Pteruchus (microsporophyll): part 2 of a reassessment of Gondwana Triassic plant genera and a reclassification of some previously attributed

Anderson, H.M., Barbacka, M., Bamford, M.K., Holmes, W.B.K. & Anderson, J.M., 3 July 2019. Pteruchus (microsporophyll): part 2 of a reassessment of Gondwana Triassic plant genera and a reclassification of some attributed previously. Alcheringa XXX, X–X. ISSN 0311-5518

The microsporophyll genus Pteruchus, belonging to the pteridosperms (seed ferns) in the family Umkomasiaceae (Corystospermaceae), is reassessed comprehensively worldwide and emended. All records are analysed, and some fertile structures previously attributed are reclassified. The Lower Jurassic record of Pteruchus from Germany is ascribed to a new genus as Muelkirchium septentrionalis. Pteruchus is shown to be restricted to the Triassic of Gondwana and is clearly affiliated with the megasporophyll genus Umkomasia and the vegetative leaf genus Dicroidium. It is well represented from Argentina, Antarctica, Australia and southern Africa; the Molteno Formation of southern Africa is by far the most comprehensively sampled, yielding three species and 425 specimens from 22 localities. Nomenclatural problems with the species of Pteruchus are addressed. A key to Pteruchus species is provided; geographic and stratigraphic distributions are tabulated.

Heidi M. Anderson [hmsholmes@googlemail.com], Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 20150, South Africa; Maria Barbacka [mariabarbacka@gmail.com], W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, 31-512 Kraków, Poland; Hungarian Natural History Museum, Botanical Department, H-1431 Budapest, Pf. 137, Hungary; Marion K. Bamford [marionbamford@witsacza], Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 20150, South Africa; W.B. Keith Holmes* [wbkholmes@hotmail.com], 46 Kurrajong Street, Dorrigo, NSW 2453, Australia; John M. Anderson [jmandersongondwana@googlemail.com], Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 20150, South Africa. *Also affiliated with: University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.     

A new crustacean clam shrimp (Spinicaudata: Eosestheriidae) from the Upper Triassic of Argentina and its importance for ‘conchostracan’ taxonomy

A new species of a fossil crustacean clam shrimp (Spinicaudata: Eosestheriidae) Menucoestheria wichmanni is described from the lower Upper Triassic Vera Formation (Los Menucos Complex) in Río Negro Province, southern Argentina. This discovery represents the first record of this family in the Triassic of Argentina and the southernmost record of South American Triassic ‘conchostracans’ (Spinicaudata). The new species shows close affinities with Middle Jurassic faunas from Antarctica and offers important data on the taxonomy (notably the use of ornamentation characters), palaeobiogeography (as South America hosts the oldest-known fossils of this family) and evolution of the Gondwanan faunas. Other South American eosestheriid species are tentatively recognized. Menucoestheria is hypothesized to be the ancestral form of the Triassic–Jurassic Gondwanan eosestheriids. Relationships between European and Gondwanan eosestheriids remain unresolved.     

New corystosperm ovulate fructifications from the Middle Triassic of eastern Australia

The genus Umkomasia Thomas is emended to include the corystosperm ovulate inflorescent genera Pilophorosperma Thomas and Karibacarpon Lacey. Three new species of large inflorescences are described and illustrated: Umkomasia polycarpa sp. nov. from the Esk Formation of Queensland and U. distans sp. nov. and U. sessilis sp. nov. from the Basin Creek Formation of New South Wales.     

Triassic plant fossils from Pollock Road,Southland, New Zealand

Pole. M. S., & Raine. J. I., 1994:03:28. Triassic plant fossils from Pollock Road, Southland. New Zealand. Alcheringa 18, 147–159. ISSN 0311-5518.

Sedimentary rocks of the Murihiku Supergroup considered to be latest Triassic (Rhaetian), crop out about 10 m below the Glenham Porphyry, near Glenham, New Zealand. They contain the vegetative macrofossils Marchantites sp. (Hepaticae), Pachydermophyllum praecordillerae (Frenguelli) Retallack and Pachydermophyllum benmorensis Anderson & Anderson (Peltaspermaceae), cf. Dicroidium dubium var. dubium Anderson & Anderson (Corystospermaceae), Desmiophyllum sp. cf. D. indicum Sahni (possible conifer), and Gingkophytopsis sp. (possible progymnosperm).

