SVALBARDIA BANKSII SP. NOV. FROM THE UPPER DEVONIAN (FRASNIAN) OF NEW YORK STATE

Svalbardia banksii sp. nov., is described from the Upper Devonian (Frasnian) Fish Cabin Creek locality near Pond Eddy, New York. The compression consists of ultimate branches bearing spirally arranged, unwebbed leaves. The unwebbed leaves are up to 3.2 cm long, are somewhat flexuous, and dichotomize in more than one plane. The new species is similar to the reconstruction of Actinoxylon banksii from the Middle Devonian (Givetian) of New York and strengthens the supposed relationship between Svalbardia polymorpha and Actinopodium nathorstii from Mimerdalen, Spitzbergen.     

TRILOBOXYLON ASHLANDICUM GEN. AND SP. N. FROM THE UPPER DEVONIAN OF NEW YORK

A new taxon is described from the Upper Devonian, Oneonta formation in the northern Cats-kills of New York. Triloboxylon gen. n. is represented by petrifactions showing two orders of branching. The main axis bears branches spirally and the latter bear the ultimate appendages spirally. Ultimate appendages branch dichotomously twice, in one plane. Primary xylem of the main axis and branches is three-armed with mesarch protoxylem extending in a continuous band within each arm. Primary xylem of the ultimate appendage is terete and dichotomizes twice. Metaxylem elements are characterized by scalariform and circular-bordered pitting on all walls. The cortex is composed entirely of isodiametrical parenchyma cells. Triloboxylon is compared with other genera with three-lobed protosteles. Its possible affinity with the Aneurophytales is shown. The morphological nature of the “frond” of the Aneurophytales and the possibility that the group possesses the morphological equivalent of simple leaves are discussed.     

IBYKA AMPHIKOMA,GEN. ET SP. N., A NEW PROTOARTICULATE PRECURSOR FROM THE LATE MIDDLE DEVONIAN OF NEW YORK STATE

Ibyka gen. n. is described from late Middle Devonian compressions and petrifactions collected in eastern New York State. It is a robust plant of which three orders of branching and ultimate appendages (leaves) are known. The latter dichotomize up to five times, are arranged spirally on all orders of branching, are three-dimensional, and all orders are terete in cross section. Fertile appendages, homologous with the sterile, are terminated by sporangia. The protostele has five or six arms, the maturation is mesarch, and the protoxylem disintegrates leaving lacunae at the tips of the arms. Traces to appendages are terete and arise spirally from the tips of the arms. The primary xylem consists of tracheids only, the phloem of thin-walled cells and probable tanniniferous cells. The cortex consists of parenchyma and groups of sclereids. Secondary xylem is lacking. Ibyka is placed in a new order, Ibykales, close to the Hyeniales (protoarticulates) and to the Pseudosporochnales all three of which probably evolved from Trimerophytina.     

PROTEOKALON A NEW GENUS OF PROGYMNOSPERMS FROM THE DEVONIAN OF NEW YORK STATE AND ITS BEARING ON PHYLOGENETIC TRENDS IN THE GROUP

Proteokalon gen. nov. is described from the Upper Devonian Catskill deposits of New York. Two orders of branching and ultimate appendages are preserved' by petrifaction and by compression. The first order bears branches decussately and has a skewed four-armed protostele that occasionally dichotomizes. Second-order branches dichotomize rarely and most have T-shaped or three-armed protosteles. They bear ultimate appendages alternately, either in lateral pairs, or singly from the abaxial side. These appendages divide several times in one plane. Their vascular strand is terete. Maturation of the primary xylem is mesarch, and it consists of tracheids and parenchyma. Secondary xylem and phloem and a periderm are present. The outer cortex has a system of hypodermal fibers. Proteokalon is most similar to Tetraxylopteris and Triloboxylon of the Aneurophytales. A comparison of the stratigraphic occurrence of Protopteridium, Aneurophyton, Tetraxylopterism, Sphenoxylon, Triloboxylon, and Proteokalon suggests some evolutionary trends among the Aneurophytales.     

A FERTILE AXIS OF TRILOBOXYLON ASHLANDICUM,A PROGYMNOSPERM FROM THE UPPER DEVONIAN OF NEW YORK

A partially petrified impression of Triloboxylon ashlandicum (Aneurophytales) is the first recognized fertile axis of the genus. Identification of the fertile axis rests on the similarity of its anatomy with that of previously described vegetative specimens. Fertile organs replace some vegetative branches along part of the main axis. Fertile organs are twice dichotomized in one plane and bear elongate sporangia arranged pinnately. Vegetative branches differ in that they bear the ultimate appendages of the plant helically. The latter organs dichotomize many times in one plane. Although similar in size and morphology to the ultimate appendages, the fertile organs are homologous by position and vascular supply to the vegetative branches which they replace. Sporangia of T. ashlandicum dehisce longitudinally and terminate in an apiculate tip. Spores are unknown. Fertile organs of T. ashlandicum resemble those of other Aneurophytales and support the earlier placement of Triloboxylon in the order on anatomical grounds. T. ashlandicum differs from other Aneurophytales, however, by bearing vegetative organs at the distal end of its fertile axis.     

