Osmunda (Osmundaceae) from the Triassic of Antarctica: an example of evolutionary stasis

Compressed specimens of the fern Osmunda are described from the Triassic of the Allan Hills, Antarctica. The specimens consist of a once pinnate, deeply pinnatifid fertile frond as well as several sterile specimens. Six pinnae are present on the partial fertile rachis, with two sterile pinnae above four fertile pinnae. Both sterile and fertile specimens are virtually identical to the modern species Osmunda claytoniana. Entire fronds are fragmentary; the longest is 21 cm in length. Sterile pinnae are alternate and deeply pinnatifid, with slightly toothed pinnules and dichotomous venation. Fertile pinnae are 1-1.3 cm long, once pinnate, and lack vegetative lamina. Sporangia are clustered, each 300-375 um in diameter, and possess a transverse annulus 6-8 cells long; dehiscence is by a vertical slit. Fronds arise from a rhizome 4 cm long by 1 cm wide; two croziers are present on the rhizome. Two frond segments up to 6 cm long and three deeply pinnatifid pinnae are present on the uppermost part of one rachis. Pinnules are ~4 mm long and 2-3 mm wide. The presence of this Osmunda species in the Triassic demonstrates stasis of frond morphology, both fertile and vegetative, for the genus.     

SPORANGIAL FRAGMENTS REFERRED TO DICTYOPHYLLUM IN TRIASSIC CHERT FROJVI SARAWAR

Sporangial fragments of several Mesozoic fern taxa are organically preserved in a Triassic (Norian) chert from Sarawak. The more nearly entire annuli in the deposit are divided into two size classes. Structural features of the smaller annuli (capsule diam 0.26-0.3R mm) suggest affinities with the Gleicheniaceae, Matoniaceae, and Dipteridaceae. The three-dimensional preservation of the larger annuli (capsule diam 0.50-0.63 mm) reveals features of annular structure and stomial detail which are usually obscured in compressed specimens. Sporangia featuring these larger annuli were probably more-or-less pyriform and sessile, and they exhibited an oblique, uninterrupted annulus with greatly reduced induration in the stomial and hypostomial regions. The large size of these sporangia and their probable large spore number indicate that they are not conspecific with the Triassic Clathropteris meniscoides Brongn., also reported from Sarawak. On the basis of general morphology and their unusually large size, these sporangia are tentatively referred to Dictyophyllum exile (Brauns) Nathorst.     

Diversity variation and tempo-spatial distributions of the Dipteridaceae ferns in the Mesozoic of China

The extant family Dipteridaceae is a remarkable leptosporangiate fern because it includes only one genus with a restricted distribution to tropical regions. The fossil record of this family has been widely reported from the Mesozoic strata in Eurasia, America, Australia, and Greenland. In China, numerous fossils of the Dipteridaceae have been documented, in total, about 74 species of 6 genera. Geographically, they are distributed both in the Southern and Northern Floristic Provinces, and were particularly well developed in the Southern Floristic Province during the Late Triassic and the Early Jurassic intervals. Fossil diversity of Dipteridaceae varies in the different episodes of the Mesozoic in China. It is shown that Dipteridaceae has undergone a diversity development process and a distinct turnover during the Mesozoic. They appear to have diversified in the warm and humid Late Triassic–Early Jurassic, but declined sharply as aridity developed in the Middle Jurassic, and became extinct at the end of the Early Cretaceous. The diversity variation and tempo-spatial distribution pattern is suggested to be linked with paleoclimatic variations during the Mesozoic.     

A Reappraisal of the Purported Gastric Pellet with Pterosaurian Bones from the Upper Triassic of Italy

A small accumulation of bones from the Norian (Upper Triassic) of the Seazza Brook Valley (Carnic Prealps, Northern Italy) was originally (1989) identified as a gastric pellet made of pterosaur skeletal elements. The specimen has been reported in literature as one of the very few cases of gastric ejecta containing pterosaur bones since then. However, the detailed analysis of the bones preserved in the pellet, their study by X-ray microCT, and the comparison with those of basal pterosaurs do not support a referral to the Pterosauria. Comparison with the osteology of a large sample of Middle-Late Triassic reptiles shows some affinity with the protorosaurians, mainly with Langobardisaurus pandolfii that was found in the same formation as the pellet. However, differences with this species suggest that the bones belong to a similar but distinct taxon. The interpretation as a gastric pellet is confirmed.     

