Cladophorales
| Cladophorales Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Cladophora sp. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Clade: | Viridiplantae |
| Division: | Chlorophyta |
| Class: | Ulvophyceae |
| Order: | Cladophorales Haeckel |
| Families | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Cladophorales are an order of green algae, in the class Ulvophyceae.
The earliest known representative is Proterocladus antiquus from the Mesoproterozoic-Neoproterozoic boundary in North China.
The order Cladophorales consists of filamentous macroalgae attached to a surface. The filaments are uniseriate (one cell thick) with multinucleate cells, and are unbranched or profusely branched. In some taxa, the filaments are modified into giant single cells, three-dimensional networks of branches, or pseudoparenchymatic clusters.
Currently, Cladophorales has an expanded circumscription that includes Siphonocladales. Classification has been difficult, because the simple morphology has led to convergent evolution. The current hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships are shown below:
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