Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T19:52:56.378Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Melvillipteris quadriseriata gen. et sp. nov., a new plant assigned to Rhacophytales from the Upper Devonian (Famennian) of Arctic Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2015

JIN-ZHUANG XUE  and
JAMES F. BASINGER
JIN-ZHUANG XUE*
Affiliation:
The Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P. R. China
JAMES F. BASINGER*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5E2, Canada
*
†Authors for correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected]
†Authors for correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A new plant of Late Devonian (Famennian) age, Melvillipteris quadriseriata gen. et sp. nov., is reported from Melville Island, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Main axes and two orders of lateral branches are recognized. The main axes are monopodial in habit, with a zigzag and/or upright appearance and dense adventitious roots attached on some internodes. First-order branches are inserted on the main axes in distichous pairs, showing a quadriseriate pattern (i.e. alternate pairs); they bear one or two sterile ultimate appendages on the proximal portions, and then distally bear alternate second-order branches. Second-order branches bear alternate ultimate appendages which may be fertile or sterile; the sterile ultimate appendages are composed of one or two successive dichotomies, terminating in oppositely recurved tips, and fertile appendages show an elaborate branching system. Each fertile appendage has an initial dichotomy forming two sister branches, each of which further divides three or four times to produce ultimate divisions terminated by sporangia. Two to four small fusiform sporangia are grouped in a truss which is supplied by penultimate division of the fertile appendage. The sporangia have a pointed tip and a longitudinal dehiscence. This new plant resembles other plants with a quadriseriate branching pattern (e.g. Rhacophyton Crépin, Cephalopteris Nathorst, Protocephalopteris Ananiev, Ellesmeris Hill, Scheckler & Basinger and Protopteridophyton Li & Hsü), and is assigned to the Rhacophytales. Its similarity to and divergence from the rhacophytaleans, cladoxylopsids and other related plants are discussed.

Keywords

quadriseriate branchingLate DevonianFamennianCanadaCladoxylopsidaRhacophyton
Type
Original Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 153 , Issue 4 , July 2016 , pp. 601 - 617
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ananiev, A. R. 1960. Studies in the Middle Devonian flora of the Altai-Sayan mountain region. Botanicheskii Zhurnal 45, 649–66 (in Russian with English summary).Google Scholar
Andrews, H. N. & Phillips, T. L. 1968. Rhacophyton from the Upper Devonian of West Virginia. Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Botany 61, 37–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basinger, J. E., Kotyk, M. E. & Gensel, P. G. 1996. Early land plants from the Late Silurian–Early Devonian of Bathurst Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Current Research, Part B. Geological Survey of Canada 1996B, 51–60.Google Scholar
Beck, C. B. & Stein, W. E. 1993. Crossia virginiana gen. et sp. nov., a new member of the Stenokoleales from the Middle Devonian of southwestern Virginia. Palaeontographica Abteilung B Paläophytologie 229, 115–34.Google Scholar
Berry, C. M. 2000. A reconsideration of Wattieza Stockmans (here attributed to Cladoxylopsida) based on a new species from the Devonian of Venezuela. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 112, 125–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berry, C. M. 2005. ‘Hyenia’ vogtii Høeg from the Middle Devonian of Spitsbergen – its morphology and systematic position. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 135, 109–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, C. M. & Edwards, D. 1996. Anapaulia moodyi gen. et sp. nov.: a probable iridopteridalean compression fossil from the Devonian of western Venezuela. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 93, 127–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, C. M. & Fairon-Demaret, M. 1997. A reinvestigation of the cladoxylopsid Pseudosporochnus nodosus Leclercq et Banks from the Middle Devonian of Goé, Belgium. International Journal of Plant Sciences 158, 350–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, C. M. & Fairon-Demaret, M. 2002. The architecture of Pseudosporochnus nodosus Leclercq et Banks: a Middle Devonian cladoxylopsid from Belgium. International Journal of Plant Sciences 163, 699–713.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, C. M. & Stein, W. E. 2000. A new iridopteridalean from the Devonian of Venezuela. International Journal of Plant Sciences 161, 807–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, C. M. & Wang, Y. 2006. A new plant attributed to Cladoxylopsida from the Middle Devonian of Yunnan Province, China. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 142, 63–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bureau, L. E. 1914. Bassin de la basse Loire. Fascicule II: Description des Flores Fossiles. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 417 pp.Google Scholar