Ricciisporites属的分布及其地层学意义

概述了Ｒｉｃｃｉｉｓｐｏｒｉｔｅｓ属的基本形态、分类和时空分布。由于形态特殊，层位稳定，一般丰度较高，故此属为北半球中生代最重要分子之一，主要出现于瑞替阶和下里阿斯阶，在中国仅见于华南上三叠统，是划分三叠系／侏罗系的标志分子。其母体植物可能生长于距渴湖、海湾岸边较近的生境。     

SPORES OF BOTRYOPTERIS GLOBOSA AND BOTRYOPTERIS AMERICANA FROM THE PENNSYLVANIAN

A study of spores from fertile pinnae of Botryopteris from middle and upper Pennsylvanian coal balls from Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas indicates that there are two distinct species, Botryopteris globosa and B. americana. The organization and attachments of fertile pinnae and the sporangial morphology and dimorphism are identical in the two species. Data are given on fertile pinnae dimensions, attachments of six fertile pinnae, spore counts from individual sporangia, and spore morphology. The ornamentation of B. americana spores is verrucate to rugulate with verrucae fusing to a variable extent to form bars and convolute ridges; B. globosa spores are vermiculate or fossulate to densely rugulate with scattered verrucae. Comparisons are made with B. forensis and a re-interpretation of the spore forms of B. forensis is suggested.     

广西蕨类植物新记录科——光叶藤蕨科

报道了广西蕨类植物一新记录科——光叶藤蕨科.该科植物以茎圆柱形攀缘;叶二型,通常为奇数羽状;侧生羽片以关节着生于叶轴;不育叶羽片边缘具软骨质硬齿,羽片基部上侧具一腺体;叶脉细密,中肋两侧各具1行窄长网眼,向外伸出分离小脉;能育叶线形,孢子囊群密被羽片下面,无隔丝而与其他蕨类物种相区分.目前该科在广西仅记录光叶藤蕨1种,...     

Rhacophyton from the Upper Devonian of West Virginia

A new species of Rhacophyton, R. ceratangium , is described from Upper Devonian rocks of West Virginia, U.S.A.; this is synonymous with R. incertum (Dawson) Krausel and Weyland but reasons are cited to indicate that the latter species name is not appropriate.
The collections include: stems up to 2 cm in diameter bearing bipinnate, non-laminate vegetative fronds; abundant well preserved fertile fronds that show clearly the distinctive morphology of their sterile and fertile pinnae; fragments of axes with woody tissues petrified.
The sporangia are particularly distinctive with their long slender tip; they dehisced longitudinally and contained several hundred spores; all available evidence indicates that the plant was homosporous. All petrified axes have a slender bar-shaped strand of primary wood swollen at either end and surrounded by strongly developed secondary wood consisting of scalariform tracheids and rays.
R. ceratangium is closely related to the Belgian R. zygopteroides Leelercq. A comparison with other Devonian and Carboniferous pteridophytes suggests that Rhacophyton is probably a primitive member of the Progymnospermopsida or immediately ancestral to that group.     

Additional data on Todites (Osmundaceae) from the Lower Jurassic—with special references to the paleogeographical and stratigraphical distributions in China

Additional material of Todites (Osmundaceae) from the Lower Jurassic Xiangshan Group in Jiangsu and Anhui Provinces, Eastern China is investigated. Five species of Todites are described based on collections (including sterile and fertile pinnae) from eight localities along the Yangtze River, including Todites denticulatus (Brongniart) Krasser, Todites cf. goeppertianus (Muenster) Krasser, Todites nanjingensis sp. nov., Todites princeps (Presl) Gothan and Todites sp. Material of T. denticulatus and T. nanjingensis sp. nov. contains further data of the fertile pinnae. The stratigraphical ranges and the geographical distribution of the genus Todites in China are discussed and reviewed. Available data show that Todites mostly occurs in the Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic of China. The genus was widely distributed in both the Northern and Southern Floristic Provinces of China, and especially abundant and diverse in the Southern Floristic Province.     

Robust sequential Factor Analysis of geochemical data from the Permian-Triassic Gartnerkofel-1 core (Southern Alps): the geochemical response to changing paleo-oceanographic conditions in shallow-marine carbonate platforms

The Gartnerkofel-1 core provides a high-quality multi-element dataset that characterizes an Upper Permian to Lower Triassic shallow-marine carbonate sequence (Bellerophon and Werfen Formations) of the Carnic Alps (Southern Alps). Based on the well-known sedimentological evolution, robust sequential Factor Analysis is explored as a multivariate statistical technique to understand geochemical processes in carbonate platforms. The results demonstrate that 93% of the whole-rock compositional variability of the Gartnerkofel-1 core can be explained by the detrital input that is diluted by the carbonate production and the early diagenetic redox state. Two stages of anoxia, one at the Permian/Triassic boundary and one in the Mazzin Member of the Werfen Formation, are related to indicative factor scores. The factor scores within this interval suggest an enhanced dolomitization of shales and marls, a mobilization of manganese, and an accumulation of syndiagenetically precipitated pyrite.     