湖南晚泥盆世短胸节甲鱼类一新属

本报道的鱼类化石产自湖南石门大京州的上泥盆统写经寺组。在中国泥盆纪地层分区上,化石产地属于华南区的湘、鄂、川交界分区(侯鸿飞等,1988)。该分区泥盆系为一套厚度不超过500m的近岸海相碎屑岩沉积,仅发育中泥盆统上部至上泥盆统(图1),并普遍超覆在志留系温洛克统之上,以角度不整合伏于石炭系或二叠系之下。上泥盆统分两个组,从下而上分别为黄家磴组和写经寺组。黄家磴组系杨敬之、穆恩之(1953)创立,标准地点在湖北长阳马鞍山东端的黄家磴。岩性为砂岩夹少量页岩,植物化石丰富,并含有误订为植物化石的湖北长阳鱼(Changyanophyton hupeiense Sze,1952)。根据植物化石组合面貌,黄家磴组的时代被认为是晚泥盆世早期。写经寺组是谢家荣、刘季辰(1927)创立的。岩性分为二段：下段以泥灰岩为主,含Yunnanella abrupta、Yunnanellina triplicata等腕足类化石;上段以砂页岩为主,含植物化石,其组合面貌除大致与黄家磴组相似外,还有一些新的分子,如Leptophloeum guanzhuangense、Cyclostigma hunanense等。根据动、植物化石群的性质,写经寺组的时代大致与法门期早期相当。多年来,在这一分区的泥盆纪地层里,很少鱼类化石。杨敬之、穆恩之(1953)曾提及在湖北长阳写经寺组底部发现的鱼化石,这些鱼化石与腕足类Yunnanella、Tenticospirifer等共生,但种属并未定出。已记述过的鱼化石只有湖北长阳黄家磴组的长阳鱼(潘江,1962)。     

ANATOMY AND RELATIONSHIPS OF SOME DEVONIAN PROGYMNOSPERMS FROM NEW YORK

New specimens of Triloboxylon ashlandicum Matten and Banks (1966) show additional features of the anatomy and morphology of the plant. The primary xylem has strands of parenchyma associated with trace formation. Secondary xylem and phloem are described for the first time. The outer cortex, previously unknown, contains hypodermal fiber strands. The ultimate appendages are much divided and planated. Specimens of Aneurophyton hallii (Arnold, 1940) were reexamined and newly prepared. They are transferred to the genus Triloboxylon as T. hallii. Triloboxylon is transferred from Pteropsida-Incertae Sedis to the Aneurophytales. New information on the morphology and anatomy of Telraxylopteris is presented and its identity to Sphenoxylon is supported.     

LEAVES OF ARCHAEOSIGILLARIA VANUXEMII,A DEVONIAN LYCOPOD FROM NEW YORK

The leaf of mid Devonian Archaeosigillaria vanuxemii from Gilboa, N.Y. is known to have a thick conical base. This study demonstrates by the uncovering technique the attachment of leaves to the stem, the flattened lamina that is deltoid in outline with a toothed margin, and an apex prolonged into a hair. Comparisons are made with specimens from Kazakhstan. The morphology of leaves of other species of Archaeosigillaria and the slowly accumulating data on leaves of Devonian lycopods are discussed.     

CALLIXYLON FROM THE UPPER DEVONIAN OF NORTHWESTERN ALBERTA

Campbell, J. D. (Res. Council Alberta, Edmonton.) Callixylon from the Upper Devonian of northwestern Alberta. Amer. Jour. Bot. 50(7): 648–652. Illus. 1963.—An oil-well core from the “Granite Wash” of probable early Late Devonian age (Wood bend equivalent) in the Peace River region of northwestern Alberta yielded a thin pyritized chip of coniferoid wood. The pith is not represented, but the secondary tracheid pitting, exhibiting radially aligned clusters of 5–10 araucarioid pits, indicates that the specimen is referable to the wood-type usually called Callixylon, now believed to be the axis of the leaf-genus Archaeopleris. In its low and regularly uniseriate or rarely biseriate rays, with no apparent ray tracheids, the specimen may resemble the species Callixylon trifdievi Zalessky (1909) from the Upper Devonian of Russia, and thus lend some small support to the postulation of a Late Devonian land connection between northwestern North America and Europe.     

