Morania
Encyclopedia
Morania is a genus of cyanobacterium preserved as carbonaceous film
s 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
.
Carbonaceous film
A carbonaceous film is an organism outline of a fossil. It is a type of fossil found in any rock when organic material is compressed, leaving a thick carbon film....
s in the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale
Burgess Shale
The Burgess Shale Formation, located in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, is one of the world's most celebrated fossil fields, and the best of its kind. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils...
. it is present throughout the shale; 2580 specimens of Morania are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed
Phyllopod bed
The Phyllopod bed, designated by USNM locality number 35k, is the most famous fossil-bearing member of the Burgess shale fossil lagerstatte. It was quarried by Charles Walcott from 1911–1917, and was the source of 95% of the fossils he collected during this time;tens of thousands of...
, where they comprise 4.90% of the community. It is filamentous, forms sheets, and resembles the modern cyanobacterium Nostoc
Nostoc
Nostoc is a genus of cyanobacteria found in a variety of environmental niches that forms colonies composed of filaments of moniliform cells in a gelatinous sheath.The name "Nostoc" was invented by Paracelsus...
. It would have had a role in binding the sediment, and would have been a food source for such organisms as Odontogriphus
Odontogriphus
Odontogriphus is a genus of soft-bodied animals known from middle Cambrian Lagerstätte. Reaching as much as in length, Odontogriphus is a flat, oval bilaterian which apparently had a single muscular foot, and a "shell" on its back that was moderately rigid but of a material unsuited to...
and Wiwaxia
Wiwaxia
Wiwaxia is a genus of soft-bodied, scale-covered animals known from Burgess shale type Lagerstätte dating from the upper Lower Cambrian to Middle Cambrian. The organisms are mainly known from dispersed sclerites; articulated specimens, where found, range from to a little over 50.8 millimeters in...
.