Discoaster

Discoaster
Temporal range: Paleocene –Pleistocene[1] Most abundant during Miocene
Discoaster surculus, about 15 μm across
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
(unranked):
Haptophyta
Class:
Prymnesiophyceae
Order:
Coccosphaerales
Family:
Coccolithaceae
Genus:
†Discoaster

Tan Sin Hok (1931)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Discoaster.

Discoaster is a genus of extinct star-shaped marine algae, with calcareous exoskeletons of between 5-40 μm across that are abundant as nanofossils in tropical deep-ocean deposits of Neogene age. Discoaster belongs to the haptophytes. About 100 species can be recognized.[2]

  1. ^ Bukry, David (1971). "Discoaster evolutionary trends". Micropaleontology. 17 (1). The Micropaleontology Project, Inc.: 43–52. doi:10.2307/1485036. JSTOR 1485036.
  2. ^ "Discoasters". Springer Reference. Springer. Retrieved 4 July 2013.