THE PHYLOGENETIC POSITION OF ANEMIA COLIMENSIS

The unique leaf structure of the genus Anemia with its upright fertile basal pinnae has been interpreted as derived from the typical fern leaf with unmodified basal pinnae. Reported herein for the first time is the leaf morphology of a species, Anemia colimensis Mickel, which shows the most primitive condition known in the genus and clearly confirms the course of evolution. The fertile pinnae are but little modified in size, lamination, and posture. Although A. colimensis has characters of two subgenera, it is shown to be a primitive element in subgen. Anemiorrhiza and not a member of subgen. Coptophyllum as previously reported.     

MORE EVIDENCE FOR CONIFER DIVERSITY IN THE UPPER TRIASSIC OF NORTH CAROLINA

An ovulate strobilus from the Upper Triassic Deep River Basin, North Carolina, has helically arranged, loosely aggregated, elongated, spatulate bracts with axillary ovule-bearing appendages with about 8–10 ovules attached in two lateral rows, with outwardly directed micropyles. The axillary ovuliferous appendage is homologous with the voltzialean fertile dwarf shoot, but probably not directly evolved from it. More credible is a suggested origin from a completely fertile axillary appendage such as that of the Lower Permian Trichopitys. The occurrence of this cone, Metridiostrobus palissyaeoides, gen. and sp. nov., along with Compsostrobus neotericus and Voltzia andrewsii, reflects considerable diversity among conifer ovulate cones during the Upper Triassic.     

The morphological nature of the fertile spike in the Ophioglossaceae

KHANDELWAL, S., 1986. The morphological nature of the fertile spike in the Ophiogiossaceae. A study of a large collection of specimens belonging to 12 species of Ophioglossum revealed the presence of many abnormal structures in the tropophyll and the spike. These anomalous structures suggest that the fertile spike of Ophioglossum is derived from the modified pinnae of a compound leaf. Compound vegetative leaves are possessed by its allies Botrychium and Helminthostachys.     

New Middle Jurassic record of fern genus Eboracia (Dicksoniaceae,Filicales) and its spatio-temporal distribution in China

As an important component of the Mesozoic flora, the extinct fern genus Eboracia Thomas (Dicksoniaceae, Filicales) is widely reported in China with diverse fossil records. New material of Eboracia lobifolia, represented by a nearly intactly preserved fossil frond, is described herein from the Middle Jurassic Haifanggou Formation in Beipiao of western Liaoning, Northeast China. The frond is lanceolate in gross outline, at least 38.0 cm long, and can be divided into the basal sterile part, the upper fertile part and a transitional part in between. The new discovery confirms for the first time that the frond of E. lobifolia is hemidimorphic rather than holodimorphic. Many in-situ spores were detached from the sori of the fertile pinnae, which are characterized by rounded-tetrahedral shape, smooth surface, distinct border, and a wide, long triradiate crack almost reaching the equator. Comparing with dispersed spores in the same horizon, these in-situ spores seem to be most similar to Cyathidites minor Couper in morphology. A spatio-temporal analysis of Eboracia in China shows that Eboracia with totally four species occurred in a time interval ranging from the Late Triassic to the Early Cretaceous in China, and mostly flourished in the Middle Jurassic; the genus was widely distributed in both the Northern and Southern Phytofloristic Provinces of China, particularly in southern China during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic, while more abundant and diverse in northern China during the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous.     

CHARLIEA MANZANITANA,N. GEN., N. SP., AND OTHER ENIGMATIC PARALLEL-VEINED FOLIAR FORMS FROM THE UPPER PENNSYLVANIAN OF NEW MEXICO AND TEXAS

Charliea is a new genus (type-species: C. manzanitana), based on pinnately compound leaf material from the richly fossiliferous Virgilian (Upper Pennsylvanian) shales of the Kinney Brick Company quarry near Albuquerque, New Mexico. In several features Charliea resembles Russellites or a zamioid cycad. It has linear-oblong pinnae with broad, oblique attachment and a truncate tip, which is deeply incised to form two to four nearly equal lobes. The venation is simple, parallel, and sparingly dichotomous, each vein ending at the distal margin. The Kinney beds also contain Plagiozamites planchardi, another zamioid form with parallel-veined pinnae, differing from Charliea chiefly in having rounded tips and veins ending in the denticulate margins. An unnamed third form (genus B) in the Kinney beds has long, narrow pinnae with parallel veins and blunt tips; this strongly resembles the Mesozoic conifer Podozamites, but may just as well represent a cycadophyte. Another unnamed taxon (genus A), from an Upper Pennsylvanian deposit in Jack County, Texas, resembles genus B or Russellites in general shape and venation, but the critical distal margins are unknown. In their single-ordered parallel venation, these four foliar types contrast sharply with the two-ordered pinnate venation of most Pennsylvanian fern-like leaves, and seem to foreshadow Mesozoic morphologies. This tendency toward precocious evolution of parallel-veined foliar form in North America is also expressed by a single occurrence of the Asiatic, Permian genus Tingia in the Lower Pennsylvanian of Utah, and by the presence of the predominantly Triassic cycadeoid genus Pterophyllum in the Lower Permian of Texas.     

