A report on biocompounds from palm fossil of India

The occurrence of a large number of fossil woods having resemblance in anatomical features with the modern palm genus, Phoenix L in Deccan Intertrappean fossil flora of Maastrichtian-Danian age (i. e. Late Cretaceous and Earliest Tertiary (65-67 my)) indicates the most primitive record of date palm. Present discovery of biocompounds from fossil wood of Phoenix collected from Deccan Intertrappean having affinity with the biocompounds known from modern plant further exemplify the earliest documentation of Phoenix in Indian peninsula.     

Gleditisioxylon riojana nov. sp. en el Neógeno de Argentina: sus relaciones paleoambientales y biogeográficas

A new fossil species of Leguminosae is described from Neogene of northwest of Argentina. The good preservation of tissues and the diagnostic characters present in this fossil wood let assigning it to a new species of Gleditisioxylon Müller-Stoll and Madel. Gleditisioxylon riojana nov. sp. (Caesalpinoideae) has diagnostic features such as: growth rings distinct, semi-annular porosity, vestured pits, helical thickenings, simple plates, paratracheal parenchyma and rays 1-6 seriate. The possible climatic conditions of Toro Negro Formation were inferred by the use of xylological characters presents in this fossil wood. The presence of Gleditsioxylon added to other data, suggest a new hypothesis to explain the disjunction of Gleditsia L. genus and the occurrence of a single extant species in tropical and subtropical South America.     

First record of fossil angiosperm wood (Ulmoxylon,Ulmaceae) from the famous locality of Bı́lina (Czech Republic,Early Miocene)

A fossil angiosperm wood is described for the first time from the famous Early Miocene locality of Bı́lina. It represents a fossil elm wood, attributed to Ulmoxylon marchesonii Biondi. The fossil wood can be compared to extant North American soft elms, also to Ulmus macrocarpa Hance and U. parvifolia Jacq. from China or to the European common elm U. carpinifolia Gled. The wood together with fossil leaves/fruits of Ulmus pyramidalis Goeppert forms a single natural fossil species that lived in the Bı́lina area during the Early Miocene. The influence of two types of preservation, permineralised and xylitic, on the same wood species is also discussed. To cite this article: J. Sakala, C. R. Palevol 1 (2002) 161–166.     

Fossil wood of Euphorbiaceae from the Tertiary of West Bengal,India

The paper describes a new species of fossil wood of Euphorbiaceae, Mallotoxylon cleidionoides sp. nov. from the Tertiary Laterites near Santiniketan, Birbhum District of West Bengal. The structure of the fossil wood closely resembles the wood anatomy of the extant genus Mallotus Lour. This is the first record of the occurrence of an euphorbiaceous wood from the Tertiary of West Bengal.     

Fossil wood of Piceoxylon burejense sp. nov. (Pinaceae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Zeya-Bureya Basin, Amur Region (Russian Far East)

A new species, Piceoxylon burejense sp. nov. (Pinaceae), is described from the Middle Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of the Zeya-Bureya Basin, Amur Region (Russian Far East) based on the fossil wood anatomy. The new species is characterized by a combination of anatomical wood features of the modern genera Picea and Larix. The fossil wood of Pinaceae was found in the Cretaceous deposits of the Amur Region for the first time.     

Palaeocupressinoxylon uniseriale n. gen. n. sp., a gymnospermous wood from the upper Permian of Central Taodonggou,southern Bogda Mountains,northwestern China

A silicified wood, Palaeocupressinoxylon uniseriale n. gen. n. sp., is described from the upper Permian of the Central Taodonggou section, Turpan–Hami Basin, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwestern China. Multidisciplinary data including U–Pb ID–TIMS zircon dating, vertebrate and invertebrate biostratigraphic, and cyclostratigraphic correlation from current and previous studies indicate that the fossil bearing interval is Wuchiapingian (late Permian) in age. The pycnoxylic wood consists of thick-walled tracheids and parenchymatous rays. It is characterized by separated uniseriate radial tracheidal pits, uniseriate ray cells, and cupressoid cross-field pitting. The absence of growth rings in the wood, together with the occurrence of Argillisols, Gleysols, and Histosols above and below the fossil interval, suggests that a stable landscape and a perennially humid climate prevailed in the Taodonggou area during the Wuchiapingian.     

Fossil wood of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus priamurensis</Emphasis> sp. nov. (Pinaceae) from the Miocene deposits of the Erkovetskii Brown Coal Field,Amur Region

New species of the pine fossil wood, Pinus priamurensis sp. nov. (Pinaceae) from the Sazanka Formation (upper Middle Miocene–Upper Miocene) of the Erkovetskii Brown Coal Field (Amur Region) is described. The new species shares some wood anatomical features with modern species of the subsection Pinus (section Pinus, subgenus Pinus). This is the first record of fossil wood of Pinus in the Amur Region.     

