A new lycopsid megaspore cone from the Upper Devonian of Chaohu, China

A new small lycopsid cone, Minostrobus chaohuensis gen. et sp. nov. , is described from the upper part of Wutung Formation (Famennian) of Chaohu, Anhui, China. Six sporophylls in each whorl are tightly arranged on the cone axis. Each sporophyll consists of a short pedicel and a narrow lamina with smooth margins. One spherical to spherical-ellipsoidal sporangium is attached directly to the adaxial surface of each sporophyll. Each sporangium contains four megaspores. A solid exarch protostele occurs at the centre of the cone axis, and a mesarch protostele in the base of the sporophyll. M. chaohuensis is interpreted as a small, herbaceous, heterosporous lycopsid.     

A new species of Lepidostrobus from the Upper Devonian of Xinjiang, China and its bearing on the phylogenetic significance of the order Isoëtales

Lepidostrobus xinjiangensis sp. nov. is described from Upper Devonian rocks of the eastern Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, north-west China. It provides new insights into the reproductive diversification and phylogenetic relationships of lycopsids in the Late Devonian. The strobilus shares more characteristics with arborescent lycopsids than any herbaceous forms, and falls within the diagnosis of Lepidostrobus . Each sporophyll consists of a deltoid pedicel and a triangular lamina. Sporophylls are horizontally inserted into the strobilus axis in low spirals. The pedicel, with lateral alations and an abaxial keel, extends distally into the upturned lamina and downturned heel, producing a peltate appearance. A single sporangium with terminal longitudinal dehiscence is a radially elongate, dorsiventrally flattened ovoid and is attached along its length to the adaxial surface of the pedicel. A column-like subarchesporial pad is found in the sporangium. A possible ligule occurs on the adaxial surface of the pedicel distal to the sporangium. The strobilus is microsporangiate, containing Lycospora -type spores with granulate ornamentation and an equatorial flange. Based on this new species, the reproductive diversification and evolutionary pattern in arborescent lycopsids from the Devonian through the Carboniferous are discussed in a phylogenetic framework. We suggest that the reproductive strategies represented by bisporangiate- and monosporangiate-strobili had proliferated by the Late Devonian, which implies that phylogenetically advanced arborescent lycopsids bearing Lepidostrobus strobili had an earlier origin than previously thought.  © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2003, 143 , 55−67.     

Nudasporestrobus ningxicus gen. et sp. nov., a novel sigillarian megasporangiate cone from the Bashkirian (Early Pennsylvanian) of Ningxia, northwestern China

A large monosporangiate fructification Nudasporestrobus ningxicus gen. et sp. nov. and its in situ megaspores are described from the lower Pennsylvanian of Xiaheyan, Ningxia, northwestern China. The cylindrical strobilus is at least 210 mm long, 15–25 mm wide, and possesses a 60–70 mm incomplete peduncle. There are 8–10 imbricate sporophylls arranged in ascending spirals. The sporophylls consist of two parts, a horizontal deltoid pedicel and an upwards-bent, concave lateral lamina; a heel is formed at the corner of sporophyll. Each sporophyll adaxially bears a single elliptical sporangium. The laevigate in situ megaspores in each sporangium with developed subgula formed on the proximal pole. The megaspores are of the Sublagenicula nuda-type and are here described for the first time in situ. The hypothetical parent plant is interpreted as Sigillaria sp., the only vegetative lycopsid remains in the taphonomic association.     

PETRIFIED PLANTS FROM THE UPPER MISSISSIPPIAN OF NORTH AMERICA. II. LEPIDOSTROBUS FAYETTEVILLENSE SP. N.

Structurally preserved arborescent lycopsid fructifications are described from the Fayetteville Shale (Upper Mississippian) of northwestern Arkansas. Specimens of Lepidostrobus fayettevillense sp. n. range from complete cones 22.5 cm long and approximately 1.0 cm in diameter to smaller water-worn fragments. The cones consist of a central axis bearing closely spaced, spirally arranged sporophylls which extend from the cone axis at right angles. Each sporophyll consists of a pedicel which is turned up at its end to form a distal lamina. Sporangia are large and attached to the adaxial surface of each sporophyll. The vascular cylinder consists of a centrally located exarch protostele at least 1.1 mm in diameter. The new species is compared with morphologically similar lycopsid fructifications of equivalent age.     

