Abstract
Exceptionally preserved organic-walled microfossils of the Svanbergfjellet Formation, Svalbard document the diversity of eukaryotes in a Tonian (1,000–720 million years ago) shallow sea. We review this fossil Lagerstätte and re-sample it at the highest stratigraphic resolution to date. We place the Lagerstätte in an updated age model and evaluate fossil taphonomy. The Svanbergfjellet Formation is one of the most biodiverse units in the Tonian, ∼50% more diverse than the average fossiliferous Tonian unit. It notably preserves the green alga Proterocladus and the possible green alga Palaeastrum . These multicellular fossils, when combined with others elsewhere, suggest green algae were well-established in Tonian marine ecosystems, but substantially predate organic biomarkers that record a dominant green algal contribution to marine primary productivity only by the Ediacaran. Svanbergfjellet also includes several problematic taxa with complex multicellular morphologies, e.g., Jacutinema , Valkyria , that require further investigation into their phylogenetic placement, but which could substantially add to the known diversity of crown eukaryotes in the Proterozoic.
Published Version
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