The earliest evidence of holometabolan insect pupation in conifer wood

Background

The pre-Jurassic record of terrestrial wood borings is poorly resolved, despite body fossil evidence of insect diversification among xylophilic clades starting in the late Paleozoic. Detailed analysis of borings in petrified wood provides direct evidence of wood utilization by invertebrate animals, which typically comprises feeding behaviors.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We describe a U-shaped boring in petrified wood from the Late Triassic Chinle Formation of southern Utah that demonstrates a strong linkage between insect ontogeny and conifer wood resources. Xylokrypta durossi new ichnogenus and ichnospecies is a large excavation in wood that is backfilled with partially digested xylem, creating a secluded chamber. The tracemaker exited the chamber by way of a small vertical shaft. This sequence of behaviors is most consistent with the entrance of a larva followed by pupal quiescence and adult emergence — hallmarks of holometabolous insect ontogeny. Among the known body fossil record of Triassic insects, cupedid beetles (Coleoptera: Archostemata) are deemed the most plausible tracemakers of Xylokrypta, based on their body size and modern xylobiotic lifestyle.

Conclusions/Significance

This oldest record of pupation in fossil wood provides an alternative interpretation to borings once regarded as evidence for Triassic bees. Instead Xylokrypta suggests that early archostematan beetles were leaders in exploiting wood substrates well before modern clades of xylophages arose in the late Mesozoic.     

First record of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chadronoxylon</Emphasis> fossil wood (Angiospermae,Dicotyledones) from Russia

A new species, Chadronoxylon sakhalinensis sp. nov. (Angiospermae, Dicotyledones), from the Upper Cretaceous of Sakhalin (Russian Far East) is described based on the anatomical characters of fossil wood. The fossil wood of Chadronoxylon is found in Russia for the first time.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Camellia nanningensis</Emphasis> sp. nov.: the earliest fossil wood record of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Camellia</Emphasis> (Theaceae) from East Asia

A new species Camellia nanningensis was described on the basis of well-preserved mummified wood from the upper Oligocene Yongning Formation of Nanning Basin in Guangxi Province, South China. This represents the most ancient fossil wood assigned to Camellia, and the earliest fossil record of the family Theaceae in China. This fossil material shows that Camellia occurred in China as early as the late Oligocene, suggesting more ancient radiation of this genus than estimated by molecular dating.     

“Out-of-India” dispersal for Adina (tribe Naucleeae; family Rubiaceae): evidence from the early Eocene fossil record from India

This study reports the oldest fossil record of the genus Adina, A. vastanenesis n. sp., from the early Eocene of Vastan lignite mine (Cambay Shale Formation), Surat district, Gujarat. This fossil wood is characterized by diffuse porous wood, predominantly solitary tylosed vessels, simple perforations, scanty paratracheal to diffuse to sometimes diffuse in aggregate axial parenchyma, predominantly uniseriate to occasionally biseriate rays, and non septate fibres with bordered pits and shows its best resemblance with the modern species, Adina multifolia Haviland, belonging to the tribe Naucleeae (subfamily Cinchonoideae) of the family Rubiaceae. The present discovery becomes the first fossil record of the wood of Adina, which provides an insight about the Gondwanan origin either for the genus Adina or the tribe Naucleeae and its further dispersal to Southeast Asia.     

Warm and humid Trans-Himalaya during the late Miocene: plant fossil evidence

Neogene fossil records from the Indus Basin sedimentary rocks (IBSR), deposited in the Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone (ITSZ), are very rare, but are important to understand the history of plant diversity and paleoclimate in the Himalaya. We report fossil wood ascribed to Ebenoxylon siwalicus Prakash from late Miocene sediments of the Karit Formation belonging to ITSZ. The anatomical details of the fossil wood, such as small to medium-sized vessels occluded with tyloses, scanty paratracheal to diffuse-in-aggregate axial parenchyma, 1–3 seriate homo to heterocellular rays, bordered intervessel pits with lenticular apertures and simple perforations, suggest its close affinity with Diospyros Linnaeus of the family Ebenaceae. Further anatomical details suggest a close resemblance with extant D. ehretioides Don and D. macrophylla Blume. The present fossil, along with previously known fossil records of Lagerstroemia (Lythraceae) and palms, indicate that the Trans-Himalaya was warm and humid during the late Miocene, quite different from the modern cool and dry climate in the study area.     

New species of pinaceous fossil wood from the Pliocene of southern Primorye (Russian Far East)

New species of the Pinaceae, Abies chavchavadzeae and Piceoxylon ussuriense, are described on the basis of fossil woods from the Pliocene of the Pavlovka lignite field (southern Primorye). For the first time, fossil wood of Abies is reported from the Russian Far East.     

Ficoxylon sp., a fossil wood of 4.4 Ma (Middle Awash,Ethiopia)

In this article we describe the microscopic structures of a silicified piece of wood collected in the Middle Awash Valley (Ethiopia). The fossil wood was extracted from sediment precisely dated 4.4 Ma. Its attribution to the Ficoxylon species is based upon detailed comparison with published data and with comparisons of some modern species of the genus Ficus and similar characters encountered in fossil woods from West Africa, Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia previously described and attributed to this taxon.     

