Research on Morphology of Modern Microbial Colonies and the Implication for Interpreting the Affinities of the Ediacara Biota

详细信息   

• 责任者：Lei Ming （State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics ; Department of Geology ; Northwest University ; Xi’an 710069 ; China） ; Zhang Xingliang
• 刊名：Acta Palaeontologica Sinica
• 出版年：2008
• 卷期：47(4)
• 关键词：微生物 ; microorganisms ; 形态学 ; morphology ; 化石 ; fossils
• 页码：p.468-476
• 图表：4 illus., 6 tables, 26 refs.
• 分类号：1101
• issnNo：ISSN0001-6616
• isbnNo：CN32-1188/Q

摘要

In this study, through continuous pure cultivation in laboratory, the authors obtained diverse forms of microbial colonies. The morphological comparison between fossils of Ediacara biota and modern microbial colonies reveals that 1) Aspidella shows similarities to disc-like microbial colonies in the body shape and the radial ridges on the surface; 2) the “rangeomorphs” shows similarity to microbial colonies with fractal-like branches structure in the branching structure; 3) Arkarua adami shows similarity to pentagonal microbial colonies in the pentagonal body shape; 4) Kimberella shows similarity to disc-like microbial colonies with radial ridges at the edge in the disk-like body shape and the surface pattern; and 5) Albumares brunsae shows similarity to microbial colonies with radial ridges on the surface. These results of comparative studies imply that microbial colonies can develop many shapes similar to some fossils of the Ediacaran biota. Therefore, this study provides a new possibility to interpret affinities of numerous fossils from the Ediacara biota.