Reproductive material includes ovulate structures (Peltaspermum cournanei sp. nov.), pollenbearing structures (Antevsia sp.) and probably seeds of the Peltaspermaceae, ? Umkomasia (Corystospermaceae), and a possible progymnosperm microsporophyll.

The palynoflora is dominated by bisaccate gymnospermous pollen, mainly Alisporites spp., consistent with the presence of corystosperm macrofossils. Moderately common pollen of Cycadopites spp. may be of peltasperm origin.     

A new fossil genus in Pamphiliidae (Hymenoptera) from China

A new genus with two new species, Scabolyda orientalis gen. et sp. nov. and Scabolyda incompleta sp. nov., assigned to the subfamily Juralydinae in the family Pamphiliidae are described and illustrated. They were collected from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation and the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation in northeastern China. They represent the first fossil pamphiliids described from China.     

The distribution of the Mesozoic ostracod genus Procytherura Whatley: palaeogeographical implications with special reference to Argentina

A review is undertaken of the nine species of Procytherura known to occur in Argentina and a new species, Procytherura serangodes sp. nov. is described. The global distribution of the genus indicates that it was more or less equally diverse and widely distributed in both hemispheres during most of the Lower and Middle Jurassic, but that in the Upper Jurassic and in the Lower Cretaceous, it became progressively restricted to the Southern Hemisphere. The widespread distribution of several Jurassic species of Procytherura, which occur in both Great Britain and Northwest Europe and in Argentina, is shown to be related to the availability of important migration routes, including the Tethys and the Hispanic Corridor. In the Lower Cretaceous, the very widespread distribution of Procytherura in the Southern Hemisphere, is used to support the existence of important routes along the eastern and western seaboards of Africa, the latter associated with the opening of the South Atlantic.     

Triassic nautiloid Sibyllonautilus from Gua Bama,Peninsular Malaysia and its regional stratigraphic implications

Coiled nautiloid Shells referred to Sibyllonautilus bamaensis Sone sp. nov. are reported from the top of the Gua Bama limestone hill in Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia. This is the first record of the genus in Southeast Asia; a pre-Ladinian, Triassic age is indicated for the occurrence. Based on the presence of Sibyllonautilus and previously reported Late Permian (Lopingian) foraminifers and algae, the Gua Bama limestones are interpreted to range from the Late Permian to the Triassic. It further seems plausible that some parts of Gua Bama are stratigraphically correlated to those of the nearby Gua Sei limestone hill, which has yielded basal Triassic conodonts, and that either or both the Gua Bama and Gua Sei hills may contain yet unconfirmed successions of the Permian-Triassic boundary.     

Early Miocene bivalves from the Cape Melville Formation,King George Island,West Antarctica

Seven species of marine bivalves, including six new taxa, are described from the Cape early Miocene Melville Formation which crops out on the Melville Peninsula, King George Island, West Antarctica. The bivalve assemblage includes representatives of the families Nuculidae, Ennucula frigida sp. nov., E. musculosa sp. nov.; Malletidae, Neilo (Neilo) rongelii sp. nov.; Sareptidae, Yoldia peninsularis sp. nov.; Limopsidae, Limopsis psimolis sp. nov.; Hiatellidae, Panopea (Panopea) sp. cf. P. regularis; and Pholadomyoida (Periploma acuta sp. nov.). Species studied come from four sedimentary sections measured in the upper part of the unit. Detailed morphologic features of nucloid and arcoid species are exceptionally well preserved and allow for the first time reconstruction of muscle insertions as well as dentition patterns of Cenozoic taxa. Known geological distribution of the species is in agreement with the early Miocene age assigned to the Cape Melville Formation. The bivalve fauna from Cape Melville Formation is the best known from Antarctic Miocene rocks, a time of complex geologic, paleogeographic and paleoclimatic changes in the continent. The new fauna introduces new taxonomic and palaeogeographic data that bear on the question of opening of sea gateways and distribution of Cenozoic biota around Antarctica.     

