The term “melanosclerite” was first introduced by Eisenack (1942) to describe problematic rod-shaped organic microfossils recovered from Ordovician and Silurian glacial erratics from the Baltic region. To date, melanosclerites have been recorded from marine sediments and erratic boulders from the Lower Cambrian (Winchester-Seeto and McIlroy 2006) to the Late Devonian (Cashman 1992), although published records and detailed descriptions of melanosclerite taxa remain scarce in relation to other microfossil groups. (From: Trampisch & Butcher 2010, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-009-0042-4).
Order
Melanoskleritoitidea Eisenack, 1963
Melanosclerites
Taxon overview
Selection of related publications
Du, M., Nõlvak, J., Tan, J., Gao, S., Wang, W. 2022. Melanosclerites from the Late Ordovician to earliest Silurian of Estonia and their palaeogeographical implications. Palynology 46, 3, 1-16. DOI:10.1080/01916122.2021.2012538
Trampisch, C. 2007. Melanosclerites from the Öjlemyr Cherts, Gotland. Comunicações Geológicas 94, 93-107.
Winchester-Seeto, T., McIlroy, D. 2006. Lower Cambrian melanosclerites and foraminiferal linings from the Lontova Formation, St. Petersburg, Russia. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 139, 1-4, 71-79. DOI:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2005.07.012
Eisenack, A. 1963. Melanoskleriten aus anstehenden sedimenten und aus geschieben. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 37, 1/2, 122-134. DOI:10.1007/BF02989605
Eisenack, A. 1942. Die Melanoskleritoiden, eine neue Gruppe silurischer Mikrofossilien aus dem Unterstamm der Nesseltiere. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 23, 1-2, 157-180. DOI:10.1007/BF03184419
List of species
4. Melanocyathus dentatus Eisenack, 1942 | Upper Ordovician
6. Melanoporella bulla Trampisch, 2007 | Upper Ordovician
8. Melanoporella polonica Górka, 1971 | Upper Ordovician
11. Melanosteus acutus Eisenack, 1942 | Cambrian
14. Melanostylus coronifer Eisenack, 1963 | Porkuni Stage
15. Melanostylus hexasterides (Eisenack, 1942) | upper Silurian
17. Menola oz Schallreuter, 1981 | Porkuni Stage
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Classification
| Organism group | Biota |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Cnidaria |
| Subphylum | Medusozoa |
| Class | Anthozoa |
| Hydrozoa | |
| Psammocorallia | |
| Scyphozoa | |
| Order | Melanoskleritoitidea |
| Family | Melanoporellidae |
| Melanoskleritoitidae | |
| Mirachitinidae | |
| Genus | Melanoskleritoites |
| Aspidella | |
| Byronia | |
| Semenola |
See also