Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T10:42:29.959Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Stanwoodia, a new genus of probable early gymnosperms from the Dinantian of East Kirkton, Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

Jean Galtier  and
Andrew C. Scott
Jean Galtier
Affiliation:
Jean Galtier, Laboratoire de Paléobotanique, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, URA 327 CNRS, Université des Sciences et Techniques, 34095 Montpellier, France
Andrew C. Scott
Affiliation:
Andrew C. Scott, Geology Department, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, Egham Hill Egham, Surrey TW200EX, U.K.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A new taxon of probable early gymnosperms is described from permineralised specimens showing excellent preservation of the tissues, from the late Lower Carboniferous (Dinantian), Brigantian, deposits of the Midland Valley of Scotland. Stanwoodia gen. nov., represented by the single species S. kirktonensis sp. nov., shows the combination of a primitive protostelic organisation with a dense secondary wood. It closely compares to the enigmatic genus Bilignea which was formerly referred with some reservations to the Cordaitales. Another interest of the new plant concerns the excellent preservation of the phloem with at least three different types of constituent cells including fibres. Stanwoodia also exhibits the oldest well-documented evidence of a sequent periderm or rhytidome in fossil plants.

Keywords

PlantstemLower CarboniferousBrigantiangymnospermprotostelephloemperiderm
Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 82 , Issue 2 , 1991 , pp. 113 - 123
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1991

