Algae

Algae are any of a large and diverse group of photosynthetic organisms. It excludes the land plants (embryophytes). Such organisms range from microscopic unicellular microalgae to seaweeds, multicellular macroalgae which may grow up to 50 metres (160 ft) in length. Most algae are aquatic, and some form cohesive colonies. Freshwater algae include Charophyta such as the filamentous Spirogyra and the grasslike stoneworts. Most algae are plankton carried passively by water, although some macroalgae have holdfasts for anchorage.

Algae

Toby Hudson · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
PlantaePBDB
Diet
"photoautotroph"PBDB

Time the record covers

At least 999 million years on record.

The record covers at least 1000 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 1600 Mya to 0 Mya.

Cambrian — about 62 of 875 occurrencesOrdovician — about 23 of 875 occurrencesSilurian — about 34 of 875 occurrencesDevonian — about 17 of 875 occurrencesCarboniferous — about 85 of 875 occurrencesPermian — about 18 of 875 occurrencesEarly Triassic — about 6 of 875 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 0 of 875 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 12 of 875 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 1 of 875 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 11 of 875 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 2 of 875 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 57 of 875 occurrencesLate Cretaceous — about 214 of 875 occurrencesPaleocene — about 111 of 875 occurrencesEocene — about 94 of 875 occurrencesOligocene — about 11 of 875 occurrencesMiocene — about 29 of 875 occurrencesPliocene — about 0 of 875 occurrencesPleistocene — about 38 of 875 occurrences1632–1578 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1578–1523 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1523–1469 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1469–1414 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1414–1360 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1360–1306 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1306–1251 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1251–1197 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1197–1142 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1142–1088 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1088–1034 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1034–979 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences979–925 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences925–870 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences870–816 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences816–762 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences762–707 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences653–598 Mya — about 16 occurrences598–544 Mya — about 24 occurrences544–490 Mya — about 61 occurrences490–435 Mya — about 31 occurrences435–381 Mya — about 42 occurrences381–326 Mya — about 9 occurrences326–272 Mya — about 86 occurrences272–218 Mya — about 24 occurrences218–163 Mya — about 18 occurrences163–109 Mya — about 44 occurrences109–54 Mya — about 344 occurrences54–0 Mya — about 172 occurrences1000 Mya11.7 ka1632 Mya0 Mya

875 occurrences of Algae on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

875 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

169 formations

La Colonia — 42.99°S, 67.67°WLa Colonia — 43.10°S, 67.75°WLa Colonia — 42.52°S, 66.84°WLa Colonia — 42.97°S, 67.54°WLa Colonia — 43.01°S, 67.62°WFort Union — 46.35°N, 103.87°WFort Union — 46.02°N, 103.76°WGraham — 33.27°N, 98.11°WGraham — 33.18°N, 98.12°WGraham — 33.16°N, 98.16°WGraham — 33.14°N, 98.21°WGraham — 33.29°N, 98.25°WGraham — 33.00°N, 98.54°WGraham — 33.10°N, 98.40°WGraham — 33.12°N, 98.30°WBurgess Shale — 51.44°N, 116.47°WBurgess Shale — 51.03°N, 115.83°WMonte Chico — 51.59°S, 72.41°WMonte Chico — 51.18°S, 72.29°WAllen — 38.78°S, 67.93°WAllen — 38.77°S, 68.01°WBima — 12.08°N, 13.14°EPuntudo Chico - La Colonia — 43.01°S, 66.47°WBentiu — 9.35°N, 29.13°EHell Creek — 46.35°N, 103.87°WHell Creek — 46.02°N, 103.76°WJagüel — 38.84°S, 67.88°WJagüel — 35.83°S, 69.67°WCaddo Creek — 33.20°N, 98.11°WCaddo Creek — 33.14°N, 98.21°WCaddo Creek — 33.05°N, 98.40°WCaddo Creek — 33.17°N, 98.16°WCaddo Creek — 33.12°N, 98.30°WCullen — 52.87°S, 68.41°WCullen — 53.00°S, 68.67°WAradeiba — 9.35°N, 29.13°EAorangi Mine — 40.68°S, 172.68°EAorangi Mine — 40.72°S, 172.44°EAorangi Mine — 41.67°S, 172.39°EWarrior — 40.82°N, 77.93°WBentiu — 11.03°N, 27.74°EDengying — 30.81°N, 111.15°EDengying — 24.47°N, 102.77°EDengying — 32.35°N, 106.82°EDengying — 30.79°N, 111.05°EChorrillo — 50.51°S, 72.56°WCerro Bororó — 43.67°S, 67.75°WBaraka — 9.35°N, 29.13°EZarga-Ghazal — 9.35°N, 29.13°ELost Branch — 37.20°N, 95.42°WCerro Cazador — 51.59°S, 72.41°WCerro Cazador — 51.18°S, 72.22°W

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The named rock units Algae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 145 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 176 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Algae and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Algae and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

2,044 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 659 sites for Algae, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

184 references

Each of the 875 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 172 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Algae

Credit
Toby Hudson
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itPlantae through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0.