Cohen, K. M., Finney, S. C., Gibbard, P. L. & Fan, J.-X. 2013. The ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart. Episodes 36, 199–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cordi, J. & Stein, W. E. 2005. The anatomy of Rotoxylon dawsonii comb. nov. (Cladoxylon dawsonii) from the Upper Devonian of New York State. International Journal of Plant Sciences 166, 1029–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornet, B., Phillips, T. L. & Andrews, H. N. 1976. The morphology and variation in Rhacophyton ceratangium from the Upper Devonian and its bearing on frond evolution. Palaeontographica Abteilung B Paläophytologie 158, 105–29.Google Scholar
Dittrich, H. S., Matten, L. C. & Phillips, T. L. 1983. Anatomy of Rhacophyton ceratangium from the Upper Devonian (Famennian) of West Virginia. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 40, 127–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Embry, A. & Klovan, J. E. 1976. The Middle–Upper Devonian clastic wedge of the Franklinian Geosyncline. Bulletin of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geology 24, 485–639.Google Scholar
Erwin, D. M. & Rothwell, G. W. 1989. Gillespiea randolphensis gen. et sp. nov. (Stauropteridales), from the Upper Devonian of West Virginia. Canadian Journal of Botany 67, 3063–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farahimanesh, M., Gerrienne, P., Galtier, J. & Prestianni, C. 2014. The fern Stauropteris oldhamia Binney: new data on branch development and adaptive significance of the hypodermal aerenchyma. Comptes Rendus Palevol 13, 473–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fu, Q., Wang, Y., Berry, C. M. & Xu, H.-H. 2011. Complex branching patterns in a newly recognized species of Compsocradus Berry et Stein (Iridopteridales) from the Middle Devonian of North Xinjiang, China. International Journal of Plant Sciences 172, 707–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gensel, P. G. 1973. A new plant from the Lower Mississippian of Southwestern Virginia. Palaeontographica Abteilung B Paläophytologie 142, 137–53.Google Scholar
Gensel, P. G., Kotyk, M. E. & Basinger, J. F. 2001. Morphology of above- and below-ground structures in early Devonian (Pragian–Emsian) plants. In Plants Invade the Land: Evolutionary and Environmental Perspectives (eds Gensel, P. G. & Edwards, D.), pp. 83–102. New York: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hao, S.-G. & Xue, J.-Z. 2013 a. The Early Devonian Posongchong Flora of Yunnan – A Contribution to an Understanding of the Evolution and Early Diversification of Vascular Plants. Beijing: Science Press, 366 pp.Google Scholar
Hao, S.-G. & Xue, J.-Z. 2013 b. Earliest record of megaphylls and leafy structures, and their initial diversification. Chinese Science Bulletin 58, 2784–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, J. C. 1995. Melville Island's salt-based fold belt, Arctic Canada. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 472, 1–331.Google Scholar
Hill, S. A., Scheckler, S. E. & Basinger, J. F. 1997. Ellesmeris sphenopteroides, gen. et sp. nov., a new zygopterid fern from the Upper Devonian (Frasnian) of Ellesmere, N.W.T., Arctic Canada. American Journal of Botany 84, 85–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hilton, J. 1999. A Late Devonian plant assemblage from the Avon Gorge, west England: taxonomic, phylogenetic and stratigraphic implications. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 129, 1–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hilton, J., Geng, B.-Y. & Kenrick, P. 2003. A novel Late Devonian (Frasnian) woody cladoxylopsid from China. International Journal of Plant Sciences 164, 793–805.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenrick, P. & Crane, P. R. 1997. The Origin and Early Diversification of Land Plants: A Cladistic Study. Washington: Smithsonian Institute Press, 441 pp.Google Scholar
Kotyk, M. E. & Basinger, J. F. 2000. The Early Devonian (Pragian) zosterophyll Bathurstia denticulata Hueber. Canadian Journal of Botany 78, 193–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kotyk, M. E., Basinger, J. F., Gensel, P. G. & de Freitas, T. A. 2002. Morphologically complex plant macrofossils from the Late Silurian of Arctic Canada. American Journal of Botany 89, 1004–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Li, C.-S. & Hsü, J. 1987. Studies on a new Devonian plant Protopteridophyton devonicum assigned to primitive fern from South China. Palaeontographica Abteilung B Paläophytologie 207, 111–31.Google Scholar
Leclercq, S. 1951. Étude morphologique et anatomique d’une fougère du Dévonien Supérieur, le Rhacophyton zygopteroides nov. sp. Annales de al Société Géologique de Belgique 9, 1–62.Google Scholar
Leclercq, S. & Banks, H. P. 1962. Pseudosporochnus nodosus sp. nov., a Middle Devonian plant with cladoxylalean affinities. Palaeontographica Abteilung B Paläophytologie 110, 1–34.Google Scholar
