Late Precambrian microfossils from Deoban Limestone Formation, Lesser Himalaya, India

Abstract

A well-preserved microbiota consisting of filamentous Cyanobacteria, viz., Oscillatoriopsis, Cyanonema, Siphonophycus, Eomycetopsis, Gunflintia and Animikiea; spheroidal unicells, viz., Glenobotrydion, Globophycus, Sphaerophycus and Myxococcoides; Eubacteria, viz., Archaeotrichion, Biocatenoides; and acritarch (?plankton) Kildinosphaera, is described from petrographic thin sections of cherts from the Deoban Formation, Garhwal Lesser Himalaya. The assemblage has been compared with other authentic Proterozoic records. The palaeomicrobial community is interpreted to have inhabited a protected shallow intertidal environment.