-vertical outer wall without flanges. In Pappomonas and Papposphaera the rim has a serrated upper margin whilst it is smooth in the other genera.
Rim structure. Typically the majority of the rim is formed of a single cycle of directly abutting elements with sub-vertical sutures. In addition a second cycle of elements occurs proximally, with one of these interposed elements between each of the larger elements.
Central area structure. Most species show either an axial cross or an axial cross plus additional elements.
Spine structure. The different genera have distinctly different central processes. In each case though these are hollow structures with quadrate cross-section.
Size. All these genera are characterized by production of small coccospheres (c. 5 µm excluding spines) and minute coccoliths (coccolith length typically 1–2 µm)

The coccospheres in this group typically show two types of coccoliths; body coccoliths and coccoliths with tall-processes.
The tall-process coccoliths may be confined to the circum-flagellar pole or may also occur elsewhere, at the antapical pole and/or scattered around the edge of the coccosphere. Where they occur away from the flagellar pole they are usually varimorphic, with the processes varying in height and in development of calices.
The body coccoliths often have no central process or only a rudimentary one but in other cases the entire coccosphere is varimorphic with the BCs having processes similar to the tall-process coccoliths.

Ecology & Biogeography

These occur predominantly in the Arctic and Antarctic and in the deep photic zone at lower latitudes. Chloroplasts have not been observed in these taxa and they have well-developed haptonemata, so they are thought to be heterotrophic (Thomsen & Ostergaard 2015).

Biology & life-cycles

Several species of Papposphaera and Pappomonas are known to have holococcolith stages from observations of combination coccospheres (e.g Thomsen et al. 1991). Thse holococoliths were previously placed in the genra Turrisphaera and Trigonaspis. No species have been cultured succesfully.

Phylogenetic relations

No molecular genetic data is available for this group. However, the fact that they form both typical holococcoliths and typical heterococcoliths in alternate life-cycle stages, strongly suggests they fall within the clade of holococcolith producing coccolithophores (Young et al. 2005, Andruleit & Young 2010).

Search data:

Lith size: 0.5->2µm;

The morphological data given here can be used on the advanced search page. See also these notes

Geological Range:
Last occurrence (top): Extant. Data source: Total of ranges of the species in this database
First occurrence (base): within Turonian Stage (89.39-93.90Ma, base in Turonian stage). Data source: Total of ranges of species in this database

Plot of occurrence data:

Range-bar - range as quoted above, pink interval top occurs in, green interval base occurs in.
Triangles indicate an event for which a precise placement has been suggested
See also: customisable plot Parent: Coccolith families inc sed

References:

Andruleit, H. & Young, J. R. (2010). Kataspinifera baumannii: a new genus and species of deep photic coccolithophores resembling the non-calcifying haptophyte Chrysochromulina. Journal of Micropalaeontology. 29: 135-147. gs

Dunkley Jones, T., Bown, P. R. & Pearson, P. (2009). Exceptionally well preserved upper Eocene to lower Oligocene calcareous nannofossils (Prymnesiophycidae) from the Pande Formation (Kilwa Group), Tanzania. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 7(4): 359-411. gs

Jordan, R. W. & Young, J. R. (1990). Proposed changes to the classification system of living Coccolithophorids. INA Newsletter. 12(1): 15-18. gs

Norris, R. E. (1983). The family position of Papposphaera Tangen and Pappomonas Manton & Oates (Prymnesiophyceae) with records from the Indian Ocean. Phycologia. 22(2): 161-169. gs

Thomsen, H. A. & Ostergaard, J. B. (2015). Coccolithophorids in Polar Waters: Trigonaspis spp. revisited. Acta Protozoologica. 54: 85-96. gs

Thomsen, H. A., Ostergaard, J. B. & Hansen, L. E. (1991). Heteromorphic life histories in Arctic coccolithophorids (Prymnesiophyceae). Journal of Phycology. 27: 634-642. gs

Young, J. R., Geisen, M. & Probert, I. (2005). A review of selected aspects of coccolithophore biology with implications for palaeobiodiversity estimation. Micropaleontology. 51(4): 267-288. gs

Papposphaeraceae compiled by Jeremy R. Young, Paul R. Bown, Jacqueline A. Lees viewed: 6-2-2026

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Short stable page link: https://mikrotax.org/Nannotax3/index.php?id=1029 Go to Archive.is to create a permanent copy of this page - citation notes

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