Vegetative Characters,Growth Habit and Microsporangiate Strobilus of Lycopsid Minostrobus chaohuensis

Late Devonian Minostrobus chaohuensis is one of the earliest monosporangiate-strobilate isoetaleans. Based on new material of this plant, the vegetative axis and microsporangiate strobilus are studied in detail, and the whole plant knowledge is summarized. The vegetative axis is isotomously branched. The stem is up to 55 mm in diameter with helically arranged leaf cushions. Stems and thick branches bear long fusiform leaf cushions and interareas with vertical linear ornamentations. A ligule pit, oblanceolate leaf scar, and vascular bundle scar appear on the leaf cushion. Distal axes have persistent lanceolate leaves and rhombic leaf bases. The microsporangiate strobilus is cylindrical in shape, possesses sporophyll with alate pedicel and long triangular lamina, uniseriate sporangial wall, subarchesporial pad inside the sporangium, and microspore with cingulum. Based on comparisons with other isoetaleans, the usage of the terms “leaf cushion” and “leaf base” is discussed, and Minostrobus chaohuensis is considered as a tree-like lycopsid. It suggests that arborescent isoetaleans with monosporangiate strobili had appeared and diversified in the Late Devonian. The multi-dichotomous branching system of Minostrobus provides new data on the evolution of growth architecture in rhizomorphic lycopsids.     

Loricate choanoflagellates (Acanthoecida) from warm water seas. IX. Coronoeca gen. nov., Polyfibula Manton and spiny forms of Parvicorbicula Deflandre

The ambition to generate an overview of warm water loricate choanoflagellate biodiversity, based on a classic morphometric approach, is here completed by analyses of a range of tiny forms with anterior spines or projections and in most cases also a posterior pedicel. The warm water study complements previously obtained results from the more extensively studied temperate and polar regions of the world’s oceans. It thus contributes to a significantly more balanced approach to global diversity patterns for these organisms. The current survey includes taxa such as Polyfibula elatensis, Parvicorbicula pedicellata, as well as a range of primarily undescribed and taxonomically challenging species, that are in an interim approach allocated to Coronoeca gen. nov. (C. kosmaniae sp. nov., C. conicella sp. nov., C. superpositus (Booth) comb. nov., C. marchantii sp. nov., C. tongiae sp. nov., and C. patongiensis sp. nov.). The analysis of warm water acanthoecid biodiversity has revealed in total 80 species from the six geographic regions sampled, corresponding to approximately 50% of all loricate species described. Nineteen species are previously undescribed forms. The Andaman Sea, Thailand, and West Australia are in a global context the most species-rich regions with 62 and 64 species respectively.     

Clevelandodendron ohioensis,gen. et sp. nov., a slender upright lycopsid from the late Devonian Cleveland Shale of Ohio

Clevelandodendron ohioensis Chitaley & Pigg gen. et sp. nov. is an almost entire lycopsid plant known from a single compressed specimen from the Cleveland Shale member of the Upper Devonian Ohio Shale. This unique specimen is 125 cm long, consisting of an unbranched, slender, monopodial axis with a partially preserved plant base bearing thick appendages at one end, and a compact, terminal ovoid bisporangiate strobilus at the other. The stem is 2 cm wide for most of its length. Visible on the decorticated stem surface are helically arranged, elongate leaf traces and laterally compressed, slender leaves along the stem margin. The plant base bears 4-6 thick appendages. The terminal strobilus is compact, ovoid, 9 cm long and up to 6 cm wide, morphologically similar to those of some Lepidodendrales, and bears helically arranged sporophyll/sporangium complexes with narrow bases and distal laminae up to 18 mm long, turned upward. Megaspores are 320-360 μm, trilete and laevigate, lacking a gula; microspores are 30-42 μm, trilete, indistinctly punctate and possibly assignable to Calamospora or Punctatisporites. Clevelandodendron demonstrates that slender unbranched lycopsids with an isoetalean plant habit similar to the Carboniferous genera Chaloneria and Sporangiostrobus and Triassic Pleuromeia-like forms were present as early as the Late Devonian. The early occurrence of this unique habit suggests that diversification within the isoetalean clade sensu Rothwell and Erwin (including both Isoetales and Lepidodendrales) was well established prior to the Carboniferous.     

