Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-5mhkq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-20T19:34:41.389Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The palaeogeographical significance of specimens attributed to Protolepidodendron scharyanum Krejči (Lycopsida) from the Middle Devonian of North Xinjiang, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2007

HONG-HE XU  and
YI WANG
HONG-HE XU*
Affiliation:
Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China
YI WANG
Affiliation:
Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China
*
*Author for correspondence: honghexu@hotmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Morphology of the leaves of stem compressions originally attributed to Protolepidodendron scharyanum from the Middle Devonian of North Xinjiang, China is reinvestigated. The leaf is three-dimensional, consisting of one central abaxial segment and four lateral adaxial segments, and does not conform to the once bifurcate leaf of Protolepidodendron. Specimens are therefore transferred to Leclercqia cf. L. complexa. This is the first unequivocal report of the genus Leclercqia in China based on complete leaf morphology. The distribution of Leclercqia is discussed, demonstrating a more or less cosmopolitan genus in the Middle Devonian. The Middle Devonian flora of North Xinjiang shows great similarity to that of Venezuela and North America, and almost no relationship with that of Yunnan, South China.

Keywords

XinjiangLeclercqiaProtolepidodendronDevonianpalaeogeography
Type
Rapid Communication
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 145 , Issue 2 , March 2008 , pp. 295 - 299
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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 on the Middle Devonian of the Altai-Sayan mountain region. Botanicheskii Zhurnal 45, 649–66 (in Russian with English abstract).Google Scholar
Banks, H. P. 1944. A new Devonian lycopod genus from southeastern New York. American Journal of Botany 31, 649–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banks, H. P., Bonamo, P. M. & Grierson, J. D. 1972. Leclercqia complexa gen. et sp. nov., a new lycopod from the late Middle Devonian of eastern New York. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 14, 19–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, C. M. 1994. First record of the Devonian lycophyte Leclercqia from South America. Geological Magazine 131, 269–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, C. M., Casas, J. E. & Moody, J. M. 1993. Diverse Devonian plant assemblages from Venezuela. Documents Laboratoire Géologique de Lyon 125, 29–42.Google Scholar
Berry, C. M. & Edwards, D. 1995. New species of the lycophyte Colpodexylon Banks from the Devonian of Venezuela. Palaeontographica B 237, 59–74.Google Scholar
Berry, C. M. & Edwards, D. 1996. The herbaceous lycophyte Haskinsia Grierson and Banks from the Devonian of western Venezuela, with observations on leaf morphology and fertile specimens. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 122, 103–22.Google Scholar
Bonamo, P. M., Banks, H. P. & Grierson, J. D. 1988. Leclercqia, Haskinsia, and the role of leaves in delineation of Devonian lycopod genera. Botanical Gazette 149, 222–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cai, C.-Y. & Wang, Y. 1995. Devonian floras. In Fossil floras of China through the geological ages (ed. Li, X.-X.), pp. 28–77. Guangzhou: Guangdong Science and Technology Press.Google Scholar
Cocks, L. R. M. & Torsvik, T. H. 2002. Earth geography from 500 to 400 million year ago: a faunal and palaeomagnetic review. Journal of the Geological Society, London 159, 631–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dou, Y.-W., Sun, Z.-H., Wu, S.-Z. & Gu, D.-Y. 1983. Palaeobotany. In Palaeontological Illustrations of Northwest China, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Vol. 2 (eds Geological Surveying Team and Institute of Geoscience, Xinjiang Bureau of Geology, Geological Surveying Department, Xinjiang Bureau of Petroleum), pp. 561–614. Beijing: Geological Publishing House (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Fairon-Demaret, M. 1974. Nouveaux specimens du genre Leclercqia Banks, H. P., Bonamo, P. M. et Grierson, J. D. 1972 de Givetian (?) du Queensland (Australie). Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique 50, 1–5.Google Scholar
Fairon-Demaret, M. 1980. A propos des spécimens déterminés Protolepidodendron scharianum par Kräusel et Weyland, 1932. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 29, 201–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairon-Demaret, M. 1981. Le genre Leclercqia Banks, H. P., Bonamo, P. M. et Grierson, J. D. 1972 dans Dévonien Moyen de Belgique. Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique 53, 1–10.Google Scholar
