Discussion of the Early Devonian rhynchonellid brachiopod genus Borealirhynchia Su, 1976

The Early Devonian brachiopod genus Borealirhynchia was established by Su, 1976. Phylum Brachiopoda (Cambrian to Devonian). In: Paleontological Atlas of North China, Inner Mongolia Volume 1. Geological Publishing House Beijing, pp. 155-227 (in Chinese). It has not been previously described in detail, nor have transverse serial sections of the internal features of Borealirhynchia delerensis, the type species, been published. In this paper Borealirhynchia, along with a few species previously assigned to it, is analysed and discussed. Detailed transverse serial sections of the internal features of B.? lata Su, 1976, are provided, based on well-preserved specimens collected from the Lower Devonian strata of Dong Ujimqin Qi, northeastern Inner Mongolia. Borealirhynchia? gigantea Su, 1976 and Latonotoechia multicosta Su, 1976 are considered to be synonyms of B.? lata Su with the same external and internal characters present in all three species. Some Lower Devonian strata, in which Borealirhynchia was found and reported, from Dong Ujimqin Qi, northeastern Inner Mongolia, are fully described.     

Late Devonian - Early Carboniferous vertebrate microremains from the Carnic Alps, northern Italy

Vertebrate microremains from the Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous of the Carnic Alps are predominantly chondrichthyan, with minor placoderm and actinopterygian remains. The faunas are sparse and, with very few exceptions, occur only in conodont-rich pelagic limestones (Pramosio Limestone) representative of the palmatolepid-bispathodid conodont biofacies. Phoebodont and jalodont chondrichthyans, also reflecting open-ocean environments, predominated during the Famennian, and eventually symmoriids seem to predominate during the Early Carboniferous. The presence of Siamodus in this assemblage gives a new locality for this genus known from few regions in the world and allows confirming its stratigraphical range (limpidus Zone) and its relation to deep-water environments. The Late Devonian vertebrate faunas are tropical and cosmopolitan, having much in common with coeval taxa from the North-Gondwanan margins and Asian terranes. Composition of the vertebrate faunas is consistent with the Carnic Alps terrane having occupied a position intermediate between Gondwana and Laurussia, as hypothesized by various authors, but because of sparsity of the taxa represented and the pronounced cosmopolitan nature of both the conodont and vertebrate faunas, the data are not compelling.     

Early post-mortem calcified Devonian acritarchs as a source of calcispheric structures

Uniquely preserved Late Devonian calcispheres were found in a core of the deep borehole Sosnowiec IG-1 (Upper Silesia, southern Poland). These enigmatic calcareous microfossils are interpreted here as acritarchs that underwent an early post-mortem calcification. Remnants of organic walls preserved in the calcispheres suggest that they represent various acanthomorphic acritarchs, characteristic members of the Palaeozoic marine phytoplankton. Taphonomic analysis combined with the light microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations of mineral and organic components of the investigated calcispheres suggest that a complex multi-stage process led to calcification of their in vivo non-mineralized acritarch forerunners. The ubiquity of acanthomorphic calcispheres in many Devonian shallow-water limestones is a testimony to little, thus far, documented acritarch crops that must have existed over extensive areas of carbonate-producing epicontinental seas. The scarcity of acritarchs described from Devonian shallow-water limestones may thus represent a taphonomic bias rather than real rarity or absence.     

New ischnacanthid acanthodians from the Early Devonian of Australia, with comments on acanthodian interrelationships

Rockycampacanthus milesi n.gen., n.sp. is described from a single jaw from the Rocky Camp member of Lower Devonian Buchan Group, E Victoria. Rockycampacanthus differs from other ischnacanthiforms in having large multicuspidate teeth with dual rows of secondary cusps forming a posteromesial flange, a mesial tooth row beginning opposite the fourth cusp of the main tooth row, and in the gnathal bone being deepest in the anterior half. Taemasacanthus erroli n. gen., n. sp. is described from several jaw bones from the Lower Devonian Murrumbidgee Group, New South Wales. Taemasacanthus has a well developed posterolabial flange with secondary cusps developed, vertical rows of denticles on the cusps of the main tooth row and a well developed mesial tooth row separated from the main row by a prominent ridge. The labial face of the jaw has a circular ridge which may have supported labial cartilages. The complex mandibular joint in climatiforms, acanthodiiforms and some primitive sharks differs from the simple jaw articulation of ischnacanthids. It is suggested that ischnacanthids are the plesiomorphic sister group to climatiforms plus acanthodiiforms. The interrelationships of ischnacanthids, climatiforms and acanthodiforms are discussed.     

