Flora
Plants
Fungi
New taxa
Research
Exceptionally preserved specimens of Tawuia, providing new information on the anatomy of this organism, are described from the Tonian Liulaobei and Shiwangzhuang formations (China) by Tang et al. (2021), who interpret Tawuia as a coenocytic eukaryote, possibly a macroalga. Microfossils which may represent early terrestrial fungi are described from the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation (China) by Gan et al. (2021). A Rhynie chert fossil Mycokidstonia sphaerialoides, originally interpreted as an ascomycete, is reclassified as a member of Glomeromycota belonging to the family Ambisporaceae by Walker et al. (2021). Carboniferous organism Oochytrium lepidodendri, originally classified as a fungus, is reinterpreted as an oomycete by Strullu-Derrien et al. (2021). Probable fossils of multicellular eukaryotic macroalgae (possibly with a green algal affinity) are described from the Tonian Dolores Creek Formation in the Wernecke Mountains (Canada) by Maloney et al. (2021), who interpret these fossils as likely to be some of the few green algae and some of the largest macroscopic eukaryotes yet recognized in the early Neoproterozoic, indicating that eukaryotic algae colonized marine environments by the early Neoproterozoic. Fossil material of macroalgae, providing information on the early evolution of holdfast morphologies and attachment strategies of benthic macroalgae, is described from the Ediacaran Lantian biota and Miaohe biota (China) by Wang et al. (2021).
Cnidarians
New taxa
Research
Anatomical evidence indicative of a close relationship between cloudinids and Cambrian animals with cnidarian affinities: Cambroctoconus, Lipopora and Tretocylichne is published by Park et al. (2021). A study on the morphology, embryonic development and phylogenetic relationships of Quadrapyrgites is published by Zhao et al. (2021), who interpret this taxon and its probable relative Olivooides as more likely to be diploblastic cnidarians than triploblastic cycloneuralians. An exceptionally preserved conulariid specimen, keeping its aperture semi-closed and making it possible to see most of the internal part of the closure with rib continuation inwards, is described from the Ordovician of southeastern Brandenburg (Germany) by Sendino & Bochmann (2021). Revision of Palaenigma wrangeli is published by Kröger et al. (2021), who argue that this organism can be best interpreted as a conulariid, and name a new family Palaenigmaidae. A study on the earliest growth stages and branching process in specimens of Oligophylloides from the Devonian (Famennian) of Morocco, and on the implications of these specimens for the knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships of Heterocorallia, is published by Berkowski et al. (2021).
Arthropods
Bryozoans
New taxa
Research
Protomelission gatehousei is reinterpreted as a potential stem-group bryozoan by Zhang et al. (2021). A study on the evolutionary history of cyclostome and cheilostome bryozoans over the past 150 million years, focusing on causes of cheilostome taxonomic richness surpassing the richness of once dominant cyclostomes, is published by Lidgard et al. (2021).
Brachiopods
New taxa
Research
Revision and a study on the biogeography of brachiopod faunas from the Early Ordovician Mediterranean Province is published by Cocks & Popov (2021). A study on the evolution of the strophomenoid brachiopods, aiming to determine whether environmental changes at the time of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event correlated with the diversification of this group, is published by Congreve, Patzkowsky & Wagner (2021). A study on the selectivity of extinction of rhynchonelliform brachiopods from the Appalachian Foreland Basin during the two pulses of the Frasnian–Famennian mass extinction, aiming to determine the primary kill mechanism in this fauna, is published by Pier et al. (2021). A study on the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of late Permian and Triassic rhynchonellides is published by Guo et al. (2021).