Solenopora Explained

The extinct Solenoporaceae have traditionally been interpreted as a group of red algae ancestral to the Corallinales.^[1]

The genus from which they take their name, Solenopora, originates in the Ordovician.^[2] Unlike the Corallinaceae, this family has large vegetative cells and an undifferentiated thallus.^[2] Additionally there are external, non-calcified sporangia.^[3]

The differences in structure suggest that the holotype is not an alga at all, but rather is a chaetetid sponge. Post-Palaeozoic specimens therefore require re-classification.^[4] However, some algal taxa are still classified within the genus.^[5]

Some specimens of algal Solenopora retain an original pink colouration, which is banded with growth stages of the fossil; this is produced by boron-containing hydrocarbons.

The solenoporaceae mineralized with calcite.^[6]

Other genera within the Solenoporaceae

Although the following other genera have been included in this family, their status is uncertain due to the loose definition of the family.^[7]

• Dendronella Moussavian and Senowbari-Daryan 1988
• Elianella
• Marinella Pfender 1939
• Metasolenopora Pia 1930
• Parachaetetes Deninger 1906
• Pycnoporidium Yabe and Toyama 1928
• Solenoporella Rothpletz
• Tauristorea Senowbari-Daryan and Link 2005

Notes and References

1. 0022-3360. 563–567 . Johnson . 1300291. May 1956. 3. J. H.. Ancestry of the Coralline Algae. 30. Journal of Paleontology.
2. W. H.. J. H.. M. J.. Blackwell. Journal of Phycology. 18. 4. 477–482. 1982. 10.1111/j.0022-3646.1982.00477.x. Marak. Powell. The Identity and Reproductive Structures of a Misplaced Solenopora (Rhodophycophyta) from the Ordovician of Southwestern Ohio and Eastern Indiana1.
3. Book: Phycology . registration . 158 . Solenoporaceae. . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-63883-8 . Lee, R. E. . 1999.
4. Riding . R. . Solenopora is a Chaetetid Sponge, Not an Alga . Palaeontology . 47 . 117–122. 2004 . 10.1111/j.0031-0239.2004.00351.x. free .
5. Wolkenstein . K. . Gross . J. H. . Falk . H. . Boron-containing organic pigments from a Jurassic red alga . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 107 . 45 . 19374–19378 . 2010 . 10.1073/pnas.1007973107. 20974956 . 2010PNAS..10719374W . 2984207 . free .
6. Cozar . P. . Vachard . D. . A new Mississippian red alga from south-western Spain . Geobios . 39 . 6 . 791 . 2006 . 10.1016/j.geobios.2005.09.002.
7. http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=54322 Paleobiology Database