Tawuia

{{Short description|Prehistoric biota}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Statherian to Cambrian Stage 3, {{long fossil range|1630|518}}

| image = Tawuia NGMC.jpg

| image_caption = Fossil specimen, Geological Museum of China

| taxon = Tawuia

| authority = H.J.Hofmann, 1979

}}

File:Tawuia Chuaria Longfengshania.jpg

File:Tawuia and epibionts.png

Tawuia is a millimetric disc or sausage-shaped, most likely multicellular (although coenocytic) macrofossil from the Proterozoic.

The fossils are often preserved as organic compressions. They are sometimes considered to represent microbial structures; {{Citation

| first1=B.

| title = Trois classes de fossiles precambriens pour un meme taxon

| language = French

| journal = Comptes Rendus Palevol

| last1 = Teyssèdre

| volume = 6

| issue = 503

| pages = 508–510

| date = 2003

| doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2003.09.023

}}{{dead link|date=March 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} some authors affiliate them with slime molds. However, Tawuia is instead likely an alga, as sub-cellular structures supporting this have been preserved.{{cite journal |last1=Tang |first1=Qing |last2=Pang |first2=Ke |last3=Li |first3=Guangjin |last4=Chen |first4=Lei |last5=Yuan |first5=Xunlai |last6=Sharma |first6=Mukund |last7=Xiao |first7=Shuhai |title=The Proterozoic macrofossil Tawuia as a coenocytic eukaryote and a possible macroalga |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |date=August 2021 |volume=576 |pages=110485 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110485}}

Stratigraphically, they range from {{Ma|1630}}{{Cite journal| first1 = P.| first2 = R. | title = Proterozoic carbonaceous remains from the Chorhat Sandstone: oldest fossils of the Vindhyan Supergroup, Central India | journal = Geobios | volume = 39| issue = 6| last1 = Srivastava | pages = 873–878 | year = 2006 | doi = 10.1016/j.geobios.2006.02.001| last2 = Bali| bibcode = 2006Geobi..39..873S }} to the early Cambrian.{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Rui-Yun |last2=Fu |first2=Dong-Jing |last3=Zhang |first3=Xing-Liang |title=Chuaria Walcott from the early Cambrian Qingjiang biota: a taxon persisted for billions of years |journal=Palaeoworld |date=22 December 2022 |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=11–21 |doi=10.1016/j.palwor.2022.12.008 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871174X22001056}}