Cestites

Cestites ("girdle") was at first considered a ctenophore,[2] but now is regarded as genus of liverwort fossil from the Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian, 460 million years old) Douglas Lake Member of the Lenoir Limestone from Douglas Dam Tennessee.[1]

Thallus of Cestites mirabilis with archegoniophores
Interpretaive sketch of Cestites mirabilis
Spore of Cestites mirabilis

Cestites
Holotype of Cestites mirabilis, from Douglas Lake Member of Lenoir Limestone, at Douglas Dam, Tennessee[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
Division:
Marchantiophyta
Class:
Marchantiopsida
Order:
Marchantiales
Family:
Marchantiaceae
Genus:
Cestites Caster and Brooks(1956)[2]
Type species
Casterlorum crispum
Retallack (2019)

Description

Cestites has a narrow gametophyte thallus, with a wide midrib and dichotomizing at long intervals. The archegoniophores are parasol shaped and clustered.

Biological affinities

Cestites is similar to living Marchantia.

References
  1. Retallack, G.J. (2019). "Ordovician land plants and fungi from Douglas Dam, Tennessee". The Palaeobotanist. 68: 1–33.
  2. Caster, K.E.; Brooks, H.K. (1956). "New fossils from the Canadian–Chazyan (Ordovician) hiatus in Tennessee". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 36: 157–199.
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