A new Late Miocene ovibovine-like bovid (Bovidae,Mammalia) from the Kassandra Peninsula (Chalkidiki,Northern Greece) and implications to the phylogeography of the group

A new Late Miocene bovid, Urmiatherium kassandriensis sp. nov., from Northern Greece is described. The material comes from the Fourka locality in the Kassandra Peninsula (Chalkidiki), and the included fauna is estimated to be of Vallesian age. The two preserved crania represent a medium-sized taxon with short, conical horn cores, a flat cranial roof (consisting of the posterior part of the frontals, parietal and occipital), thick and porous frontals and pneumatized short parietals, an extremely thick basioccipital with voluminous posterior tuberosities and accessory articular facets for the atlas. The specialized atlanto-occipital joint recalls Pleistocene and extant ovibovines, but the braincase structure as a whole and the horn core features closely match Late Miocene ovibovine-like taxa, especially Plesiaddax and even more Urmiatherium. Nevertheless, the Kassandra bovid differs from representatives of both genera in the simpler horn core morphology and external brain anatomy. Urmiatherium is known to appear first in China and Iran at about 7.8 Ma, whereas its westernmost appearance on Samos Island (Greece) is dated much later. The presence of Urmiatherium kassandriensis sp. nov. in N. Greece suggests a farther west and earlier (Vallesian at least) first appearance of the genus. This would justify a basic geographic and phylogenetic split of Urmiatherium into two main Turolian lineages: a central-eastern Asian one leading to the sister species U. polaki and U. intermedium and a western one leading to U. rugosifrons.     

The lichenicolous species of Odontotrema (syn. Lethariicola) (Ascomycota,Ostropales)

Abstract:The genus Lethariicola is shown to be a synonym of Odontotrema. Fifteen lichenicolous species are recognized: O. bryoriae sp. nov. (on Bryoria), O. cuculare comb. nov. (on Parmeliopsishyperopta), O. figulinum comb. nov. (on Lecanorapolytropa), O. intermedium sp. nov. (on Thamnolia), O. lecanorae sp. nov. (on Lecanora), O. melaneliae sp. nov. (on Melanelia), O. ochrolechiae sp. nov. (on Ochrolechia), O. pertusariae sp. nov. (onPertusariahymenea ), O. rhizocarpicola sp. nov. (on Rhizocarpon), O. santessonii sp. nov. (on Thamnolia), O. sipei comb. nov. (on Letharia), O. thamnoliae sp. nov. (onThamnolia ), and three undescribed species on Lecanora, Mycoblastus and Usnea. The type ofO. cuculare has two distinct lichenicolous species of Odontotrema, and the name is lectotypified on the species growing on Parmeliopsis. A key is given to all lichenicolous species of Odontotrema andParalethariicola .     

New gall midges of the tribe Leptosynini (Diptera,Cecidomyiidae) from the Late Eocene ambers and the classification of the supertribe Heteropezidi

Three new genera and 27 new species of gall midges are described from the Late Eocene ambers: Henria baltica sp. nov., Frirenia manca sp. nov., F. musicata sp. nov., Leptosyna samlandica sp. nov., L. fastosa sp. nov. from Baltic amber and H. xystica sp. nov., H. liquida sp. nov., Stellasegna vlaskini gen. et sp. nov., S. vaporea sp. nov., S. nexa sp. nov., Rasnitsia verticosa gen. et sp. nov., F. rohdendorfi sp. nov., F. schevchenkoi sp. nov., F. melica sp. nov., F. lukashevichae sp. nov., F. leporidis sp. nov., F. marmarygma sp. nov., F. vesana sp. nov., Vincinescia alisae gen. et sp. nov., L. margarita sp. nov., L. munifera sp. nov., L. sukachevae sp. nov., L. assa sp. nov., L. larga sp. nov., L. vegeta sp. nov., L. vaticina sp. nov., and L. shcherbakovi sp. nov. from Rovno amber. Strobliella capitata Fedotova is redescribed as Henria capitata (Fedotova, 2004) (comb. nov.). Diagnoses of Henria (= Electroxylomyia Nel et Prokop, syn. nov.), Frirenia, and Leptosyna are revised. As a result, Henria comprises 3 extant and 5 extinct (Late Eocene) species, including H. eocenica (Nel et Prokop), comb. nov. (= Electroxylomyia eocenica), Frirenia comprises 1 extant and 10 Late Eocene species, and Leptosyna comprises 3 extant and 11 Late Eocene species. The tribe Heteropezini is elevated to the supertribal rank (Heteropezidi) and included in the subfamily Lasiopterinae. Leptosynini is treated as a separate tribe, and Lasiopterinae is considered as part of Cecidomyiidae s. str. (i.e., excluding Lestremiidae). Keys to the tribes and genera of Heteropezidi and to species of Henria, Stellasegna, Frirenia, and Leptosyna are provided. The gall midge faunas of the Rovno and Baltic ambers are compared. Phylogenetic relationships within the supertribe are hypothesized.     