Meyer-Berthaud, B., Soria, A. & Young, G. C. 2007. Reconsidering differences between Cladoxylopsida and Iridopteridales: evidence from Polyxylon australe (Upper Devonian, New South Wales, Australia). International Journal of Plant Sciences 168, 1085–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nathorst, A. G. 1902. Zur oberdevonischen Flora der Bären-Insel. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar 36, 1–60.Google Scholar
Phillips, T. L. & Galtier, J. 2005. Evolutionary and ecological perspectives of Late Paleozoic ferns Part I. Zygopteridales. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 135, 165–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richardson, J. B. & McGregor, D. C. 1986. Silurian and Devonian spore zones of the Old Red Sandstone Continent and adjacent regions. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 364, 1–79.Google Scholar
Rothwell, G. W. 1999. Fossils and ferns in the resolution of land plant phylogeny. The Botanical Review 65, 188–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheckler, S. E. 1974. Systematic characters of Devonian ferns. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 61, 462–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheckler, S. E. 1986. Geology, floristics and paleoecology of Late Devonian coal swamps from Appalachian Laurentia (U.S.A.). Annales de al Société Géologique de Belgique 109, 209–22.Google Scholar
Schultka, S. T. 1978. Beiträge zur Anatomie von Rhacophyton condrusorum Crépin. Argumenta Palaeobotanica 5, 11–22.Google Scholar
Schweitzer, H. J. 1968. Pflanzenreste aus dem Devon Nord-Westspitzbergens. Palaeontographica Abteilung B Paläophytologie 123, 43–75.Google Scholar
Schweitzer, H. J. 1973. Die Mitteledevon-Flora von Lindlar (Rheinland). 4. Filiciane-Calamophyton primaevum Kräusel and Weyland. Palaeontographica Abteilung B Paläophytologie 140, 117–50.Google Scholar
Scotese, C. R. 2001. Atlas of Earth History, Volume 1, Paleogeography, PALEOMAP Project (http://www.scotese.com). Arlington, TX.Google Scholar
Skog, J. E. & Banks, H. P. 1973. Ibyka amphikoma, gen. et sp. n., a new protoarticulate precursor from the late Middle Devonian of New York State. American Journal of Botany 60, 366–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, W. E. 1981. Reinvestigation of Arachnoxylon kopfii from the Middle Devonian of New York State, USA. Palaeontographica Abteilung B Paläophytologie 177, 90–117.Google Scholar
Stein, W. E. 1982. Iridopteris eriensis from the Middle Devonian of North America, with systematics of apparently related taxa. Botanical Gazette 143, 401–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, W. E., Mannolini, F., Hernick, L. V., Landing, E. & Berry, C. M. 2007. Giant cladoxylopsid trees resolve the enigma of the Earth's earliest forest stumps at Gilboa. Nature 446, 904–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stein, W. E., Wight, D. C. & Beck, C. B. 1984. Possible alternatives for the origin of Sphenopsida. Systematic Botany 9, 102–18.Google Scholar
Taylor, T. N., Taylor, E. L. & Krings, M. 2009. Paleobotany: The Biology and Evolution of Fossil Plants (2nd ed.). San Diego: Academic Press, 1230 pp.Google Scholar
Wang, D.-M. 2008. A new iridopteridalean plant from the Middle Devonian of Northwest China. International Journal of Plant Sciences 169, 1100–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Y. & Berry, C. M. 2006. Morphology of a non-pseudosporochnalean cladoxylopsid from the Middle Devonian of Yunnan, South China. Palaeoworld 15, 54–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Z. & Geng, B.-Y. 1997. A new Middle Devonian plant: Metacladophyton tetraxylum gen. et sp. nov. Palaeontographica Abteilung B Paläophytologie 243, 85–102.Google Scholar
Wang, D.-M. & Lin, Y.-J. 2007. A new species of Metacladophyton from the Late Devonian of China. International Journal of Plant Sciences 168, 1067–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, D.-M., Xu, H.-H., Xue, J.-Z., Wang, Q. & Liu, L. 2015. Leaf evolution in early-diverging ferns: insights from a new fern-like plant from the Late Devonian of China. Annals of Botany 115, 1133–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Xue, J.-Z. & Hao, S.-G. 2008. Denglongia hubeiensis gen. et sp. nov., a new plant attributed to Cladoxylopsida from the Upper Devonian (Frasnian) of South China. International Journal of Plant Sciences 169, 1314–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xue, J.-Z., Hao, S.-G. & Basinger, J. F. 2010. Anatomy of the Late Devonian Denglongia hubeiensis, with a discussion of the phylogeny of the Cladoxylopsida. International Journal of Plant Sciences 171, 107–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xue, J.-Z., Huang, P., Wang, D.-M., Wang, Q. & Hao, S.-G. 2015. Anatomy of the Middle Devonian cladoxylopsid Panxia gabata Y. Wang et Berry from Yunnan Province, southwestern China. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. Published online 18 May 2015. doi: 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2015.05.005.Google Scholar