Rinistachya hilleri gen. et sp. nov.(Sphenophyllales), from the upper Devonian of South Africa
- Prestianni, Cyrille, Gess, Robert W
- Authors: Prestianni, Cyrille , Gess, Robert W
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/73883 , vital:30238 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-018-0385-3
- Description: A rich and diverse plant assemblage has been excavated from latest Devonian (Famennian) black shales of the Witpoort Formation (Witteberg Group) at Waterloo Farm, close to the city of Grahamstown (South Africa). Several specimens of a new sphenopsid have been collected. The description of this as a new taxon, here named Rinistachya hilleri, gen. et sp. nov., provides an important addition to the scarce early record of the group. Rinistachya hilleri presents a novel architecture that include apparently plesiomorphic characters, reminiscent of the organisation of the Iridopteridales (including the production of two types of laterals at one node, the location of fertile parts in loose whorls on lateral branches and an organisation of the fertile parts in which they branch several times before bearing distally elongate sporangia). Other characters unambiguously nest Rinistachya within the Sphenopsida (including presence of planate and slightly webbed ultimate appendages and lateral strobili made of successive whorls of fertile leaves with fertile parts located at their axil). This provides strong support for a close relationship between Sphenopsida and Iridopteridales. Rinistachya furthermore represents the first record of a Devonian sphenopsid from Gondwana and extends the known distribution of the Sphenopsida from the tropics to very high palaeolatitudes. It is a new sphenopsid with a peculiar organisation. The new taxon allows better characterization of the initial evolutionary radiation at the base of the group.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Prestianni, Cyrille , Gess, Robert W
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/73883 , vital:30238 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-018-0385-3
- Description: A rich and diverse plant assemblage has been excavated from latest Devonian (Famennian) black shales of the Witpoort Formation (Witteberg Group) at Waterloo Farm, close to the city of Grahamstown (South Africa). Several specimens of a new sphenopsid have been collected. The description of this as a new taxon, here named Rinistachya hilleri, gen. et sp. nov., provides an important addition to the scarce early record of the group. Rinistachya hilleri presents a novel architecture that include apparently plesiomorphic characters, reminiscent of the organisation of the Iridopteridales (including the production of two types of laterals at one node, the location of fertile parts in loose whorls on lateral branches and an organisation of the fertile parts in which they branch several times before bearing distally elongate sporangia). Other characters unambiguously nest Rinistachya within the Sphenopsida (including presence of planate and slightly webbed ultimate appendages and lateral strobili made of successive whorls of fertile leaves with fertile parts located at their axil). This provides strong support for a close relationship between Sphenopsida and Iridopteridales. Rinistachya furthermore represents the first record of a Devonian sphenopsid from Gondwana and extends the known distribution of the Sphenopsida from the tropics to very high palaeolatitudes. It is a new sphenopsid with a peculiar organisation. The new taxon allows better characterization of the initial evolutionary radiation at the base of the group.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
A new species of Diplacanthus from the Late Devonian (Famennian) of South Africa
- Authors: Gess, Robert W
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/73873 , vital:30237 , https://doi.org/10.1016/S0753-3969(01)88002-2
- Description: An advanced diplacanthid (Climatiiformes) is described from a Famennian estuarine environment of South Africa. It is characterized by having exceptionally long thin fin spines and a deep body form. Unusual details of the fins and fin spine insertions are preserved. This is the first record of a diplacanthid from the Southern Hemisphere.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Gess, Robert W
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/73873 , vital:30237 , https://doi.org/10.1016/S0753-3969(01)88002-2
- Description: An advanced diplacanthid (Climatiiformes) is described from a Famennian estuarine environment of South Africa. It is characterized by having exceptionally long thin fin spines and a deep body form. Unusual details of the fins and fin spine insertions are preserved. This is the first record of a diplacanthid from the Southern Hemisphere.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2009
Late Devonian charophytes from the Witteberg Group, South Africa
- Gess, Robert W, Hiller, Norton
- Authors: Gess, Robert W , Hiller, Norton
- Date: 1995
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/72742 , vital:30106 , https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-6667(95)00007-8
- Description: The first record of Palaeozoic charophytes from southern Africa allows the establishment of two new genera to which are assigned four new species, Octochara crassa, O. gracilis. Hexachara setacea, and H. riniensis. Each species is represented by both vegetative and reproductive structures and suggested reconstructions are presented. Associated plant and animal remains, and the sedimentology and geochemistry of the containing rocks indicate that the charophytes probably grew in the shallow parts of a brackish coastal lagoon.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1995
- Authors: Gess, Robert W , Hiller, Norton
- Date: 1995
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/72742 , vital:30106 , https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-6667(95)00007-8
- Description: The first record of Palaeozoic charophytes from southern Africa allows the establishment of two new genera to which are assigned four new species, Octochara crassa, O. gracilis. Hexachara setacea, and H. riniensis. Each species is represented by both vegetative and reproductive structures and suggested reconstructions are presented. Associated plant and animal remains, and the sedimentology and geochemistry of the containing rocks indicate that the charophytes probably grew in the shallow parts of a brackish coastal lagoon.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1995
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