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This study provides a combined analysis on the palynology, fossil charcoal and biomarkers of the subsurface coal deposits from a borehole RMB #2 drilled at the Dhulia Coal Block, Rajmahal Basin, India, in attempts to establish the chronology of sedimentation and to propose palaeobotanical as well as geochemical evidence for the occurrence of wildfires in these sediments. The palynological investigation suggests a Scheuringipollenites barakarensis palynoassemblage from the lower Barakar Formation, dated as Artinskian (Early Permian) in age. This assemblage reveals the dominance of Glossopteridales and sub-dominance of taxa belonging to Cordaitales and Coniferales. Fossil charcoal in sediments is usually recognized as a direct indicator for the occurrence of palaeo-wildfires. More data involving the anatomical features of fossil charcoal analyzed by Field Emission Scanning Electronic Microscope broaden our knowledge on Early Permian wildfires from the peninsula of India. The studied macroscopic charcoal fragments exhibit anatomical details such as homogenized cell walls, uniseriate simple and biseriate alternate pitting on tracheid walls and rays of varying heights pointing to a gymnospermous wood affinitity. The excellent preservation of charcoal fragments, shown by their large sizes and almost unabraded edges, suggests a parautochthonous origin. The embedded biomarker study performed for charcoal sediments and its characterization demonstrate the presence of n-alkanes, isoprenoids, terpenoids and aromatic compounds. A bimodal distribution pattern of n-alkanes with a Cmax at n-C25 is identified. Diterpenoids and pentacyclic terpenoids are identified, indicating the input of an early conifer vegetation and bacterial activity, respectively. The identified polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds, together with the charcoal fragments, clearly suggest that repeated wildfire events occurred during the deposition of these Artinskian sediments in the Rajmahal Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of occluded oxygen-bearing compounds inside kerogen are scarce, although such studies are important in understanding early-stage transformation of organic matter. A relatively low-maturity kerogen from the late Permian mudstone of the Lucaogou Formation of the Santanghu Basin, northwestern China, was successively extracted with n -hexane, acetone and dichloromethane to release the adsorbed components, and the extracted kerogen was treated with a mild oxidation reagent H 2 O 2 to release the occluded components. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of the adsorbed and occluded components revealed a suite of oxygen-bearing compounds, including n -alkan-2-ones, n -aldehydes and fatty acid methyl esters. The n -alkan-2-ones were mainly detected in the adsorbed fraction and n -aldehydes in the occluded component. Comparison of the long-chain oxygen-bearing compound distributions and their individual stable carbon isotope characteristics both suggest that the oxygen-bearing compounds released by H 2 O 2 treatment were occluded in the kerogen. The shorter-chain (C 15 to C 19 ) occluded n -aldehydes reflected similar isotopic distribution trends to the adsorbed n -alkan-2-ones, and the δ 13 C values of the mid-length (C 21 to C 25 ) occluded n -aldehydes were much closer to the adsorbed n -alkanes. Bacterially mediated methylation and decarbonylation of the n -aldehydes during kerogen formation may be important source(s) of n -alkan-2-ones and n -alkanes, respectively. The mid-chain ketones mainly originated from hydrothermal alteration of n -alkanes after kerogen formation. Uplift of the Lucaogou Formation in the Yuejingou section allowed surface-enhanced aerobic reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bajo de Veliz Formation (Paganzo Basin, Argentina) is one of the key upper Paleozoic successions characterizing the Carboniferous-Permian transition in westernmost Gondwana. A rich paleoflora with the first records of glossopterid leaves suggests an earliest Cisuralian age for the Pallero Member of the unit, although associated insects have been assigned to late Pennsylvanian groups. In this paper we present a new palynological analysis of the fossiliferous section with the goal of to correlate with coeval palynofloras from the region. The palynological assemblages, referred to the Pakhapites fusus–Vittatina subsaccata (FS) Biozone are characterized by Vittatina, Protophaloxypinus, Hamiapollenites, Pakhapites and Weylandites pollen (in proportions less than ten percent) together with the presence of the Converrucosisporites confluens Morphon. They have similar composition to those described for the Carboniferous-Permian stratotype and correlate with several associations from western Argentina and the Protohaploxypinus goraiensis Subzone of Brazil and Cristatisporites inconstans-Vittatina saccata Biozone of Uruguay. Available radiometric ages allow us to consider the probable beginning of the FS Biozone in the Gzhelian as well as the appearance of the glossopterids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new Permian temnospondyl from South America is described and considered to represent a new species –Konzhukovia sangabrielensissp. nov. – of the genusKonzhukoviapreviously recorded exclusively from Russia. It consists of the anterior half and partial right side of the skull roof and palate. A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis was performed with several archegosauroids and other well-supported groups of temnospondyls in order to access the affinities of the new Brazilian species and test the monophyly of Archegosauroidea. Archegosauroidea was not recovered as a monophyletic group, comprising successive paraphyletic taxa. The only monophyletic