AN AQUATIC MICROFOSSIL ASSEMBLAGE FROM CENOMANIAN AMBER OF FRANCE

The 'osseous' amber from the Cenomanian of northwestern France contain s numerous microscopic inclusions, some of which are fairly well prese rved and identifiable as protists. This paper describes three cyanobac teria similar to modem Plectonema, Lyngbya, and Coelosphaerium; fungus -like fossils of uncertain affinities (cf. ?Candida); a colorless chry somonad similar to Monas; a desmid identical with Closterium; and nake d ciliates of uncertain affinities(cf. Cyrtolophosis). All of these fo ssils are in a single sample of amber from Bretagnolles (Eure Departem ent). This assemblage is comparable to modern limnetic microbial commu nities. It is typical of shallow freshwater environments in which prod uctivity and respiration are both high. This interpretation fits paleo ecological reconstructions drawn from the arthropod fossils from Frenc h amber.