Sur un bois fossile du mésozoïque de la colombie: Protophyllocladoxylon rosablancaense n. sp.

The fossil wood studied in this report, was collected in the Middle Valley of Río Magdalena (Colombia) by Professor J. de Porta. It is of a homoxylous structure of the araucarian type: Protophyllocladoxylon rosablancaense n. sp. The wood stems from the Rosa Blanca Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Hauterivian?). A comparative study of fossil woods of the genera ProtocircoporoxylonVogellehner and ProtophyllocladoxylonKräusel is made.     

Fossil Robinia wood from the western United States

A collection of petrified wood from the Lower Pliocene Ogallala Formation in western Oklahoma was examined. All specimens appear to be of the same taxon and exhibit features of extant Robinia species. To date, four fossil wood species of Robinia have been described. The relationship of Robinioxylon zuriensis Falqui to Robinia is doubtful because of the lack of diagnostic critical features. The remaining three, Robinia alexanderi Webber, Robinia breweri Prakash, Barghoorn and Scott, and Robinioxylon zirkelii (Platen) Müller-Stoll and Mädel do show affinity to Robinia and all have been noted as structurally similar to R. pseudoacacia. The Oklahoma woods and these three fossil species show considerable overlap in quantitative features and are identical in qualitative features. Examination of different sections (and specimens) of extant Robinia pseudoacacia wood reveals quantitative and qualitative variation similar to that found amongst the petrified woods. Robinia alexanderi, Webber, R. breweri Prakash, Barghoorn and Scott, R. zirkelii (Platen) Müller-Stoll and Mädel, and the Oklahoma specimens are considered to be conspecific as the differences between these fossil wood species are no different from those accounted for by variation within a single living species, R. pseudoacacia.     

New records of Early Cretaceous petrified wood in Yumen,northwestern Gansu Province,China and their palaeoclimatic implications

Several fossil woods from Early Cretaceous sediments in Yumen City in northwestern North China Block, China, have been described. They belong to two fossil wood taxa, Piceoxylon yumeniense Zhou, Peng, Deng, Zhang and Yang n. sp. and Protophyllocladoxylon chijinense Zhou, Peng, Deng, Zhang and Yang n. sp. The well-preserved specimens yield secondary xylem with distinct growth rings. Piceoxylon yumeniense exhibits cross-field with taxodioid pits as well as two distinct xylem ray types. The bi- to triseriate rays are characterised by one or two horizontal resin canals with unequal uniseriate ends. Protophyllocladoxylon chijinense Zhou, Peng, Deng, Zhang and Yang n. sp. shows window-like cross-field pits, which are occasionally cupressoid and have uniseriate xylem rays. These fossil wood records improve our understanding of the fossil diversity, floral composition and palaeoclimate of the Xiagou Formation. Palaeoclimatic analysis of the palaeoxylogical assemblage indicates that the northwestern Gansu region predominantly exhibited a warm and wet climate condition, while a brief cooling event may have occurred in the region during the Early Cretaceous.     

Fossil wood <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ginkgoxylon amurense</Emphasis> sp. nov. (Ginkgoaceae) from the Upper Cretaceous of the Amur River area,Russian Far East

A new species, Ginkgoxylon amurense (Ginkgoaceae) from the Upper Cretaceous (middle Maastrichtian) of the Amur River area (Russian Far East) is described on the basis of fossil wood anatomy. Ginkgoalen fossil wood is found in Russia for the first time.     

A new fossil Cedrus species from the early Miocene of northwestern Turkey and its possible affinities

A new fossil species, Cedrus anatolica n. sp., is described from the early Miocene Hançili Formation of Turkey. All analyses were performed on the thin sections housed at Istanbul University – Cerrahpasa. The new species was interpreted as having the closest affinity with the modern Mediterranean species Cedrus atlantica (Endlicher) Manetti ex Carriere and Cedrus libani Richard. The evolutionary line shows some changes in wood anatomy. From the early Cretaceous to the early Miocene, the pits on the tangential walls of the tracheids gradually decreased, the height of rays increased and the number of epithelial cells in the traumatic resin canals increased slightly. These features are similar in three modern species; other wood anatomical features are also quite stable among the new fossil and modern species.     

How many species of Araucarioxylon?

Fossil wood, similar to that of modern Araucariaceae, has been known for a long time, and is usually called Araucarioxylon. More than 400 morphospecies have been described, whereas this wood type displays few characteristic features. This taxonomical profusion is compounded by nomenclatural problems, Araucarioxylon being an illegitimate name. The status of the wood morphogenus, the infrageneric structure and the names that apply to the taxa designated for fossil woods of the Araucarioxylon-type are discussed. A database with 428 morphospecies designated for Araucarioxylon-type of wood is analyzed. The name Agathoxylon Hartig seems to be the most appropriate for the corresponding morphogenus. Albeit theoretically several hundred morphospecies could be recognized within this group, it is at least as probable that only one should be retained.