BETA TEST - Fossil data and pages are very much experimental and under development. Please report any problems
Chlorophyta
| Description | Chlorophyta or Prasinophyta is a taxon of green algae informally called chlorophytes. The name is used in two very different senses, so care is needed to determine the use by a particular author. In older classification systems, it refers to a highly paraphyletic group of all the green algae within the green plants (Viridiplantae) and thus includes about 7,000 species of mostly aquatic photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. In newer classifications, it refers to the sister of the streptophytes/charophytes. The clade Streptophyta consists of the Charophyta in which the Embryophyta emerged. In this sense the Chlorophyta includes only about 4,300 species. About 90% of all known species live in freshwater.Like the land plants (bryophytes and tracheophytes), green algae contain chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b and store food as starch in their plastids. From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorophyta, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source Data |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | phylum | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (GBIF) | Life : Plantae : Chlorophyta | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (PBDB) | Life : Chlorophyta | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification (PBDB,GBIF) |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Name | green algae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scientific Name | Chlorophyta | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opinions (PBDB) |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status (PBDB) | extant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 303 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Extant Size (PBDB) | 30 (9.9%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Recorded Appearance | 2,300 - 2,050 Ma Paleoproterozoic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Environment | lagoonal,coastal,inner shelf,marine,brackish,freshwater | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motility | stationary, attached | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diet | photoautotroph | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Reference (PBDB) | W. Kiessling. 2003. Personal data. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Name(s) | Grönalger, Green Algae, Groenwieren, Grønnalger, Kransalger, Зелені водорості, 緑色植物, Algues Vertes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorophyta |
External Images
Fossil Distribution
Subtaxa
| Name | Status | Common Name(s) | Fossil Occurrences | Oldest | Youngest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bryopsidophyceaeclass | listed (PBDB) | 516 | 516 Ma Cambrian | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Chlorodendrophyceae class | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Chlorophyceae class | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 509 | 488 Ma Cambrian | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Chloropicophyceae class | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dasycladophyceae class | listed (PBDB) | 1,633 | 485 Ma Cambrian | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Mamiellophyceae class | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Nephroselmidophyceae class | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Pedinophyceae class | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Picocystophyceae class | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
 Pleurastrophyceaeclass | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | ||||
| Prasinophyceae class | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Pyramimonadophyceae class | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Trebouxiophyceae class | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
 Ulvophyceaeclass | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 68 | 485 Ma Cambrian | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Thaumatoporellales ✝ order | listed (PBDB) | 179 | 247 Ma Early/Lower Triassic | 66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |
| Distomataceae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Monostysisyrinaceae ✝ family | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 269 Ma Permian | 269 Ma Permian | |
| Palaeoberesellidae ✝ family | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 343 Ma Carboniferous | 343 Ma Carboniferous | |
| Calocylindrus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Caulerpites genus | listed (PBDB) | 2 | 13.8 Ma Miocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Chaetetes genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Chaetocladus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Girvanella genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Grypania ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 6 | 2,300 Ma Paleoproterozoic | 635 Ma Neoproterozoic | |
| Indopolia ✝ genus | doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 89.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | 89.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |
| Lanceoforma ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 1,000 Ma Neoproterozoic | 1,000 Ma Neoproterozoic | |
| Leda genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Microfasta ✝ genus | listed (PBDB) | ||||
| Palaeomastigocladus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 89.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | 89.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |
| Paramastix genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Proterotainia ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 2 | 1,000 Ma Neoproterozoic | 1,000 Ma Neoproterozoic | |
| Pseudolatochara genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Pseudopalaeoporella genus | doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 10 | 403 Ma Early/Lower Devonian | 388 Ma Middle Devonian | |
| Schizosporis ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 77 | 252 Ma Permian | 28.4 Ma Oligocene | |
| Sgrossoella ✝ genus | doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 7 | 86.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | 86.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |
| Sinophyllum ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 269 Ma Permian | 269 Ma Permian | |
| Sphaeroporella ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 3 | 347 Ma Carboniferous | 269 Ma Permian | |
| Temnogyra genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Thaumatoporella ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 147 | 247 Ma Early/Lower Triassic | 66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |
| Verticillopora genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Yuknessia genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Conferva intricata species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Conferva major species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Cyanostylon banyolense species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Oncobyrsa adriatica species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
Synonymy List
| Year | Name and Author |
|---|---|
| 1834 | Chlorophyta Reichenbach |
| 1996 | Chlorophyta Margulis p. 1074 |
| 2003 | Chlorophyta Kiessling |
| 2005 | Chlorophyta Adl et al. p. 401 figs. Table 1 |
| 2008 | Chlorophyta Taylor et al. p. 1027 |
References
Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!
Bournemouth, Bournemouth， Christchurch and Poole, England, UK