New evidence for the Early Devonian age of the Jauf Formation in northern Saudi Arabia

Well-preserved Early Devonian continental and sparse marine palynomorph assemblages recovered from an exploration borehole located in northern Saudi Arabia are reported here and add to the understanding of Arabian Devonian stratigraphy. The units examined are the conventionally cored lower Murayr, upper Hammamiyat and Sha’iba Members of the Jauf Formation. A comparison with data sets from elsewhere on the Arabian Plate suggests that the units examined are Emsian in age. The age of the Murayr and Hammamiyat boundary interval is revised, based on the occurrence of Dibolisporites eifeliensis in northern Saudi Arabia, and placed in the Rhabdosporites minutus (Min) Interval Zone of the Emphanisporites foveolatus-Verrucosisporites dubia (FD) Oppel Zone. A new miospore, Apiculiretusispora densa with distinctive interradial thickenings, is described.     

An onychodont fish (Osteichthyes,Sarcopterygii) from the Early Devonian of China,and the evolution of the Onychodontiformes

Although the superbly preserved specimens of Onychodus jandemarrai have greatly advanced our understanding of the Onychodontiformes, a primitive sarcopterygian group with large parasymphysial tooth whorls, the scarcity of the otoccipital material in the group hampers further morphological comparisons between onychodonts and other sarcopterygian groups. Here we report a new onychodont Qingmenodus yui gen. et sp. nov. from the Early Devonian (Pragian) of South China that comprises well-ossified otoccipital and upper and lower jaw material. As one of the oldest known onychodonts, Qingmenodus shows for the first time the nearly complete structure of the otoccipital in onychodonts and provides an additional basis to address the phylogenetic position of the group. Its elongated otic shelf exhibits the posterior shift of the attachment for the basicranial muscle as in coelacanths and sheds light on the feeding mechanism of onychodonts. Qingmenodus displays a mosaic of primitive and derived onychodont features. The phylogenetic analysis places Qingmenodus immediately basal to the clade comprising Onychodus and Grossius.     

A new genus of lycopods from the Devonian of New York State

Drepanophycus colophyllus Grierson & Banks is transferred to llaskinsia Grierson & Banks on the basis of the morphology of its leaves and its anatomical structure. Slender, dichotomizing axes bear helically arranged leaves that are falcate, petiolate, simple, lanceolate and entire. A solid cylinder of metaxylem is surrounded by ridges of protoxylem. Pitting on tracheid walls is annular, helical, reticulate, scalariform to circular-bordered. This lycopod extends from early Givetian into early Frasnian time in the Catskill strata of eastern New York State. The effect of cleavage of fossiliferous rock on patterns observed on the exposed fossils and the bearing of recent research on the fossil history of lycopods are discussed.     

Early to Middle Devonian miospores from northern Saudi Arabia

Well-preserved palynomorph assemblages are recovered from the Devonian Jauf and Jubah formations in five shallow boreholes in the northern part of Saudi Arabia. These fully cored boreholes overlap stratigraphically to form a 1640 ft composite sequence. Miospores dominate the palynological assemblages of most samples. The assemblages are mainly composed of trilete spores but also contain cryptospores and monolete spores. One new genus, sixteen new species and two new varieties of miospores are described from the studied assemblages: Artemopyrainconspicua nov. sp., Artemopyrarecticosta nov. sp., Camarozonotriletesfilatoffii nov. sp., Camarozonotriletesrugulosus nov. sp., Cymbohilatesbaqaensis nov. sp., Cymbohilatescomptulus nov. sp., Cymbohilatesheteroverrucosus nov. sp., Cymbosporitesasymmetricus nov. sp., Dibolisporitespilatus nov. sp., Dictyotriletesbiornatus nov. sp., Gneudnasporadivellomedia (Chibrikova) Balme, 1988 var. divellomedia, Gneudnasporadivellomedia (Chibrikova) Balme, 1988 var. minor nov. var., Latosporitesovalis nov. sp., Scylasporacostulosa nov. sp., Squamisporaarabica nov. gen. and sp., Stellatisporamulticostata nov. sp., Zonotriletesarmillatus nov. sp. and Zonotriletessimplicissimus nov. sp. Their stratigraphic distribution is compared to the well-established Devonian West European zonation of Streel et al. (1987) (Streel, M., Higgs, K.T., Loboziak, S., Riegel, W., Steemans, P., 1987. Spore stratigraphy and correlation with faunas and floras in the type marine Devonian of the Ardenne-Rhenish region. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 50, 211-219). A late Pragian-Givetian age is suggested for this sequence. No characteristic Eifelian taxa are recorded, but this could be explained by a gap in palyniferous samples.     

