Many unicellular organisms are also preserved here as microfossils . A great many of these fossils are of uncertain systematic classification, not recognizable as relatives of any particular living species. The microfossils are spheres and may occur alone or in chains. This arrangement is also observed in a great diversity of modern algae, and at least some of the fossils may represent those organisms. Other unicellular organisms found include bacteria , cyanobacteria , dinoflagellates , and other protists .
Macroscopic algae are common fossils in the Burgess Shale site.
The most commonly found species among them is Morania confluens . This species is found in crowded fragments in the rock slabs. Oddly enough, there are no other species of alga found fossilized in the same vicinity. There are also very few animals found with this alga. Some of the rare animals found with Morania include the polychaete worm Burgessoechaeta and rare examples of Burgessa and Marella .