Lepidopteris
Lepidopteris Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
Lepidopteris madagascariensis leaf, Early Triassic Newport Formation, Bungan Head, New South Wales, Australia. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Order: | †Peltaspermales |
Family: | † Peltaspermaceae
|
Genus: | †Lepidopteris Schimper 1869 |
Species | |
|
Lepidopteris ("scaly fern") is a
Description
In the form generic system of paleobotany Lepidopteris is used only for leaves, which are fern-like with pinnules attached to the rachis as well as the pinnae. The cuticle of the leaves is thick and has a distinctive cuticular structure with stomatal opening overhung by papillae. This structure has been used to link the fossil leaves with well preserved reproductive structures in the same deposits. The ovules are commonly arranged in peltate structures, which have been used to assign Lepidopteris to the Order Peltaspermales. Not all leaf species are associated with reproductive material, but well established associations include the following.
- Lepidopteris ottonis (leaves), Peltaspermum rotula (ovulate structures) and Antevsia zeilleri (pollen organ).[2]
- Lepidopteris stormbergensis (leaves), Peltaspermum thomasii (ovulate structures) and Antevsia extans (pollen organ).[2]
- Lepidopteris callipteroides (leaves), Peltaspermum townrovii (ovulate structures) and Permotheca helbyi (pollen organ).[4]
Distribution and species
Lepidopteris was geographically widespread and ranged from Late Permian to Late Triassic but individual species had more restricted geographic extent and shorter stratigraphic ranges, as seen in the list below in stratigraphic order
- Lepidopteris martinsii from Late Permian of Germany, England and Italy.[2]
- Lepidopteris callipteroides from Late Permian of Madagascar and Australia.[4]
- Lepidopteris madagascariensis from Early Triassic of Madagascar and Australia.[2]
- Lepidopteris stormbergensis from Middle-Late Triassic of South Africa, India, South America and Australia.[2]
- Lepidopteris remota from Middle Triassic of Russia.[3]
- Lepidopteris haizeri from Middle to Late Triassic of Russia[3]
- Lepidopteris heterolateralis from Middle to Late Triassic of Russia.[3]
- Lepidopteris microcellularis from Middle to Late Triassic of Russia.[3]
- Lepidopteris ottonis from Late Triassic of Greenland, Germany, Poland, China and Vietnam.[5]
- Lepidopteris scassoi Early Jurassic of Argentina.[6]
Atmospheric carbon dioxide paleobarometer
The cuticular structure of Lepidopteris is comparable to that of modern
References
- JSTOR 2399379.
- ^ a b c d e f Townrow, John A. (1960). "The Peltaspermaceae, a pteridosperm family of Permian and Triassic age". Palaeontology. 3 (3): 333–361.
- ^ a b c d e Dobruskina, Inna A. (1980). "Stratigrafeicheskoe polozhenie floronosnikh tolsch triasa Evrazi". Trudy Akademia Nauk SSSR, Moskva. 346: 1–164.
- ^ S2CID 129439745.
- ^ doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.05.034.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ S2CID 195435840. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
- .