{"title":"Charred conifer remains from the Late Oligocene – Early Miocene of Northern Hesse (Germany)","authors":"D. Uhl, A. Jasper","doi":"10.2478/acpa-2018-0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/acpa-2018-0012","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Fire is an important constituent of many modern and fossil ecosystems. During the last decades a large number of studies have dealt with fires in pre-Cenozoic ecosystems. Evidence for the occurrence of Palaeogene and Neogene wildfires (e.g. in the form of pyrogenic inertinites in lignite deposits) is geographically and stratigraphically widespread. However, as compared to earlier periods (i.e. the Permian and Cretaceous), fewer studies have focussed so far on plants burnt (or charred) in wildfires from these periods, even though these periods are of considerable interest for our understanding of the evolution of modern ecosystems. Here we report the occurrence of charred wood remains belonging to different conifer taxa from the base seam of the former Frielendorf opencast lignite mine in Northern Hesse (Germany). These findings are evidence that these conifers, and the types of vegetation they were growing in, were affected by wildfires occurring during the Late Oligocene – Early Miocene in this region.","PeriodicalId":39861,"journal":{"name":"Acta Palaeobotanica","volume":"58 1","pages":"175 - 184"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42878888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Manchester, L. Golovneva, D. Sokoloff, E. M. Friis
{"title":"Early eudicot reproductive structure: Fruit and flower morphology of Ranunculaecarpus Samyl. from the Early Cretaceous of eastern Siberia","authors":"S. Manchester, L. Golovneva, D. Sokoloff, E. M. Friis","doi":"10.2478/acpa-2018-0017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/acpa-2018-0017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Floral and fruit morphology of the early eudicot Ranunculaecarpus quinquecarpellatus Samyl. is described based on details from sectioning and microscopy of the permineralized type material from the Albian Buor-Kemyus Formation of the Zyryanka coal basin. Serial sections confirmed most of the originally described characters but revealed additional information, including hypogynous perianth and several stamens with in situ pollen. Each fruit consists of five free follicles inserted on a short receptacle. Follicles are elongate, with a dorsal keel, ventral suture and an attenuate apex, and are thin-walled, with two rows of small seeds in marginal placentation. The seeds are anatropous, ovoid, 1.3–1.7 in length, with an exotesta of cells that are rounded-hexagonal in surface view. The hypogynous perianth is composed of several free tepals. The stamens are short, with tetrasporangiate, dithecal anthers dehiscing by longitudinal slits. Pollen in situ is 18–20 mm long, 13–15 mm in equatorial diameter, with uncertain aperture configuration and a loose reticulum supported by narrow, widely spaced columellae. The combination of macromorphological characters support possible affinity to extant Ranunculaceae. However, Ranunculaecarpus is distinguished from modern members of the family by the persistence of the perianth in fruit, a smaller number of stamens (ca 10) than is typical, and pollen that is unlike that of any extant genera. Given that there are also similarities with Saxifragales, the systematic affinities of Ranunculaecarpus remain uncertain.","PeriodicalId":39861,"journal":{"name":"Acta Palaeobotanica","volume":"58 1","pages":"121 - 133"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41458832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Two new species of Symplocos based on endocarps from the early Miocene Brandon Lignite of Vermont, USA","authors":"B. Tiffney, S. Manchester, P. Fritsch","doi":"10.2478/acpa-2018-0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/acpa-2018-0008","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract We describe two new species of Symplocos (Symplocaceae) from the early Miocene Brandon Lignite Flora of Vermont, USA. The endocarps of Symplocos laevigata (Lesq.) comb. nov. are most similar in morphology and anatomy to those of the extant species S. tinctoria of southeastern North America and S. wikstroemiifolia of eastern Asia, both of S. sect. Hopea, and to those of several species of S. sect. Lodhra, endemic to eastern Asia; they are also somewhat similar to those of S. minutula of the Tertiary of Europe. The endocarps of Symplocos hitchcockii sp. nov. are most similar in morphology and anatomy to those of living members of S. sect. Lodhra, and are also somewhat similar to fossil S. incurva of the Tertiary of Europe. This report extends the fossil record of Symplocos endocarps to eastern North America and underscores the mixed mesophytic to subtropical nature of the Brandon flora.","PeriodicalId":39861,"journal":{"name":"Acta Palaeobotanica","volume":"58 1","pages":"185 - 198"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41594067","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Nossa Senhora da Luz flora from the Early Cretaceous (early Aptian-late Albian) of Juncal in the western Portuguese Basin","authors":"M. Mendes, E. M. Friis","doi":"10.2478/acpa-2018-0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/acpa-2018-0015","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A new fossil flora is described from the Early Cretaceous of the western Portuguese Basin, based on a