Fairon-Demaret, M., Hilton, J. & Berry, C. M. 1999. Surface preparation of macrofossils (dégagement). In Fossil Plants and Spores: Modern Techniques (eds Jones, T. P. & Rowe, N. P.), pp. 33–5. London: Geological Society.Google Scholar
Geng, B.-Y. 1992. Studies on Early Devonian flora of Sichuan. Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica 30, 197–211.Google Scholar
Gensel, P. G. & Albright, V. M. 2006. Leclercqia complexa from the Early Devonian (Emsian) of northern New Brunswick, Canada. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 142, 103–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gensel, P. G. & Kasper, A. E. 2005. A new species of the Devonian lycopod genus, Leclercqia, from the Emsian of New Brunswick, Canada. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 137, 105–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gothan, W. 1921. Potonié's Lehrbuch der Paläobotanik, 2nd ed. Berlin: Verlag von Gebrüder Borntraeger.Google Scholar
Grierson, J. D. & Banks, H. P. 1963. Lycopods of the Devonian of New York State. Palaeontographica Americana 4, 220–95.Google Scholar
Grierson, J. D. & Banks, H. P. 1983. A new genus of lycopods from the Devonian of New York State. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 86, 81–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halle, T. G. 1936. On Drepanophycus, Protolepidodendron and Protopteridium, with notes on the Palaeozoic Flora of Yunnan. Palaeontologica Sinica A 1, 1–38.Google Scholar
Jurina, A. 1988. The Middle and Late Devonian flora of North Eurasia. SSSR Academy of Sciences Transaction of Palaeontology Institute 227, 1–175 (in Russian).Google Scholar
Kenrick, P. & Crane, P. R. 1997. The Origin and Early Diversification of Land Plants, a Cladistic Study. Washington, London: Smithsonian Institution Press. 441p.Google Scholar
Li, C.-S. 1990. Minarodendron cathaysiense (gen. et comb. nov.), a lycopod from the late Middle Devonian of Yunnan, China. Palaeontographica B 220, 97–117.Google Scholar
Liao, W.-H. & Ruan, Y.-P. 1995. Devonian stratigraphy and palaeogeographical outline. In Stratigraphy, Palaeogeography and Tectonics of Northwest China (eds Zhou, Z.-Y. & Lin, H.-L.), pp. 117–47. Nanjing, China: Nanjing University Press (in Chinese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Meyer-Berthaud, B., Fairon-Demaret, M., Steemans, P., Talent, J. & Gerrienne, P. 2003. The plant Leclercqia (Lycopsida) in Gondwana: implications for reconstructing Middle Devonian palaeogeography. Geological Magazine 140, 119–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ouyang, S. 1984. Microfossils from the Devonian Heitai Formation of Mishan County, Heilongjiang Province. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 23, 69–84 (in Chinese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Richardson, J. B., Bonamo, P. M. & McGregor, D. C. 1993. The spores of Leclercqia and the dispersed spore morphon Acinosporites lindlarensis Riegel: a case of gradualistic evolution. Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, London (Geology) 49, 121–55.Google Scholar
Schweitzer, H. J. & Cai, C.-Y. 1987. Beiträge zur Mitteldevon-Flora Südchinas. Palaeontographica B 207, 1–109.Google Scholar
Scotese, C. R. & McKerrow, W. S. 1990. Revised world maps and introduction. Geological Society of London, Memoirs 12, 75–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sze, H.-C. 1960. On some Devonian plants from the Dzuangaria Basin. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 8, 205–16 (in Chinese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Sze, H.-C. 1961. On some Devonian plants from the Dzuangaria Basin, northwestern Sinkiang. Scientia Sinica 10, 209–32.Google Scholar
Torsvik, T. H. & Cocks, L. R. M. 2004. Earth geography from 400 to 250 Ma: a palaeomagnetic, faunal and facies review. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 161, 555–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, D.-M. & Hao, S.-G. 1996. Report of Sawdonia in China, Sawdonia curstipa sp. nov. . Acta Botanica Sinica 38, 318–22 (in Chinese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Wang, Y., Berry, C. M., Hao, S.-G., Xu, H.-H. & Fu, Q. 2007. The Xichong flora of Yunnan, China: diversity in late Mid Devonian plant assemblages. Geological Journal 42, 1–12.Google Scholar
Wang, Y., Xu, H.-H., Fu, Q. & Tang, P. 2004. A new diminutive plant from the Hujiersite Formation (late Middle Devonian) of North Xinjiang, China. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 43, 461–71.Google Scholar
Xu, H.-H. & Wang, Q. in press. On the correct name for the Middle Devonian herbaceous lycopsid Protolepidodendron (Protolepidodendraceae, Lycopsida). Acta Palaeontologica Sinica.Google Scholar
Xu, H.-H., Wang, Y., Berry, C. M. & Cai, C.-Y. in press. Two species of Haskinsia Grierson et Banks (Lycopsida) from the Middle Devonian of Xinjiang, China, and their palaeogeographical considerations. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.Google Scholar