Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 9, 2026

Morania

Morania is a genus of cyanobacterium preserved as carbonaceous films in the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. it is present throughout the shale; 2580 specimens of Morania are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 4.90% of the community. It is filamentous, forms sheets, and resembles the modern cyanobacterium Nostoc. It would have had a role in binding the sediment, and would have been a food source for such organisms as Odontogriphus and Wiwaxia.

Last revised
Jul 9, 2026
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≈ 1 min
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Morania
Temporal range:
Morania fragmenta fossil from Millard County, Utah
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Bacteria
Kingdom: Bacillati
Phylum: Cyanobacteriota
Genus: †Morania

Morania is a genus of cyanobacterium preserved as carbonaceous films1 in the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale.2 it is present throughout the shale;3 2580 specimens of Morania are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 4.90% of the community.2 It is filamentous,1 forms sheets,3 and resembles the modern cyanobacterium Nostoc.1 It would have had a role in binding the sediment,3 and would have been a food source for such organisms as Odontogriphus and Wiwaxia.3

References

References

  1. Carroll Lane Fenton (1943). "Pre-Cambrian and Early Paleozoic algae". American Midland Naturalist. 30 (1): 83–111. doi:10.2307/2421265. JSTOR 2421265.
  2. Caron, Jean-Bernard; Jackson, Donald A. (October 2006). "Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale". PALAIOS. 21 (5): 451–65. Bibcode:2006Palai..21..451C. doi:10.2110/palo.2003.P05-070R. JSTOR 20173022. S2CID 53646959.
  3. Caron, J. B.; Jackson, D. A. (2008). "Paleoecology of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 258 (3): 222–256. Bibcode:2008PPP...258..222C. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.05.023.
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