combined palynological-mesofossil study. The fossil specimens were extracted from samples collected in the Nossa Senhora da Luz opencast clay pit complex near the village of Juncal in the Estremadura region. The plant-bearing sediments belong to the Famalicão Member of the Figueira da Foz Formation, considered late Aptianearly Albian in age. The palynological assemblage is diverse, including 588 spores and pollen grains assigned to 30 genera and 48 species. The palynoflora is dominated by fern spores and conifer pollen. Angiosperm pollen is also present, but subordinate. The mesofossil flora is less diverse, including 175 specimens ascribed to 17 species, and is dominated by angiosperm fruits and seeds. The mesofossil flora also contains conifer seeds and twigs as well as fossils with selaginellaceous affinity. The fossil assemblage indicates a warm and seasonally dry climate for the Nossa Senhora da Luz flora.","PeriodicalId":39861,"journal":{"name":"Acta Palaeobotanica","volume":"58 1","pages":"159 - 174"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48887475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fabiany Herrera, G. Shi, G. Tsolmon, N. Ichinnorov, Masamichi Takahashi, P. Crane, P. Herendeen
{"title":"Exceptionally well-preserved Early Cretaceous leaves of Nilssoniopteris from central Mongolia","authors":"Fabiany Herrera, G. Shi, G. Tsolmon, N. Ichinnorov, Masamichi Takahashi, P. Crane, P. Herendeen","doi":"10.2478/acpa-2018-0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/acpa-2018-0016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Two new Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) species of fossil bennettitalean leaves are described from central Mongolia and assigned to the genus Nilssoniopteris. Nilssoniopteris tomentosa F.Herrera, G.Shi, Tsolmon, Ichinnorov, Takahashi, P.R.Crane, et Herend. sp. nov., isolated from bulk sediment samples collected for mesofossils in the Tevshiingovi Formation at the Tevshiin Govi opencast coal mine, is distinctive in having a dense, well-developed indumentum composed of branched, flattened multicellular trichomes on the abaxial leaf surface. This species provides the first direct evidence of complex multicellular trichomes in Bennettitales and adds to the evidence of leaf anatomical features in the group that were probably advantageous in increasing water use efficiency and/or perhaps had other functions such as deterring insect herbivory. Comparison with other well-preserved leaves of Bennettitales, including Nilssoniopteris shiveeovoensis F.Herrera, G.Shi, Tsolmon, Ichinnorov, Takahashi, P.R.Crane, et Herend. sp. nov., collected as hand specimens from the Khukhteeg Formation at the Shivee Ovoo locality, suggests that the trichome bases seen commonly on the abaxial cuticle of bennettitalean leaves bore trichomes with very low fossilization potential. In some cases these trichomes may have been shed as the leaves matured, but in other cases they probably decayed during diagenesis or were destroyed during the standard processes by which fossil leaf cuticles are prepared.","PeriodicalId":39861,"journal":{"name":"Acta Palaeobotanica","volume":"58 1","pages":"135 - 157"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43944293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Eliana P. Coturel, J. Bodnar, E. M. Morel, D. Ganuza, A. J. Sagasti, Marisol Beltrán
{"title":"New species of osmundaceous fertile leaves from the upper Triassic of Argentina","authors":"Eliana P. Coturel, J. Bodnar, E. M. Morel, D. Ganuza, A. J. Sagasti, Marisol Beltrán","doi":"10.2478/acpa-2018-0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/acpa-2018-0014","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A new species of Osmundopsis Harris is described based on several impression-compression fossils from the upper section of the Potrerillos Formation (Uspallata Group) at Cerro Cacheuta Hill, Mendoza Province, Argentina. Osmundopsis zunigai sp. nov. is characterized by having fertile pinnae with a slender striate rachis, bearing widely separate, opposite to subopposite short falcate pinnules with an entire margin, rounded apex, and a partially reduced lamina. The pinnules bear sporangia loosely disposed in clusters of four or five on the abaxial side. The sporangia are wedge- to heart-shaped, shortly stalked, with cells of the apical region thickened, and have a vertical dehiscence slit. The spores are trilete and laevigate. This is the first record of Osmundopsis in the Triassic of Argentina. The mutual occurrence or co-preservation of Osmundopsis zunigai sp. nov. with sterile fronds of Cladophlebis kurtzi suggests the possibility that these species formed part of a dimorphic bipinnate frond. The diversity and geographic extent of fertile leaves of the Osmunda lineage in the early Late Triassic, with records in South Africa and Antarctica and now with this new taxon, support the idea of a moist mesothermal climatic belt in southern Gondwana.","PeriodicalId":39861,"journal":{"name":"Acta Palaeobotanica","volume":"58 1","pages":"107 - 119"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43265486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Calcareous algae from the Ordovician succession (Thango Formation) of the Spiti Basin, Tethys Himalaya, India","authors":"S. Pandey, S. K. Parcha","doi":"10.2478/acpa-2018-0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/acpa-2018-0009","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The calcareous algae Dasyporella