A new temnospondyl amphibian from the Lower Triassic of South America

A new temnospondyl from the Early Triassic Buena Vista Formation (Paraná Basin) in Uruguay is described. The specimen is represented by a skull table fragment which includes the left orbit, and, although fairly incomplete, shows close affinities with the basal temnospondyl clade (Dvinosaurus + Tupilakosauridae). Previously, members of this clade were only known from Upper Permian and Lower Triassic deposits from the Northern Hemisphere. The new specimen described herein together with a recent record from the Lower Triassic of South Africa (Karoo Basin), support the hypothesis of an invasion of members of the basal (Dvinosaurus + Tupilakosauridae) clade into Gondwana as early as the Late Permian.     

The worm Palaeoscolex from the Cambrian of NW Argentina: extending the biogeography of Cambrian priapulids to South America

Over one hundred years of palaeontological research in northwestern Argentina has provided extensive knowledge of Andean lower Palaeozoic fossil assemblages, with trilobites, graptolites, brachiopods and echinoderms being among the most prominent groups. This record is enriched by the recent discovery of soft-bodied worms in Cambrian outcrops of northwestern Argentina. Palaeoscolex sp. cf. P. ratcliffei from the Furongian Lampazar Formation in Jujuy is described, considerably expanding the biogeographical range of this genus and filling the distributional gap, between the well-known early–middle Cambrian occurrences of Palaeoscolex and those of its Ordovician species.     

A new late Oligocene to early Miocene species o Apatopygus (Echinoidea: Cassiduloida) from the Maltese Islands

The occurrence of Apatopygus gaudensis sp. nov. in the upper part of the late Oligocene (Chattian) Lower Coralline Limestone division, and the lower part of the early Miocene (probably late Aquitanian) Lower Globigerina Limestone division of the Maltese Islands (Central Mediterranean), is the first confirmed record of Apatopygus outside the Australia-New Zealand region. Apatotygus vincentinus (Tate, 1891) from the middle to late Eocene of southern Australia is the earliest known occurrence of the genus, possibly suggesting that Apatotygus may have evolved earlier in the Australasian region, or merely that it is yet to be discovered in pre-Oligocene strata in the Mediterranean area.     

Leaf galls on Dicroidium hughesii (Feistmantel) Lele from the Triassic of India—a new record

Disc-like galls are reported on the Triassic corystosperm leaf Dicroidium hughesii (Feistmantel) Lele from the Parsora Formation of South Rewa Gondwana Basin, central India. Although there have been numerous reports of arthropod–plant interactions from Permian and Lower Cretaceous successions, this is the first unequivocal report of arthropod–plant interactions from the Triassic succession of Peninsular India. The new record adds to global evidence that arthropod herbivory and gall formation, in particular, had rediversified by the Late Triassic in the wake of the end-Permian mass extinction.     

Lower Devonian ischnacanthid fish (Gnathostomata: Acanthodii) from the Taemas Limestone,Lake Burrinjuck,New South Wales

Dentigerous jawbones of ischnacanthid acanthodians from the Lower Devonian Currajong Limestone Member and the lower part of the Bloomfield Limestone Member of the Taemas Limestone (Murrumbidgee Group: early Emsian) in the Murrumbidgee valley at Good Hope, Taemas district, and the Goodradigbee valley at Wee Jasper are described. Three taxa of Taemasacanthus are recognized: T. sp. cf. erroli Long, 1986; T. narrengullenensis sp. nov. and T. cooradigbeensis sp. nov. Fragmentary fin spine remains and scales are also described.     

The record of Araucariaceae macrofossils in New Zealand

Pole, M., December, 2008. The record of Araucariaceae macrofossils in New Zealand. Alcheringa 32, 405–426. ISSN 0311-5518.

The Araucariaceae have a long record in New Zealand, extending back to the Jurassic at least, and Araucaria extends back to at least the Late Cretaceous. This paper reviews the macrofossil record of the family and presents new information based largely on the leaf cuticle record. Agathis, which is the only genus of the family currently growing in New Zealand, has no record before the Cenozoic. All specimens previously identified from pre-Cenozoic strata clearly belong to other taxa or do not show characteristic features of the genus. Araucariaceae macrofossils are virtually ubiquitous in the Cretaceous assemblages of New Zealand but are conspicuous by their absence or rarity in Palaeocene deposits. Their demise may be an expression of events at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary.     

