Thank you for visiting Michael Rasser's Home of Fossil Coralline Algae!

Coralline algae are important carbonate producers in present-day and fossil environments and are supposed to be valuable facies indicators.

However, corallines are a highly complicated group. The identification of fossil coralline algae bears several problems and the intraspecific variability is very high. Their distribution is very wide spread: Corallines occur from
the tropics to polar regions, and from the intertidal down to more than 200 m water depth.

The current homepage aims to make this algal group more popular. After an introduction (please choose from the left-hand index), different growth forms in fossil and present-day corallines are demonstrated. One of the main topics is a comprehensive comparison of fossil and present-day taxonomical features. Moreover, descriptions of corallines from Austria, Italy and the Northern Red Sea are presented. Finally, you can find a list of the described taxa. Last but not least, there is a Reference- and a Link-Page.

Additionally, you can find a comprehensive discussion about palecology and coralline algae sediments.

There are currently more than 150 images.

If you wish to contribute (data, images of outcrops and of algae - what ever), please send an E-mail to Michael.Rasser@paleoweb.net

P. S.: if you are caught in a frame, click HOME in the upper left corner to break free

key words (search engines:) Algae Calcareous Red Algae Corallinaceae   Rhodophyta Rhodophytes Rhodophyts Rhodoliths Rhodolithes Rhodoids Rhodoid Lithothamnia Lithothamnium  Calcareous Algae Melobesioideae Taxonomy Systematics Tertiary Eocene Oligocene Austria