Ivanovia
Extinct genus of algae
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Ivanovia is an extinct genus of marine green algae belonging to the order Bryopsidales and family Anchicodiaceae (sometimes placed in the family Codiaceae).[3] Species belonging to the genus lived from the Pennsylvanian to the Permian and have been found in the Moscow basin, North America, Italy, Tunisia, and China.[1][4][2][3]
| Ivanovia | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Chlorophyta |
| Class: | Ulvophyceae |
| Order: | Bryopsidales |
| Family: | †Anchicodiaceae |
| Genus: | †Ivanovia Khvorova 1946 |
| Species[1][2][3] | |
|
Ivanovia permica | |
Members of the genus have thalli (leaflike photosynthetic structures) that are cyathiform (cuplike in shape.) There are indications that asexual reproduction took place through budding of the thalli.[2] Sexual reproduction also took place, through reproductive structures in stalked outgrowths of the thalli (oogonia and gametangia, the female and male reproductive structures of green algae.)[3]
Bioherms (fossil algal mounds) constructed by Ivanovia are prominent in the Paradox Formation of the Colorado Plateau, where they are important petroleum reservoirs.[5][6]
It is possible that Ivanovia is a taphotaxon of Anchicondium or Eugonophyllum; that is, a characteristic diagenetic alteration of an original fossil organism that lacks taxonomic significance.[7]