473 / Precambrian
Tappania
Tappania plana
Complex branching and septa make it a candidate early eukaryote or fungus.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 1.63–1.4 billion years ago
- Final stage
- Mesoproterozoic
- Geographic range
- Shallow microbial mats · Several paleocontinents
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Tappania?
Tappania (Tappania plana) was an extinct organism known from About 1.63–1.4 billion years ago, with a range in Shallow microbial mats · Several paleocontinents.
Life and ecology
It may have extended filaments across shallow microbial mats to absorb nutrients.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Tappania disappear?
Eukaryotes later diversified, but a younger record does not by itself show that they replaced this morphotype.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Tappania?
Acid-extracted microfossils preserve walls and branches; fungal identity is not consensus.
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