New dasycladalean algae from the Middle Norian (Upper Triassic) of northern Italy (Mt. Pramaggiore, Carnic Prealps)

In the Eastern Southern Alps of northern Italy (Carnic Prealps, Friuli region), the shallow-water carbonate platform deposits of the Dolomia Principale Fm. (Norian–Rhaetian, Upper Triassic) show best-preserved platform to basin facies transition. The palaeontological study of an algal-rich level recovered from the platform margin facies (Mt. Pramaggiore) has displayed a very interesting association of Dasycladales. Two new genera (Bystrickyella and Elliottporella) and four new species (Bystrickyella ottii, Elliottporella morelloae, Palaeodasycladus lorigae and Holosporella conradii) have been described. These new data suggest that the Norian represents a period of turnover in the evolutionary history of the green algae community. This stage, placed between two extinctions, end-Ladinian and end-Norian, is here interpreted as a re-organization period of the evolutionary schemes of Dasycladales. The new lineages originated in the Norian developed further and characterized the Early Jurassic scenery. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

New reconstruction of Weichselia reticulata (Stokes et Webb) Fontaine in Ward emend. Alvin, 1971 based on fertile remains from the middle Albian of Spain

Exceptionally well-preserved specimens from the middle Albian of Spain corresponding to a nearly complete fertile frond and fragments of pinnae containing soral clusters of the tree fern Weichselia reticulata have provided new data about the structure and arrangement of pinnae and their associated fertile reproductive structure. This new material has been compared with the previous studies, and recostructions of this fern and the new data indicate the segregation of vegetative and fertile fronds within the main stipe of this fern.     

Fossil pinnae,sporangia, and spores of Osmunda from the Eocene of South China and their implications for biogeography and paleoecology

The genus Osmunda L. contains approximately 10 extant species widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions, with the greatest concentration of species in East and Southeast Asia. Osmunda is characterized by dimorphic or commonly hemidimorphic fronds with dimorphic pinnae. Its geological history has been traced back to the Triassic. Most records of the genus are based on rhizomes and rarely on pinnae bearing sporangia and spores. Here, we describe fossil pinnae, sporangia, and spores of Osmunda lignitum (Giebel) Stur recovered from the middle Eocene of the Changchang Formation in the Changchang Basin, Hainan Island and the Youganwo Formation in the Maoming Basin, Guangdong, South China. The fossils closely resemble the extant Osmunda banksiifolia (C. Presl) Kuhn of the subgenus Plenasium on the basis of their morphological and anatomical structures. The present occurrence of O. lignitum indicates subg. Plenasium flourished and extended from the high latitude regions such as Northeast China to the low latitude areas of South China during the middle Eocene. Large numbers of specimens described here also indicate that Osmunda was the dominant understory fern element beneath mixed evergreen broad-leaf angiosperm and gymnosperm forests living in a warm and humid environment.     

A Preliminary Study of Late Triassic Plants from Qinghe of Yanbian District,Sichuan Province

This paper deals with fossil plants 144 species belong to 46 genera col- lected from Qinghe of Yanbian District, Siehuan Provinee. In this paper 5 new species are described, i.e.: Marattia sichuanensis, Drepanozamites multipartitus, Podozamites sichuanensis, Pityostrobus yanbianensis and Scoresbya entegra. The dominant group of the Qinghe flora is Cycadophyta (9 genera and 38 species) Filicopsida is also a large group (12 genera and 32 species) in this flora, of which Dipteridaceae, Angiopteridaceae, Marattiaceae and Osmundaceae are rieher in species than others. Pteridospermae is fairly numerous in this flora. Ginkgoales and Coniferales are very rich. The dominance of Podozamites forms the most conspicuous feature of this flora. Based on the characters of this flora, it closely resembles Yipinglang flora of Yunnan, Xujiahe flora of Sichuan, Tonkin flora of Vietnam, Nariwa flora of Japan and East Greenland flora, but is younger than the Daqiaodi flora found in Baoding of Si- chuan. The age of the flora is assigned to the middle Keuper-Rhaetic stage of the late Triassic. The climate of that time was tropic-subtropic in nature.     

陕西铜川中三叠世原直脉蝎蛉属（昆虫纲，长翅目）新化石

本原直脉蝎蛉化石标本采自陕西铜种中三叠世铜川组下段上部（T21^2)灰绿色泥页岩,中描述2个新种,并附上产于世界各地的10个种主要特征的检索表,新种的模式标本保存在北京自然博物馆。