475 / Paleozoic
Protoascon
Protoascon missouriensis
Tiny sac-like structures in coal balls resemble an early ascomycete.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 315 million years ago
- Final stage
- Late Carboniferous
- Geographic range
- Plant tissues in coal swamps · North America
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Protoascon?
Protoascon (Protoascon missouriensis) was an extinct organism known from About 315 million years ago, with a range in Plant tissues in coal swamps · North America.
Life and ecology
Hyphae decomposed dead plant tissue and formed spore-bearing sacs.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Protoascon disappear?
The loss of coal forests and their hosts is possible context; the record does not establish why this morphospecies disappeared.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Protoascon?
Microscopic sections preserve hyphae, sacs and spores; exact affinity remains debated.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS