Tawuia

{{Short description|Enigmatic genus of prehistoric eukaryotes}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Statherian to Cambrian Stage 3, {{long fossil range|1632|518}} | image = Tawuia NGMC.jpg | image_caption = Fossil specimen, Geological Museum of China | taxon = Tawuia | authority = Hofmann, 1979<ref name="pbdb">{{Cite PBDB|taxon|433613|Tawuia}}</ref> | type_species = {{extinct}}'''''Tawuia dalensis''''' | type_species_authority = Hofmann, 1979 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision_ref = <ref name="pbdb" /> | subdivision = {{Bold species list | {{extinct}}Tawuia dalensis | Hofmann, 1979 | {{extinct}}Tawuia robusta | Qin et al., 2023 | {{extinct}}Tawuia sinensis | Duan, 1982 }} }}

'''''Tawuia''''' is a millimetric disc or sausage-shaped, most likely multicellular (although coenocytic), macrofossil from the Proterozoic. Stratigraphically, they range from around {{Ma|1630}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Srivastava |first1=P. |last2=Bali |first2=R. |year=2006 |title=Proterozoic carbonaceous remains from the Chorhat Sandstone: oldest fossils of the Vindhyan Supergroup, Central India |journal=Geobios |volume=39 |issue=6 |pages=873–878 |bibcode=2006Geobi..39..873S |doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2006.02.001 |issn=0016-6995 |s2cid=127862654}}</ref> to the early Cambrian.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Rui-Yun |last2=Fu |first2=Dong-Jing |last3=Zhang |first3=Xing-Liang |date=22 December 2022 |title=''Chuaria'' Walcott from the early Cambrian Qingjiang biota: a taxon persisted for billions of years |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871174X22001056 |journal=Palaeoworld |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=11–21 |doi=10.1016/j.palwor.2022.12.008 |url-access=subscription |bibcode=2024Palae..33...11L |issn=1871-174X |s2cid=255035533}}</ref>

The fossils are often preserved as organic compressions. They are sometimes considered to represent microbial structures;<ref name="trois">{{Citation |last1=Teyssèdre |first1=B. |title=''Chuaria'', ''Tawuia'', ''Longfengshania''. Trois classes de fossiles précambriens pour un même taxon |date=2003 |journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol |volume=6 |issue=503 |pages=508–510 |language=French |doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2003.09.023 |issn=1631-0683 |bibcode=2003CRPal...2..503T |url=https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/comptes-rendus-palevol2003v2f6-7a15.pdf |s2cid=128492583}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> some authors affiliate them with slime molds.<ref name=trois /> However, ''Tawuia'' is instead likely an alga,<ref name="pbdb" /> as sub-cellular structures supporting this have been preserved.<ref name=coeno>{{cite journal |last1=Tang |first1=Qing |last2=Pang |first2=Ke |last3=Li |first3=Guangjin |last4=Chen |first4=Lei |last5=Yuan |first5=Xunlai |last6=Sharma |first6=Mukund |last7=Xiao |first7=Shuhai |title=The Proterozoic macrofossil ''Tawuia'' as a coenocytic eukaryote and a possible macroalga |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |date=August 2021 |volume=576 |article-number=110485 |bibcode=2021PPP...57610485T |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110485 |issn=0031-0182 |s2cid=236258404}}</ref>

<gallery> File:Tawuia and epibionts.png|Reconstruction of ''Tawuia'' as a coenocytic macroalgae with epibionts. File:Artists recreation of Tawuia as a coenocytic macroalgae.png|Reconstruction of ''Tawuia'' as a coenocytic macroalgae lacking epibionts File:Reconstruction of Tawuia Sinensis as coenocytic macroalgae lacking epibionts.png|Reconstruction of ''Tawuia sinensis'' as a coenocytic macroalgae lacking epibionts </gallery>

== See also == * ''Longfengshania''

==References== {{Reflist}} {{Eukaryota}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q7689342}}

Category:Precambrian life Category:Cambrian extinctions Category:Enigmatic eukaryote taxa