Kubergandian (Roadian,Middle Permian) of the Lycian and Aladağ Nappes (Southern Turkey)

The Ni?angahtepe Formation (Teke Dere unit) in the Lycian Nappes, and reworked pebbles and blocks from the Late Triassic Gevne Formation in the Alada? unit (both in Southern Turkey), present a well-developed Kubergandian microfauna and microflora found for the first time in this area. The following cyanobacterial and algal taxa are newly established: Clinortonella nov. gen., Ramovsia lyciana nov. sp., and Kantia? guevenci nov. sp.; some Cancellina and Armenina are revised. These Kubergandian faunas and floras present strong palaeobiogeographical affinities with the Eurasian southern margin (northern Palaeotethyan border). The Teke Dere unit represents an accretionary prism/fore-arc sequence containing different parts of the Palaeotethyan succession. The Late Triassic Gevne Formation marks the Eo-Cimmerian unconformity related to the closure of the Palaeotethys between the Taurus and Anatolian terranes.     

FURTHER OCCURRENCES OF SPENCERITES FROM THE MIDDLE PENNSYLVANIAN OF KANSAS AND ILLINOIS

New specimens of Spencerites moorei add knowledge of its sporophylls and method of sporangial attachment. The sporophyll consists of a slender pedicel which expands at its distal end into a fleshy, peltate, diamond-shaped head which bears a presumably fleshy lamina. The sporangium is attached through most of its length to the adaxial surface of the pedicel rather than distally as in S. insignis. It is suggested that the distal attachment shown in S. insignis may be derived through a phyletic shift from the pedicellate position. Additional specimens of Spencerites provisionally assigned to S. majusculus are also recorded. The spores are bilateral, monolete, and shaped like quadrants of a sphere. Two prominent wings extend along the two contact faces and the monolete mark is prominently raised, thus imparting a three-winged appearance to the spore. The axis consists of an exarch protostele and a cylinder of thick-walled outer cortex.     

Seven new species of caddisflies (Insecta: Trichoptera) from the Rovno amber (Eocene of Ukraine)

Seven new caddisfly species of the families Polycentropodidae, Psychomyiidae, and Lepidostomatidae are described from the Late Eocene Rovno amber: Holocentropus kobodok sp. nov., H. zhiltsovae sp. nov., Plectrocnemia nastigermania sp. nov., P. ucrainica sp. nov., Nyctiophylax terreusbos sp. nov., Lype essentia sp. nov., and Lepidostoma quasitypica sp. nov.     

New radiolarians from the Devonian of the southern Ural Mountains: 1. Early-Middle Devonian (Late Emsian-Early Eifelian)

Late Emsian-Early Eifelian radiolarians from the southern Ural Mountains are recorded and described for the first time. They come from the Kamennaya Gora section on the Tanalyk River near the town of Buribay, Bashkiria. The new Late Emsian-Early Eifelian radiolarian assemblage consists of 20 species of 11 genera of spherical, discoidal, spindle-shaped, pylomate, and spiny radiolarians. Four new species, i.e., Entactinia rostriformis sp. nov., Palaeodiscaleksus tumefactus sp. nov., Primaritripus buribayensis sp. nov., and P. chuvashovi sp. nov., are described. The diagnosis of the genus Primaritripus Afanasieva, 2000 is amended. The fact that the oryctocenosis is dominated by discoidal radiolarians suggests that, in the Late Emsian-Early Eifelian, the area under study was occupied by a relatively shallow marine basin. Based on radiolarians, a new Upper Emsian-Lower Eifelian biostraton, beds with Primaritripus buribayensis-Entactinia rostriformis, is established. The history of the study of Early Devonian radiolarians is considered.     

