Ethmodiscus

Ethmodiscus is a genus of diatoms found widely scattered throughout the intertropical and temperate zones in the world's oceans. The large diatom genus can get up to 2mm in size, and it has distinct cell features like a vacuole that comprises over 99% of its cell's volume. Despite their large size, they are known to be in open oceans in low quantity. While in the ocean, Ethmodiscus use buoyancy control to migrate up and down to the high nitrogen depths and return to the surface to photosynthesize. Additionally, the biological characteristics of Ethmodiscus are an important component in interpreting deep-sea sedimentary richness and distribution.

No picture of Ethmodiscus was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none. Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is. GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Ethmodiscus, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
EthmodiscaceaePBDB
Diet
"photoautotroph"PBDB, for Bacillariophyceae
Environment
marine,brackish,freshwaterPBDB, for Bacillariophyceae

Time the record covers

At least 15 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 27.3 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 156 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 49 of 156 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 38 of 156 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 68 of 156 occurrencesPleistocene28–27 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 1 occurrence21–20 Mya — about 1 occurrence20–19 Mya — about 1 occurrence19–19 Mya — about 1 occurrence19–18 Mya — about 1 occurrence18–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–16 Mya — about 2 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 3 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 3 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 3 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 3 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 3 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 4 occurrences10–9.3 Mya — about 4 occurrences9.3–8.4 Mya — about 4 occurrences8.4–7.4 Mya — about 4 occurrences7.4–6.5 Mya — about 4 occurrences6.5–5.6 Mya — about 4 occurrences5.6–4.6 Mya — about 10 occurrences4.6–3.7 Mya — about 11 occurrences3.7–2.8 Mya — about 16 occurrences2.8–1.9 Mya — about 26 occurrences1.9–928 ka Mya — about 22 occurrences928 ka–0 Mya — about 24 occurrences15.98 Mya11.7 ka27.8 Mya0 Mya

156 occurrences of Ethmodiscus on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

156 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Ethmodiscus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Ethmodiscus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

72 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 156 sites for Ethmodiscus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

11 references

Each of the 156 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to doi.org. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content0

No picture of Ethmodiscus was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none.

Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is.

GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Ethmodiscus, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

No 3D scan of Ethmodiscus was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itEthmodiscaceae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Castracane 1886