Devonian floral assemblages and plant megafossils from the Iberian Peninsula: A review

This paper presents a review and critical analysis of the literature on Devonian floras of the Iberian Peninsula. Although the known outcrops of Devonian strata in the Iberian Peninsula are marine, in some cases, a few fragmentary remains of vascular plants are associated with faunal remains. Records include largely specimens from the Lower Devonian of Barrancos (Alentejo, Portugal) and the Upper Devonian of Sierra de Hornachos in Badajoz province, southwest Spain; the remainder consists of drifted plant fragments from scattered sites in the Iberian Peninsula ranging in age from Lochkovian to Upper Devonian-Earliest Carboniferous. The vegetation inferred for the Lower Devonian of the Iberian Peninsula is mainly based on palynological data and corresponds to herbaceous types characterised by bryophytes, rhyniophytes (Horneophyton, Cooksonia, Rhynia), trimerophytes (Psilophyton, Pertica and Hostinella), primitive lycophytes (Drepanophycus) and incertae sedis such as Nothia and Chaleuria, all flora that developed near the coast in low-lying and, at least periodically, wet areas. In the Middle Devonian, two vegetation strata can be recognised: herbaceous (Psilophyton) and semi-arboreal (Cladoxylales). Although three levels of vegetation in the Upper Devonian, have been described from outcrops worldwide, the scarce available data from the Iberian Peninsula only indicate an arborescent lycopsid vegetation and species with uncertain botanical affinity such as Sphenopteridium keilhauii Nathorst.     

The placoderm <Emphasis Type="Italic">Plourdosteus livonicus</Emphasis> (Eastman) in the early Frasnian of the Central Devonian Field and the trophic structure of the Mikhailovskii Fish Assemblage

The placoderm Plourdosteus livonicus (Eastman) (Euarthrodira, Coccosteina) from the Upper Timanian Mikhailovskii Fish Assemblage of the Central Devonian Field is described. The composition and structure of the assemblage are discussed and compared with later Frasnian fish assemblages of the Central Devonian Field.     

Notes on a fertile rhyniophytoid from the Lower Devonian of Guangxi,southwestern China

A fertile rhyniophytoid is discovered from the Lower Devonian of Guangxi, southwestern China, which is characterised by small size, dichotomous branchings and terminal sporangia. This plant is similar to the genus Aberlemnia Gonez et Gerrienne and also, is comparable to some mesofossil morphotypes of early land plants from the Early Devonian (Lochkovian) Old Red Sandstone floras. This study adds new data to the generally zosterophyll-dominated Early Devonian floras of South China and sheds some lights on the palaeophytogeography of rhyniophytoids.     

New Sphenophyllum plant from the Upper Devonian of Zhejiang Province,China

Sphenophyllum was an important and long-surviving sphenopsid genus in the Paleozoic floras, with a worldwide distribution. A new species, Sphenophyllum changxingense sp. nov., is described from the Upper Devonian Wutong Formation of Changxing County, Zhejiang Province, China. This plant is characterized by two orders of slender axes and wedge-shaped leaves borne in whorls. The axes bear short spines and show longitudinal ridges and furrows on surface. Three to eight isophyllous leaves, with one, two, or no second-order axes, are attached at each node of first-order axes. Leaves bear spines and show a bilobate morphology; the two leaf lobes divide distally to form several marginal segments, each segment with a leaf vein. Sphenophyllum changxingense represents an early and primitive species within the genus, in light of the absence of heterophylly and specialized hook-like leaves. Like some Carboniferous and Permian species, it appears to have formed dense mats with mutually supportive axes. This plant adds to the known diversity of early sphenopsids in the Late Devonian.     

