''Ramathallus'' is a genus of sessile lobate alga that represents a probable stem-
Rhodophyte from the
Upper Statherian, 1600 Million years ago.
The holotype of ''Ramathallus lobatus'' shows a cell structure with finger-like protrusions and a coating of non-cellular apatic. The cells have a dark granular material inside of them.
The organism grew by apical growth and possessed
pseudoparenchymatous thallus which in turn infer a possible affinity with the
Florideophyceae
Florideophyceae is a class of exclusively multicellular red algae. They were once thought to be the only algae to bear pit connections, but these have since been found in the filamentous stage of the Bangiaceae. They were also thought only to ex ...
. Many lobate protrusions radiated from the organisms centre composed out of pseudoparenchymatous tissue interpreted as "Cell fountains" made up of variably-sized cells. ''Ramathallus'' shares a close morphological similarity with the
Ediacaran
The Ediacaran ( ) is a geological period of the Neoproterozoic geologic era, Era that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period at 635 Million years ago, Mya to the beginning of the Cambrian Period at 538.8 Mya. It is the last ...
genera made up of pseudoparenchymatous, lobate fossils (''
Thallophyca'', ''
Thallophycoides'', ''
Paramecia'' and ''
Gremiphyca'') from the Doushantuo phosphorites of
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
See also
*
Proterozoic
The Proterozoic ( ) is the third of the four geologic eons of Earth's history, spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8 Mya, and is the longest eon of Earth's geologic time scale. It is preceded by the Archean and followed by the Phanerozo ...
*
Red algae
Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), make up one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta comprises one of the largest Phylum, phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 recognized species within over 900 Genus, genera amidst ongoing taxon ...
*''
Rafatazmia''
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q115802033
Florideophyceae
Red algae
Proterozoic Asia
Prehistoric eukaryote genera
Mesoproterozoic