Left:The ancient plankton Dapsilidinium pastielsii, previously thought to be extinct, hatched from hard-shelled cysts like this one, which is 45 mictometres across, about the size of a speck of dust. Right: the swimming plankton that hatched from the cyst in the lab. (Photo credit: Mertens et al., 2014)
Scientists have recovered a form of plankton thought to be extinct for a million years. It is the only surviving member of a plankton lineage common 50 million years ago.
The heat-loving, single-celled organism Dapsilidinium pastielsii was thought to have disappeared from the fossil record because of colder ocean temperatures. However, a group of researchers recently recovered cysts – hard-shelled forms of the plankton, comparable to seeds or spores – from sediments in the “Indo-Pacific Warm Pool” off coasts from Japan to Indonesia. In the lab, these cysts hatched into living plankton.
The researchers speculate that as ocean temperatures warm, the plankton may once again spread beyond its present refuge.
Original research paper published in the journal Geology on April 10, 2014.
Names and affiliations of selected authors