Cambrian Hyolitha of Siberian,Baltican and Avalonian aspect in east Laurentian North America: taxonomy and palaeobiogeography

Malinky, J.M. & Geyer, G., 6 March 2019. Cambrian Hyolitha of Siberian, Baltican and Avalonian aspect in east Laurentian North America: taxonomy and palaeobiogeography. Alcheringa 43, 171–203. ISSN 0311-5518.

Newly identified hyoliths from early Cambrian ‘Small Shelly Fossil’ assemblages in New York State and Quebec extend the geographical ranges of hyolith taxa, otherwise known only from Baltica and Siberia, into eastern Laurentian North America, and in some cases, are accompanied by significant stratigraphical range extensions. The newly recognized taxa from this region include the hyolithids Hexitheca washingtonensis sp. nov., Aimitus sp., A. sp. cf. A. communis, Anabaricornus sp., Similotheca americana, Grantitheca glenisteri, and the orthothecids Decoritheca sp., Contitheca sp., two species of Holmitheca, and two hyolith species that can not be confidently assigned to an order at this time. Early Cambrian limestone clasts within the Lower Ordovician of Quebec have produced the hyolithids Similotheca americana and Nevadotheca princeps. The occurrences of Aimitus, Anabaricornus, and Holmitheca provide a palaeobiogeographical link with hyolith assemblages in Siberia, and Hexitheca to Baltica. Contitheca not only is known from these areas, but also has been found in west Laurentia, Morocco, Korea and Antarctica. A review of previously named species demonstrates that none of their type materials can be confidently referred to genus or species level because of poor preservation.

John M. Malinky [jmalinky@sbcglobal.net], Department of Physical Science, San Diego City College, 1313 Park Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92101, USA; Gerd Geyer* [gerd.geyer@uni-wuerzburg.de], Institut für Geographie und Geologie, Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.     

Phosphatic fauna of the Early Cambrian Todd River Dolomite,Amadeus Basin,central Australia

Ten species of phosphatic or phosphatised fossils are described from the Early Cambrian Todd River Dolomite of the Amadeus Basin in central Australia. The tannuolinid genus Micrina nov. is erected to include Platyceras etheridgei Tate 1892. The family Kennardiidae nov. is erected to include phosphatic organisms having three distinct forms of mitral sclerite. Assigned to this family are Kennardia reticulata gen. et sp. nov. and tentatively Dailyatia ajaxBischoff. Other phosphatic problematica are Paterimitra pyramidalis gen. et sp. nov., Eccentrotheca cf. kanesia Landing, Nowlan & Fletcher. Also described are phosphatised Chancelloria sp., Lenastella sp. and Pelagiella sp. and the phosphatic inarticulate brachiopods Askepasma toddensegen. et sp. nov., Edreja aff. distincta Koneva and ?Lingulella sp. Two species of tubular problematica are illustrated but not discussed in detail.     

Skilliostrobus gen. nov., a new lycopsid cone from the Early Triassic of Australia

Skilliostrobus australis gen. et sp. nov. is a large, ovoid, pedunculate cone present in rocks of Early Triassic age in three areas in southeastern Australia and Tasmania. The cone is heterosporous and its unisporangiate sporophylls are wedge-shaped with long horizontal limbs. Microsporophylls occur above megasporophylls in the cone and the sporangia are adaxial. Large trilete megaspores similar to the dispersed megaspore genus Horstisporites Potonié are present in the megasporangia of the cone and the microsporangia contain small monolete spores similar to the dispersed microspore genus Aratrisporites Leschik. Skilliostrobus is placed in the family Lepidodendraceae in the order Lepidodendrales. The size of the cone suggests that the parent plant was comparable in size with small arborescent Palaeozoic lycopsids and with some species of Pleuromeia. The discovery of this cone is another indication that arborescent lycopsids did not become extinct at the end of the Paleozoic.