A new microphyllous plant from the Lower Devonian of Yunnan Province, China

Sterile and fertile shoots of a microphyllous vascular plant are described from the Lower Devonian Posongchong Formation (? upper Siegenian), Yunnan Province, southern China and placed in the new taxon Halleophyton zhichangense gen. et sp. nov. The sterile axes are characterized by conspicuous, contiguous swollen rhomboidal to hexagonal leaf bases and relatively broad spatulate laminae. The relief of the leaf bases is not so pronounced in the fertile areas, which bear numerous cauline sporangia with two equal valves. In vegetative characters the new fossils, although smaller and more fragmentary, resemble Drepanophycus gaspianus but in the absence of information on the fertile parts of the latter and because of the controversy surrounding the concept of the genus Drepanophycus, we decided to erect a new genus. Its relationship to the lycophytes sensu stricto is equivocal as exact details of the relationship of sporangium with leaf and sporangium vascularization remain unknown.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Oredezhosteus</Emphasis>, a new psammosteid genus (Heterostraci,Psammosteiformes) from the Lower Frasnian (Upper Devonian) of the Main Devonian Field

A new psammosteid, Oredezhosteus kuleshovi gen. et sp. nov., from the Amata Regional Stage (Lower Frasnian) of the Leningrad Region is described. In addition, Psammosteus livonicus Obruchev from beds of the same age from Latvia is included in the new genus. The major diagnostic characters distinguishing Oredezhosteus gen. nov. from Psammosteus Agassiz are the large rounded striated tubercles, which cover more than half width of the branchials, and the long base of the branchial plates.     

Cyrtinoides Yudina and Rzhonsnitskaya, 1985, an aberrant Middle Devonian ambocoeliid brachiopod genus from China

Here we redescribe and reillustrate specimens of an ambocoeliid brachiopod previously described as Echinocoelia guangsiensis Sun, 1992 from the late Eifelian–earliest Givetian Mingtang Formation of the Liujing section in Guangxi Autonomous Region. The internal structure of the species, and especially the presence of a spondylium with tichorhinum in the ventral valve indicates that the species represents the aberrant genus Cyrtinoides Yudina and Rzhonsnitskaya, 1985. It seems probable that the anterior part of the tichorhinum in Cyrtinoides accommodated the diductor attachments. Geographic distribution of Cyrtinoides is restricted to the Northern Hemisphere and shows a disjunct pattern. This genus has not hitherto been identified from China.     

Germination shields in Scutellospora (Glomeromycota: Diversisporales, Gigasporaceae) from the 400 million-year-old Rhynie chert

Glomeromycotan spores from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert provide the first evidence for germination shields in fossil fungi and demonstrate that this complex mode of germination was in place in some fungi at least 400 million years ago. Moreover, they represent the first direct marker relative to the precise systematic position of an Early Devonian endomycorrhizal fungus. In extant fungi, germination shields occur exclusively in the genus Scutellospora (Glomeromycota: Diversisporales, Gigasporaceae). These structures are regarded as a derived feature within the phylum Glomeromycota, and hence their presence in the Rhynie chert suggests that major diversification within this group of fungi occurred before the Early Devonian.Taxonomical novelties Scutellosporites Dotzler, M. Krings, T.N. Taylor and Agerer Scutellosporites devonicus Dotzler, M. Krings, T.N. Taylor and AgererStürmer 1998     

Restudy of the Early Devonian rugose coral Xystriphylloides from South China

Early Devonian rugose coral Xystriphylloides in South China is restudied from the perspective of its taxonomic definition, biostratigraphy, paleoecology, and implication for the Yujiang Event. The diagnostic characters of the genus are clarified and its taxonomic position is also revised. In particular the septa of Xystriphylloides are shown to be fibrous rather than trabeculate. Xystriphylloides distinctus Yu n. sp. is described. Species of Xystriphylloides are widely distributed in South China and North Vietnam, so they are useful for regional biostratigraphic correlation and regional geological mapping. As an important biostrome builder, Xystriphylloides became extinct below the base of the nothoperbonus Conodont Zone, so it can be considered as one of the important pieces of evidence for recognizing the first episode of the Early Devonian Emsian Yujiang Event, which is also significant for studying paleoecology and event stratigraphy.     