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

Beck, C. B. 1957. Tetraxylopteris schmidtii gen. et sp. nov., a probable pteridosperm precursor from the Devonian of New York. AM J BOT 44, 350–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, C. B. 1970. The appearance of gymnospermous structure. BIOL REV 45, 379–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, C. B., Schmid, R. & Rothwell, G. R. 1982. Stelar morphology and the primary vascular system of seed plants. BOT REV 48, 691–815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cadell, H. M. 1925. The rocks of West Lothian, Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.Google Scholar
Camefort, H. 1956. Etude de la structure du point végétatif et des variations phyllotaxiques chez quelques gymnospermes. ANN SCI NAT BOT 17, 1–185.Google Scholar
Chalot-Prat, F. & Galtier, J. 1989. Découverte d'un tronc de gymnosperme dans une coulée du complexe volcanique carbonifère du Tazekka (Maroc oriental) et sa signification paléoécologique. C R ACD SCI PARIS 309, 1735–41.Google Scholar
Esau, K. 1977. Anatomy of seed plants, 2nd edn, New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Francis, E. H. 1983. Carboniferous-Permian igneous rocks. In Craig, G. Y. (ed). Geology of Scotland, 2nd Edn, pp. 297–324. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.Google Scholar
Galtier, J. 1970. Recherches sur les végétaux à structure conservée du Carbonifère inférieur français. PALAEOBIOLOGIE CONTINENT ALE 1, 1–221.Google Scholar
Galtier, J. 1988. Morphology and phylogeny of Early Pteridosperms. In Beck, C. B. (ed.) Origin and Evolution of Gymnosperms, pp. 135–76. New York: Columbia Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Galtier, J. & Hébant, C. 1973. Sur le phloème et le cambium d'une Calamopityacée, Ptéridospermale probable du Carbonifère inférieur français. C R ACD SCI PARIS 276, 2257–9.Google Scholar
Galtier, J. & Scott, A. C. 1990. On Eristophyton and other gymnosperms from the Lower Carboniferous of Castelton bay, East Lothian, Scotland. GEOBIOS 23, 5–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, W. T. 1935. The genus Pitys Witham emend. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH 58, 279–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jameson, J. 1987. Carbonate sedimentation on a mid-basin high: the Petershill Formation, Midland Valley of Scotland. In Miller, J., Adams, A. E. & Wright, V. P. (eds) European Dinantian Environments, 309–27. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Kidston, R. 1923–1925. Fossil plants of the Carboniferous rocks of Great Britain. MEM GEOL SURV GT BRIT II, 1–681.Google Scholar
Lacey, W. S. 1953. Scottish Lower Carboniferous Plants: Eristophyton waltonii sp. nov. and Endoxylon zonatum (Kidston) Scott from Dumbartonshire. ANN BOT NS 17, 579–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leeder, M. R. 1987. Tectonic and palaeogeographic models for Lower Carboniferous Europe. In Miller, J., Adams, A. E. & Wright, V. P. (eds) European Dinantian Environments, pp. 1–20. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Loftus, G. W. F. & Greensmith, J. T. 1988. The lacustrine Burdiehouse Limestone Formation—a key to the deposition of the Dinantian Oil Shales of Scotland. In Fleet, A. J., Kelts, K. & Talbot, M. R. (eds) Lacustrine Petroleum Source Rocks. London: Geological Society of London Special Publication, 40, 219–34.Google Scholar
Long, A. G. 1979. Observations on the Lower Carboniferous genus Pitus Witham. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH 70, 111–27.Google Scholar
Long, A. G. 1987. Observations on Eristophyton Zalessky, Lyginorachis waltonii Calder and Cladoxylon edromense sp. nov. from the Lower Carboniferous Cementstone Group of Scotland. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH 78, 73–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muir, R. O. & Walton, E. K. 1957. The East Kirkton Limestone. TRANS GEOL SOC GLASGOW 12, 157–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Namboodiri, K. K. & Beck, C. B. 1968. A comparative study of the primary vascular system of conifers. III. Stelar evolution in gymnosperms. AM J BOT 55, 464–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neves, R., Gueinn, K. J., Clayton, G., Ioannides, N., Neville, R.S. W. & Kruszewska, K. 1973. Palynological correlations within the Lower Carboniferous of Scotland and Northern England. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH 69, 23–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parnell, J. 1988. Lacustrine petroleum source rocks in the Dinantian Oil Shale Group, Scotland: a review. In Fleet, A. J., Kelts, K. & Talbot, M. R. (eds) Lacustrine Petroleum Source Rocks. London: Geological Society of London Special Publication, 40, 235–46.Google Scholar
Rex, G. M. & Scott, A. C. 1987. The sedimentology, palaeoecology and preservation of the Lower Carboniferous plant deposits at Pettycur, Fife, Scotland. GEOL MAG 124, 43–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rolfe, W. D. I., Durant, G., Fallick, A. E., Hall, A. J., Large, D. J., Scott, A. C., Smithson, T. R. and Walkden, G. 1990. An early terrestrial biota preserved by Visean vulcanicity in Scotland. In Lockley, M. & Rice, A. (eds) Volcanism and fossil biotas: implications for preservation, evolution and extinction. Geological Society of America Special Publication, 244, 13–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheckler, S. E. & Banks, H. P. 1971a. Anatomy and relationships of some Devonian progymnosperms from New York. AM J BOT 58, 737–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheckler, S. E. & Banks, H. P. 1971b. Proteokalon, a new genus of progymnosperms from the Devonian of New York State and its bearing on phylogenetic trends in the group. AMJ BOT 58, 874–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, A. C. 1985. The distribution of Lower Carboniferous floras in northern Britain. C. R. IX INT CONG CARB GEOL STRAT, Illinois 1979, 5, 35–9.Google Scholar
Scott, A. C. 1990. Preservation, evolution and extinction of plants in Lower Carboniferous volcanic sequences in Scotland. In Lockley, M. and Rice, A. (eds) Volcanism and fossil biotas: implications for preservation, evolution and extinction. Geological Society of America Special Publication, 244, 25–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, A. C. 1991. The ecology of Scottish Lower Carboniferous floras: preliminary observations. C. R. XI INT CONG CARB GEOL STRAT, Beijing 1987.Google Scholar
Scott, A. C., Galtier, J. & Clayton, G. 1984. The distribution of Lower Carboniferous anatomically preserved floras in western Europe. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH 75, 311–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, A. C., Meyer-Berthaud, B., Galtier, J., Rex, G. M., Brindley, S. A. & Clayton, G. 1986. Studies in the Lower Carboniferous flora from Kingswood, near Pettycur, Scotland. 1. Preliminary report. REV PALAEOBOT PALYNOL. 48, 161–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, A. C. and Rex, G. M. 1987. The accumulation and preservation of Dinantian plants from Scotland and its borders. In Miller, J., Adams, A. E. & Wright, V. P. (eds) European Dinantian Environments, pp. 329–44. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Scott, D. H. 1924. Fossil plants of the Calamopitys type from the Carboniferous rocks of Scotland. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH 53, 569–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seward, A. C. 1899. Notes on the Binney Collection of Coal Measures plants. PROC CAMBRIDGE PHIL SOC 10, 137–74.Google Scholar
Wight, D. C. & Beck, C. B. 1984. Sieve cells in phloem of a Middle Devonian progymnosperm. SCIENCE 225, 1469–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wood, S. P., Panchen, A. L. & Smithson, T. R. 1985. A terrestrial fauna from the Scottish Lower Carboniferous. NATURE 314, 355–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar