Discoaster
Extinct genus of single-celled organisms
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Discoaster is a genus of extinct star-shaped marine algae, with calcareous exoskeletons of between 5-40 μm across that are abundant as nanofossils in tropical deep-ocean deposits of Neogene age. Discoaster belongs to the haptophytes. About 100 species can be recognized.[2]
| Discoaster Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| |
| Discoaster surculus, about 15 μm across | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Haptista |
| Division: | Haptophyta |
| Class: | Prymnesiophyceae |
| Order: | †Discoasterales |
| Family: | †Discoasteraceae |
| Genus: | †Discoaster S.H. Tan, 1931 |
Biostratigraphic significance
The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) has assigned the extinction of Discoaster brouweri as the defining biological marker for the start of the Calabrian Stage of the Pleistocene, 1.806 million years ago. ICS has assigned the extinction of Discoaster pentaradiatus and Discoaster surculus as the defining biological marker for the start of the Gelasian Stage, 2.588 million years ago, the earliest stage of the Pleistocene. ICS further assigned the extinction of Discoaster kugleri as biological marker for the start of the Tortonian Stage of the Miocene, 11.62 million years ago.
Species
Some species in this genus include:[2][3][4]
Discoaster Species Authority D. asymmetricus Gartner D. bellus Bukry & Percival D. berggrenii Bukry D. bollii Martini & Bramlette D. brouweri Bramlette & Riedel D. calcaris Gartner D. exilis Martini & Bramlette D. hamatus Martini & Bramlette D. intercalaris Bukry D. kugleri Martini & Bramlette (1963) D. loeblichii Bukry D. neohamatus Bukry & Bramlette D. neorectus Bukry D. pentaradiatus (Tan, 1931) Bramlette & Riedel D. quintatus Gartner D. surculus Martini & Bramlette D. toralus Ellis, Lohmann, & Wray D. triradiatus Tan (1931) D. variabilis Martini & Bramlette D. arneyi —
