Problematic Mesoproterozoic fossil Horodyskia from Glacier National Park, Montana, USA
Retallack GJ, Dunn KL, Saxby J. 2013. Problematic Mesoproterozoic fossil Horodyskia from Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Precambrian Research. 226:125-142
Fossil investigation from the Appekunny Argillite geologic formation in Glacier National Park. Examination of string-of-beads fossils (Horodyskia moniliformis and H. williamsii) collected from scree and outcrops of the 1.48 Ga lower Appekunny Argillite of Glacier National Park reveals that the beads are associated with a system of tubes and other tubes radiating outward from each bead. Partial burial and branching of these tubes may be evidence of a benthic sessile life style. A variety of explanations are falsified by new observations. A working hypothesis is that Horodyskia beads were endolichen bladders, comparable with living Geosiphon pyriformis (Archaeosporales, Glomeromycota, Fungi), which has heterocystic cyanobacterial photosymbionts (Nostoc punctiforme).
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Retallack, Gregory; Dunn, Kimberley; Saxby, Jennifer
- Units
- CRCO , GLAC
- Keywords
- Appekunny Argillite, Geology, Horodyskia, Mesoproterozoic, Montana, Paleoclimate, string of beads fossil, Stromatolite
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Paleontology | Paleontology