STUDIES OF PALEOZOIC FUNGI. IV. WOOD-DECAYING FUNGI IN CALLIXYLON NEWBERRYI FROM THE UPPER DEVONIAN

An extensive fungal infection is present in silicified specimens of Callixylon newberryi (Dawson) Elkins and Wieland from the Upper Devonian of Indiana. Fungi are represented by branched, septate filaments with both terminal and intercalary chlamydospores. Clamp connections were not observed. Tracheids of the secondary xylem, decayed in varying degrees, show erosion troughs, cavities, and extensive lysis of tracheid walls. The pattern of decay is most similar to modern-day white rots, which are typically caused by basidiomycetes, while hyphal features are characteristic of either ascomycetes or basidiomycetes. The presence of wood decay coupled with a septate mycelium suggests the presence of higher fungi in the Devonian and indicates a more diverse Devonian mycoflora than has previously been recognized.     

THE CUTICLE OF DREPANOPHYCUS SPINAEFORMIS,A LONG-RANGING DEVONIAN LYCOPOD FROM NEW YORK AND EASTERN CANADA

The presence of paracytic stomata and paired guard cells on specimens presumed to be Drepanophycus spinaeformis Göppert from eastern Canada and New York State supports the conclusion of Banks and Grierson that the species is not a reliable index of Lower Devonian strata. The interpretation of stomatal morphology demonstrates that the species lived in Early, Middle, and Late Devonian time and that slender specimens are distinct from zosterophylls such as Sawdonia that had anomocytic stomata and a single guard cell. Knowledge of the stomata also permits a reinterpretation of the stomatal apparatus as first described by Lang. Siegenian specimens of the genus apparently represent the oldest occurrence of paired guard cells and of paracytic stomata.     

THE MEGAGAMETOPHYTE OF HYDRASPERMA TENUIS LONG FROM THE UPPER DEVONIAN OF IRELAND

Hydrasperma tenuis ovules containing cellular megagametophytes have been recovered from Upper Devonian (stage) strata near Ballyheigue, County Kerry, Ireland. The megagametophytes are elliptical in transverse section and obovate in longitudinal section. The vegetative cells are organized into three, distinct, concentric zones and exhibit the radial orientation characteristic of centripetal development. Up to three archegonia may be present at the apical end of the megagametophyte. They are elliptic to terete in cross-section and elliptic in longitudinal section. Archegonia are thought to be sunken with each possessing a canal-like connection to the surface of the megagametophyte. Archegonial jacket cells surround the egg cavity. A low, broad tent-pole occurs at the top of the megagametophyte. This report represents the oldest, structurally-preserved gymnosperm megagametophyte.     

MORPHOLOGY OF PROTOSALVINIA FROM THE UPPER DEVONIAN OF OHIO AND KENTUCKY

Protosalvinia has a large thallus on which P. arnoldii and P. ravenna forms develop. Light and scanning electron microscopy of Upper Devonian compression forms of Protosalvinia arnoldii, P. ravenna and P. furcata from the Ohio Shale of Kentucky and Ohio, statistical analyses of their cellular dimensions and patterns, and mathematical constructs of thallus shapes and sizes indicate that P. ravenna and P. furcata forms could be ontogenetically derived from a P. arnoldii stage. Tetrads, interpreted as the meiotic sporangial products, are morphologically identical for the three forms; tetrads contain a sporopollenin fraction and occur singly in closed, hypodermal conceptacles. Solitary, multicellular, stalked clavate structures occur in similar closed chambers. Fossil thalli are composed of hydrocarbons with some lignin-like compounds interpretable as cuticular in nature. P. ravenna and P. furcata are morphological forms of a single species showing phenotypic plasticity within an onshore-offshore paleoecological gradient. The form of thallus and the resistant spores are interpreted as adaptations to a littoral environment. The morphology and mode of reproduction of Protosalvinia suggest a heteromorphic diplobiontic life-cycle, similar to the Heterogeneratae (Phaeophyta).     

RHABDOXYLON AMERICANUM SP. N., A STRUCTURALLY SIMPLE FERN-LIKE PLANT FROM THE UPPER PENNSYLVANIAN OF ILLINOIS

A new species of the genus Rhabdoxylon Holden (1960), an anatomically simple plant of presumed fern or fern-like affinities, is described from a coal ball petrifaction found in the Upper Pennsylvanian of southern Illinois. The new species, R. americanum, is based upon five specimens consisting of stems bearing spirally arranged leaves and numerous randomly distributed adventitious roots. The haplostelic stems branch by equal dichotomies and bear foliar traces which arise as unequal dichotomies of the stele. Leaf traces possess a circular outline in cross section and one adaxial protoxylem strand. The characteristics of exclusively primary tissues, diarch adventitious roots, centrarch haplosteles with simple scalariform pitting, and the nature and arrangement of the leaf traces, suggest that Rhabdoxylon represents a fern or fern-like plant rather than a representative of the Rhyniophytina or Trimerophytina. At present it is not possible to determine whether the simple structure of Rhabdoxylon has come about through phyletic reduction or represents a primitively simple condition.