''Wetheredella'' is a genus of

calcimicrobe Characteristic of the Neoproterozoic and Cambrian periods, the heterogeneous group called calcimicrobes are calcareous colonial microfossils, which include many morphologically dissimilar organisms, whose effect in massive aggregations, in associ ...

s initially described from the

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and subsequently reported from the Upper

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

to the end of the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

periods; its reefs are stated as being characteristic of the Ordovician-Silurian periods. Its taxonomic position is uncertain; it has been suggested to be a

foraminiferan Foraminifera ( ; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of Rhizarian protists characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm for catching food and other uses; and commonl ...

, a

cyanobacterium Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteria' ...

or simply treated as a microproblematicum; Vachard & Cózar (2010) refer it to the Algospongia, a similarly controversial group that they assigned to the

Protista A protist ( ) or protoctist is any Eukaryote, eukaryotic organism that is not an animal, Embryophyte, land plant, or fungus. Protists do not form a Clade, natural group, or clade, but are a Paraphyly, paraphyletic grouping of all descendants o ...

but later, per Vachard, 2021, to

Algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

''incertae sedis'', in its own family (Wetheredellidae or Wetheredellaceae) and suborder (Wetheredellina) in the order Moravamminida (= Moravamminales). The genus is named in honor of the geologist Edward Wethered. ''Wetheredella'' is characterized by calcified tubes encrusting a foreign body, with convex outer surfaces and inner surfaces coiled around the encrusted grain. Recently it has been shown that structures matching the description of ''Wetheredella'' can be produced by sectioning of '' Allomena'', meaning that ''Wetheredella'' is possibly a junior synonym of ''Allomena''.

References

Foraminifera genera {{Silurian-stub