云南曲靖下泥盆统西山村组四营鱼属(Siyingia)一新种(英文)

主要采用形态学与比较解剖学的方法,对采自云南曲靖地区下泥盆统西山村组中的1件盔甲鱼类标本进行了详细的形态学研究,建立了多鳃鱼类四营鱼属1新种:宽棘四营鱼(Siyingia perlatuspinosa sp.nov.),并据此修订了四营鱼属的特征。在此基础上,应用分支系统学对多鳃鱼类属一级的系统发育关系进行了重新分析与探讨,确定了四营鱼在多鳃鱼类中的系统发育位置。系统发育分析结果显示,四营鱼(Siyingia)与多鳃鱼(Polybranchiaspis)亲缘关系最近,二者形成了一个单系类群,与宽甲鱼(Laxaspis)+坝鱼(Damaspis)组成的单系类群互为姊妹群。宽棘四营鱼的发现不仅拓宽了四营鱼在华南的时空分布范围,而且丰富了多鳃鱼类的多样性,并为多鳃鱼类的深入研究提供了可靠的化石新证据。     

A new arthropod from the early Devonian Rhynie chert, Aberdeenshire (Scotland), with a remarkable filtering device in the mouthparts

A new arthropodSaccogulus seldeni n. gen. n. sp. is described from the Early Devonian Rhynie cherts, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK. Although an incomplete thin section preparation, this enigmatic fossil differs substantially in overall shape and in various morphological details from previous named discoveries at Rhynie. A remarkable feature is what appears to be a very thick cuticle, albeit with a curious spongiform texture and ducts running through it. Secondly, associated with the mouth is a unique, elongate, steeply-rising structure comprising filamentous or platelet-like projections. This probably acted as some sort of post-oral (?) filtering device and implies a terrestrial animal; a liquid-feeder that practised preoral digestion. Affinities of this new fossil remain equivocal, but preoral digestion implies an arachnid. Indeed the overall outline present in the thin section and, perhaps, the filtering device show some intriguing similarities to spiders (Araneae).     

Root evolution at the base of the lycophyte clade: insights from an Early Devonian lycophyte

Background and Aims The evolution of complex rooting systems during the Devonian had significant impacts on global terrestrial ecosystems and the evolution of plant body plans. However, detailed understanding of the pathways of root evolution and the architecture of early rooting systems is currently lacking. We describe the architecture and resolve the structural homology of the rooting system of an Early Devonian basal lycophyte. Insights gained from these fossils are used to address lycophyte root evolution and homology.Methods Plant fossils are preserved as carbonaceous compressions at Cottonwood Canyon (Wyoming), in the Lochkovian–Pragian (∼411 Ma; Early Devonian) Beartooth Butte Formation. We analysed 177 rock specimens and documented morphology, cuticular anatomy and structural relationships, as well as stratigraphic position and taphonomic conditions.Key Results The rooting system of the Cottonwood Canyon lycophyte is composed of modified stems that bear fine, dichotomously branching lateral roots. These modified stems, referred to as root-bearing axes, are produced at branching points of the above-ground shoot system. Root-bearing axes preserved in growth position exhibit evidence of positive gravitropism, whereas the lateral roots extend horizontally. Consistent recurrence of these features in successive populations of the plant preserved in situ demonstrates that they represent constitutive structural traits and not opportunistic responses of a flexible developmental programme.Conclusions This is the oldest direct evidence for a rooting system preserved in growth position. These rooting systems, which can be traced to a parent plant, include some of the earliest roots known to date and demonstrate that substantial plant–substrate interactions were under way by Early Devonian time. The morphological relationships between stems, root-bearing axes and roots corroborate evidence that positive gravitropism and root identity were evolutionarily uncoupled in lycophytes, and challenge the hypothesis that roots evolved from branches of the above-ground axial system, suggesting instead that lycophyte roots arose as a novel organ.