Tetraxylopteris Beck emend. Hammond and Berry (2005), the first aneurophytalean genus recorded in Australia

Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud; Anne Laure Decombeix; Robert Dunstone; Philippe Gerrienne; Nicolas Momont; Gavin Young

doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2015.09.006

Tetraxylopteris Beck emend. Hammond and Berry (2005), the first aneurophytalean genus recorded in Australia

Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud^*, Anne Laure Decombeix, Robert Dunstone, Philippe Gerrienne, Nicolas Momont, Gavin Young

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Middle to early Late Devonian aneurophytalean progymnosperms represent the basalmost group of lignophytes and may have included the seed plant ancestor. They are widely recorded in Laurussia. Before this work, the only occurrences of Aneurophytales in Gondwana were in Venezuela and Morocco. In this paper we describe one fertile and two vegetative specimens of Tetraxylopteris from the Bunga beds at Bunga Pinch Quarry, a locality near Tathra on the south coast of New South Wales. The vegetative specimens consist of two orders of axes, the last order bearing alternately arranged ultimate appendages. Ultimate appendages are three-dimensional, highly dissected, and composed of terete segments of unequal length. The shape and arrangement of the ultimate appendages suggest that the Australian specimens belong to a new species of Tetraxylopteris. The association of Tetraxylopteris with large lycopsids constrains the age of the Bunga beds to the Givetian-Frasnian interval. The range of dissected ultimate appendage morphologies displayed by the genus Tetraxylopteris may have been advantageous in habitats characterized by high light conditions. These morphologies do not show any specialization for lianescence.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	54-65
Number of pages	12
Journal	Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
Volume	224
Issue number	Part 1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2015.09.006
Publication status	Published - 2016

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10.1016/j.revpalbo.2015.09.006

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title = "Tetraxylopteris Beck emend. Hammond and Berry (2005), the first aneurophytalean genus recorded in Australia",

abstract = "The Middle to early Late Devonian aneurophytalean progymnosperms represent the basalmost group of lignophytes and may have included the seed plant ancestor. They are widely recorded in Laurussia. Before this work, the only occurrences of Aneurophytales in Gondwana were in Venezuela and Morocco. In this paper we describe one fertile and two vegetative specimens of Tetraxylopteris from the Bunga beds at Bunga Pinch Quarry, a locality near Tathra on the south coast of New South Wales. The vegetative specimens consist of two orders of axes, the last order bearing alternately arranged ultimate appendages. Ultimate appendages are three-dimensional, highly dissected, and composed of terete segments of unequal length. The shape and arrangement of the ultimate appendages suggest that the Australian specimens belong to a new species of Tetraxylopteris. The association of Tetraxylopteris with large lycopsids constrains the age of the Bunga beds to the Givetian-Frasnian interval. The range of dissected ultimate appendage morphologies displayed by the genus Tetraxylopteris may have been advantageous in habitats characterized by high light conditions. These morphologies do not show any specialization for lianescence.",

keywords = "Aneurophytales, Australia, Devonian, Gondwana, Progymnosperms",

author = "Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud and Decombeix, {Anne Laure} and Robert Dunstone and Philippe Gerrienne and Nicolas Momont and Gavin Young",

year = "2016",

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language = "English",

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AU - Decombeix, Anne Laure

AU - Dunstone, Robert

AU - Gerrienne, Philippe

AU - Momont, Nicolas

AU - Young, Gavin

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - The Middle to early Late Devonian aneurophytalean progymnosperms represent the basalmost group of lignophytes and may have included the seed plant ancestor. They are widely recorded in Laurussia. Before this work, the only occurrences of Aneurophytales in Gondwana were in Venezuela and Morocco. In this paper we describe one fertile and two vegetative specimens of Tetraxylopteris from the Bunga beds at Bunga Pinch Quarry, a locality near Tathra on the south coast of New South Wales. The vegetative specimens consist of two orders of axes, the last order bearing alternately arranged ultimate appendages. Ultimate appendages are three-dimensional, highly dissected, and composed of terete segments of unequal length. The shape and arrangement of the ultimate appendages suggest that the Australian specimens belong to a new species of Tetraxylopteris. The association of Tetraxylopteris with large lycopsids constrains the age of the Bunga beds to the Givetian-Frasnian interval. The range of dissected ultimate appendage morphologies displayed by the genus Tetraxylopteris may have been advantageous in habitats characterized by high light conditions. These morphologies do not show any specialization for lianescence.

AB - The Middle to early Late Devonian aneurophytalean progymnosperms represent the basalmost group of lignophytes and may have included the seed plant ancestor. They are widely recorded in Laurussia. Before this work, the only occurrences of Aneurophytales in Gondwana were in Venezuela and Morocco. In this paper we describe one fertile and two vegetative specimens of Tetraxylopteris from the Bunga beds at Bunga Pinch Quarry, a locality near Tathra on the south coast of New South Wales. The vegetative specimens consist of two orders of axes, the last order bearing alternately arranged ultimate appendages. Ultimate appendages are three-dimensional, highly dissected, and composed of terete segments of unequal length. The shape and arrangement of the ultimate appendages suggest that the Australian specimens belong to a new species of Tetraxylopteris. The association of Tetraxylopteris with large lycopsids constrains the age of the Bunga beds to the Givetian-Frasnian interval. The range of dissected ultimate appendage morphologies displayed by the genus Tetraxylopteris may have been advantageous in habitats characterized by high light conditions. These morphologies do not show any specialization for lianescence.

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ER -

Tetraxylopteris Beck emend. Hammond and Berry (2005), the first aneurophytalean genus recorded in Australia

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