Abstract
The encrusting genus Lithocodium Elliott, widespread in Tethyan Triassic-Cretaceous carbonate platforms and interpreted in the past as a codiacean alga, is presently regarded as a colony of calcified cyanobacteria, a microorganism incertae sedis or a loftusiacean foraminifer. The absence of apertures connecting neighbouring cavities, as well as the very irregular form and arrangement of these hollows within a frequently massive micritic matrix, excludes assigning Lithocodium to the foraminifers, but could rather suggest colonies of calcified cyanobacteria.
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Cherchi, A., Schroeder, R. Remarks on the systematic position of Lithocodium Elliott, a problematic microorganism from the Mesozoic carbonate platforms of the Tethyan realm. Facies 52, 435–440 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-006-0045-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-006-0045-5