EVOLUTION OF BENTHIC VEGETATION IN THE LATE PRECAMBRIAN

Abstract

Analysis is performed on the formation of the main types of the Precambrian benthic vegetation, i.e., cyanobacterial mats and other types of the cyanobacterial vegetation; tangles and feltlike bodies of filamentous algae of the eucaryotic type; multicellular algae with a cortical layer of thallome and multicellular sheetlike algae; ribbonlike algae with thin, robust thalli; and calcareous algae. The peculiar characters of these types of vegetation regarded as a potential biotope and as a food supply for the hypothetic Precambrian animals are described.