New radiolaria of the family Pseudodictyomitridae from the Coniacian-Santonian of the Perapedhi Formation of southern Cyprus

A new genus of Late Cretaceous radiolarians, Cyprodictyomitra gen. nov., comprising two new species, C. longa sp. nov., C. elegantissima sp. nov., and a new species, Pseudodictyomitra crassa sp. nov. are described. These new taxa come from rich Coniacian-Santonian radiolarian associations of the Perapedhi Formation of Southern Cyprus.     

New species of spiriferids (Brachiopoda) from the Devonian and Carboniferous of Eastern Europe

In a revision of previously published materials, two new spiriferid species from the Late Tournaisian, Unispirifer subtornacensis sp. nov. and Mesochorispira ussuilensis sp. nov., and Atylephorus nalivkini sp. nov. from the Lytva Horizon of the Upper Devonian of Bashkiria are described. Based on the original collection, a new Serpukhovian subspecies, Podtsheremia duplicicosta triplicicosta, from the southern Ural Mountains and a new Late Carboniferous species, Purdonella kalashnikovi, from the polar Ural Mountains and adjacent islands are established.     

Selaginella lakkidiana sp. nov. (Selaginellaceae) from India

Selaginella lakkidiana Nisha, Nampy & Joby sp. nov. from Lakkidi, the Western Ghats of India is described and illustrated. The new species is closely allied to S. chrysorrhizos Spring, but differs by a serrate and smaller sporophyll, smooth megaspores, and reddish brown and pitted microspores.     

Diaceratherium massiliae nov. sp. des argiles oligocènes de Saint-André et Saint-Henri à Marseille et de Les Milles près d’Aix-en-Provence (SE de la France), premier grand Rhinocerotidae brachypode européen

A revision of all previously collected mammalian fossils from the two Late Oligocene sites of Saint-André and Saint-Henri in Marseille (both from the MP 26 reference-level) allows us to identify three Rhinocerotoidea species: Protaceratherium albigense, Ronzotherium romani, Diaceratherium massiliae nov. sp., and maybe a fourth one, Eggysodon cf. gaudryi. Only the first two were previously known there. D. massiliae nov. sp. is found together with R. romani; it is the first case of sympatry ever known between the two genera. D. massiliae nov. sp. is then the most ancient Diaceratherium in Europe, where the genus was previously unknown before the MP 29 reference-level. It is a very large species whose limb bones proportions foreshadow these of the later species of the genus, especially D. lemanense from the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene. This suggests a possible phylogenetic link between D. massiliae nov. sp. and D. lemanense, and the coexistence of at least two different but partially contemporaneous lineages among the European Diaceratherium. In Les Milles near Aix-en-Provence, also from the MP 26 reference-level, the three species P. albigense, R. romani and D. massiliae nov. sp. were also found.     

New species of Lenticulina (Foraminifera) from the Upper Triassic of Kotelnyi Island,New Siberian Islands,Russia

Late Triassic foraminifers of Kotelnyi Island (New Siberian Islands) are studied. Four new lenticuline species (Lenticulina kotelnensis sp. nov., L. triassica sp. nov., L. septentrionalis sp. nov., and L. sakhaensis sp. nov.) are described. Their distribution in the Upper Triassic deposits of Kotelnyi Island is discussed.     

New stoneflies (Insecta: Perlida = Plecoptera) from Eocene Rovno amber,Ukraine

A new genus, Rovnocapnia gen. nov., with new species R. atra sp. nov. and R. ambita sp. nov., from the family Capniidae, and a new genus and species Palaeoleuctra acuta gen. sp. nov., from the family Leuctridae, of the suborder Nemourina (Euholognatha), are described from Late Eocene Rovno amber. Familial assignment of one additional specimen (suborder Perlina, infraorder Perlomorpha (Systelognatha)), represented by a nymphal skin, is obscure due to its incomplete preservation.