Editing Microfossil (section)

==Dinoflagellate cysts==
[[File:Dinocyst drawn by Ehrenberg in 1837.jpg|thumb| {{center|'''[[Dinocyst]]'''<br />as drawn by [[Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg|Ehrenberg]] in 1837}}]]
{{see also|Microbial cyst|Dinoflagellate#Dinoflagellate cysts}}

Some dinoflagellates produce [[Resting spore|resting stages]], called dinoflagellate cysts or [[dinocyst]]s, as part of their lifecycles. Dinoflagellates are mainly represented in the fossil record by these dinocysts, typically 15 to 100 micrometres in diameter, which accumulate in sediments as microfossils. Organic-walled dinocysts have resistant cell walls made out of [[dinosporin]]. There are also [[calcareous dinoflagellate cysts]] and [[siliceous dinoflagellate cysts]].

Dinocysts are produced by a proportion of [[dinoflagellate]]s as a [[Dormancy|dormant]], [[zygotic]] stage of their lifecycle. These dinocyst stages are known to occur in 84 of the 350 described freshwater dinoflagellate species, and in about 10% of the known marine species.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Mertens KN, Rengefors K, Moestrup Ø, Ellegaard M |title = A review of recent freshwater dinoflagellate cysts: Taxonomy, phylogeny, ecology and palaeocology|journal = Phycologia|volume = 51|issue = 6|pages = 612–619|year = 2012 |doi = 10.2216/11-89.1 |s2cid = 86845462}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bravo I, Figueroa RI | title = Towards an Ecological Understanding of Dinoflagellate Cyst Functions | journal = Microorganisms | volume = 2 | issue = 1 | pages = 11–32 | date = January 2014 | pmid = 27694774 | pmc = 5029505 | doi = 10.3390/microorganisms2010011 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Dinocysts have a long geological record with geochemical markers suggest a presence that goes back to the [[Early Cambrian]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Moldowan JM, Talyzina NM | title = Biogeochemical evidence for dinoflagellate ancestors in the Early Cambrian | journal = Science | volume = 281 | issue = 5380 | pages = 1168–70 | date = August 1998 | pmid = 9712575 | doi = 10.1126/science.281.5380.1168 | bibcode = 1998Sci...281.1168M }}</ref>

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