Subterraniphyllum thomasii Elliott, Fossil Calcareous Alga the Evolutionary Link between Geniculate and Nongeniculate Coralline Algae: A Hypothesis

The Neogene sediments exposed in the Saurashtra region along the southwest coast India, consists of well preserved diversified coralline algae [1-5].The Subterraniphyllum thomasii Elliott, a fossil Calcareous alga has been reported from the Dwarka Formation (Lower to Middle Miocene) from Porbandar area, Saurashtara, Indian subcontinent. This is the first report of Subterraniphyllum thomasii Elliott from Lower-Middle Mio-cene sediments from the Indian subcontinent; however it has been documented earlier from Late Lutetian sediments of Kachchh Basin, India. There is a controversy regarding the generic placement of the extinct species Subterraniphyllum thomasii Elliott as distinct genus of the geniculate coralline algae or not i.e. non-geniculate coralline algae [6,7]. However, the present specimens of Subterraniphyllum thomasii Elliott ex-hibit pinpointing features of both geniculate and nongeniculate coralline algae. Finally on the basis of our observations, we hypothesize that Subterraniphyllum thomasii Elliott may be transitional species and evolu-tionary link between geniculate and nongeniculate coralline algae