silurica, Moniliporella multipora and Vermiporella fragilis are reported for the first time from the Middle Ordovician (Dapingian to Darriwilian) Thango Formation of the Spiti Basin of northern India (Pin Valley, Tethys Himalaya). Moniliporella multipora is reported for the first time from the entire Spiti Basin. This algal assemblage is broadly comparable to that of the directly overlying Takche (=Pin) Formation in the Spiti Basin, as well as that reported from the Ordovician succession of the Tarim Basin and from Kazakhstan. The presence of these calcareous algae is of biogeographical and biostratigraphical significance as it indicates a shallow marine depositional environment for the Thango Formation of the Spiti Basin.","PeriodicalId":39861,"journal":{"name":"Acta Palaeobotanica","volume":"58 1","pages":"106 - 97"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46901006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Revision of a late Oligocene florule from the south-western edge of the Lower Rhine Basin (western Germany)","authors":"Heinrich Winterscheid","doi":"10.2478/acpa-2018-0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/acpa-2018-0004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The late Oligocene flora from the Nirmer Tunnel at the south-western edge of the Lower Rhine Basin was first described by Menzel (1913). A revision of Menzel’s original material indicates that most taxa are from the vegetation of riparian forests (Magnolia burseracea, Ocotea rhenana, Rhodoleia bifollicularis, Eotrigonobalanus furcinervis, Trigonobalanopsis rhamnoides, Sparganium sp. vel Typha sp.) and mesophytic forests (Carpolithes dactyliformis, Sapotacites minor). Some specimens cannot be identified, so they are named Dicotylophyllum div. spp. here. The fossil species Carpolithes dactyliformis (sandstone imprints and endocasts) belongs to Cornaceae subfamily Mastixioideae and is lectotypified here. The floral assemblage is compared with some similar floras from the Oligocene of Central Europe.","PeriodicalId":39861,"journal":{"name":"Acta Palaeobotanica","volume":"58 1","pages":"49 - 60"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43581268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Past environments of Sardinian archaeological sites (Italy, West Mediterranean Sea), based on palynofacies characterization","authors":"P. Pittau, C. Buosi, G. G. Scanu","doi":"10.2478/acpa-2018-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/acpa-2018-0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A study method based on characterization of palynofacies (organic matter, palynomorphs) preserved in sediments was applied to obtain information about past environments of Sardinian sites. Organic matter (OM) was classified in ten categories according to its biological source, ecological characteristics, morphology and preservation state. These categories included woody and non-woody particles (cuticles, amorphous organic matter), phytoclasts, spores and pollen grains, gelified particles, and altered phytoclasts that ranged from transparent to opaque fragments. Cluster analysis classified the samples into associations. Each cluster includes stations with a similar spatial distribution pattern. The characterization of the different types of OM was coupled with palyno-logical analyses to produce suggested hypotheses about past vegetation, human activity and land use in Sardinia.","PeriodicalId":39861,"journal":{"name":"Acta Palaeobotanica","volume":"58 1","pages":"73 - 93"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49020488","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The palynology of the Ordóñez Formation (Pennsylvanian) in the Chacoparaná Basin, northern Argentina","authors":"P. Gutiérrez, M. L. Balarino","doi":"10.2478/ACPA-2018-0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/ACPA-2018-0002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A detailed palynological analysis of the Chacoparaná Basin is presented. Thirty-one samples were recovered from boreholes YCF.CO1, YCF.CO2 and YCF.CO3, corresponding to the lower part of the Ordóñez Formation, at the Santiago Temple locality (Córdoba Province, Argentina). Three new species are described: Calamospora fissurata sp. nov., Retusotriletes archangelskyi sp. nov. and Horriditriletes chacoparanensis sp. nov.; Leiotriletes malanzanensis nov. nom., Endosporites menendezi nov. nom., emend. are proposed to replace L. tenuis Azcuy and E. parvus Menéndez; and the following species are proposed as new combinations: Brevitriletes coalescens (Menéndez & Azcuy) nov. comb., Brevitriletes papillatus (Menéndez & Azcuy) nov. comb., B. sparsus (Menéndez & Azcuy) nov. comb., B. delicatus (Menéndez) nov. comb. and Indotriradites malanzanensis (Azcuy) nov. comb. Two different associations were identified and are compared with the known biozones from the same basin and other biostratigraphical schemes for basins from central western Argentina. The palynological assemblage can be referred, in part, to the Potonieisporites–Lundbladispora Biozone (Chacoparaná Basin) and the Raistrickia densa–Convolutispora muriornata Biozone (central western basins of Argentina, latest Serpukhovian–Bashkirian).","PeriodicalId":39861,"journal":{"name":"Acta Palaeobotanica","volume":"58 1","pages":"26 - 3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2478/ACPA-2018-0002","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41675963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}