EN
A review of approximately 30 published reports on fossil diatoms older than Cretaceous is presented. Together with the Proterozoic diatom remnants found in Poland thirty years ago, the latest unquestionable finds of Cambrian diatoms (Vologdin 1962, Allison and Hilgest 1986, Gapeev 1992, 1995) and the recent report of the partial diatom provenance of siliceous grains in Late Devonian shales (Schieber et al. 2000) make these discoveries reliable.