Abstract
The record of Paleozoic algal diversity is strongly biased toward calcareous and stromatolitic types due to the general paucity of well preserved compression fossils of other taxa. A new genus, Thalassocystis (type species T. striata) is described on the basis of compression fossils in middle Silurian dolomite from the northern peninsula of Michigan. The plant is characterized by a short branched thallus, each branch terminated by an enlarged bladder-like structure. The plants were deposited in a tropical, shallow water marine environment but whether they were benthic, adventive to the pelagic zone, or completely pelagic cannot be determined from the evidence available.
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