group of ‘archegosauroids’ is the ‘Tryphosuchinae’ (in a sister-group relationship with Stereospondyli), composed ofTryphosuchus paucidens, Konzhukovia vetusta, K. tardaandK. sangabrielensis.As the diagnosis ofT. paucidensis unclear and based on incomplete material, nested among three species ofKonzhukovia, we consider this taxon to be anomen dubiumand purge it from the strict consensus tree. An alternative solution would be to erect a new taxonomic combination forT. paucidens.In order to solve these taxonomic problems, it is necessary to discover more complete material with a clear set of diagnostic characters, to either revalidate this taxon or provide a new combination for it. The phylogenetic results support the erection of a new family – Konzhukoviidae – to replace ‘Tryphosuchinae’ and accommodateKonzhukovia vetusta,K. tardaandK. sangabrielensis, the new Brazilian species basal to the Russian forms. An early diverging konzhukoviid in Gondwana leads to interesting insights regarding the evolution of the new family, stereospondyl origins, their early diversification and their palaeobiogeographical patterns of distribution. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4772DC7E-C427-4F5F-89FD-9E68E3B0BFD5 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Guadalupian Epoch represents one of the most critical intervals during the Earth history which is characterized by a series of global geological and biological events. However, it is poorly constrained by radioisotopic ages in comparison with the high-precision dates from the Lopingian and lowest Triassic in South China and the Cisuralian in southern Urals, Russia. In this study, we report combined CA-ID-TIMS and SIMS U-Pb zircon geochronology for three ash beds from the base and lower part of the Kuhfeng Formation in the Chaohu area, southeastern China. Zircons from Ash Beds A, C and D were initially analyzed by SIMS and yielded weighted mean 206 Pb/ 238 U dates of 269.0 ± 1.4 Ma (MSWD = 1.03, n = 31), 266.3 ± 2.2 Ma (MSWD = 2.2, n = 29) and 262.2 ± 1.7 Ma (MSWD = 1.0, n = 20) in ascending order. However, high-precion U-Pb geochronology of the same ash beds by the CA-ID-TIMS method point to important inaccuracies in the SIMS results due to Pb-loss in zircons. Ash Beds A and C yielded two TIMS weighted mean 206 Pb/ 238 U dates of 272.95 ± 0.11 Ma (MSWD = 1.9, n = 7) and 271.038 ± 0.097 Ma (MSWD = 2.2, n = 8), respectively. The depositional age of 272.95 ± 0.11 Ma for Ash Bed A is postulated as the traditional Cisuralian-Guadalupian boundary (CGB) age in South China. Our new geochronology suggests that the Guadalupian Series in South China had a total duration of 13.85 ± 0.52 myr given a Guadalupian-Lopingian boundary (GLB) age of 259.1 ± 0.5 Ma. The new age calibration of the base of the Guadalupian Series is ca . 0.65 (± 0.51) myr older than – and improves upon – the previous estimates for the CGB age and the duration of the Guadalupian Epoch based on the 2016 International Chronostratigraphic Chart (ICC) and the 2012 Geologic Time Scale (GTS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A chondrichthyan assemblage is described from the Early Permian (Artinskian and Kungurian) of Mechetlino Quarry (Bashkortostan, South Urals). The assemblage includes the teeth of a symmoriiform, a sphenacanthid euselachian and an anachronistid neoselachian, as well as various denticles and scales. The dentition of Cobelodus aculeatus has been restudied. The teeth of a new genus of symmoriiform shark are described as Kungurodus, the internal structure of which is reconstructed using microtomography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latitudinal biodiversity gradient today has deep roots in the evolutionary history of Earth’s biota over geologic time. In the marine realm, earliest fossil occurrences at low latitudes reveal a tropical cradle for many animal groups. However, the terrestrial fossil record—especially from drier environments that are thought to drive evolutionary innovation—is sparse. We present mixed plant-fossil assemblages from Permian equatorial lowlands in present-day Jordan that harbor precocious records of three major seed-plant lineages that all became dominant during the Mesozoic, including the oldest representative of any living conifer family. These finds offer a glimpse of the early evolutionary origins of modern plant groups in disturbance-prone tropical habitats that are usually hidden from observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a new fossil plant-bearing area located in the municipalities of Duque Bacelar and Coelho Neto, Maranhão State, Brazil, recovered from lower Permian (Cisuralian) strata of the Pedra de Fogo Formation, northeastern portion of the Parnaíba Basin. The area comprises more than five exposures with assemblages formed mostly of large gymnosperm woods, a number of them in life-position (reaching up to ∼2.30 m in height and 1.15 m in diameter) and, in lesser degree, of horizontal tree-fern stems (up to 5 m in length), some of them being referable to Psaronius sp. The fossils are recorded in sedimentary beds of continental origin that accumulated in shallow, nearshore areas of large lakes, which eventually were affected by rapid burial episodes generated by non-channelized, high energy fluvial systems. The new fossil assemblages are included within lacustrine rocks placed at the base of the Pedra de Fogo Formation, i.e., Sílex Basal Member, near the contact with the underlying Piauí Formation (Pennsylvanian). This observation contrasts with previous studies at the southwestern portion of the basin, where the stratigraphic position of plant fossils is referred to the upper Pedra de Fogo Formation (Trisidela Member) or even to the overlying Motuca Formation. The new sites currently suffer damage from human activities and require urgent actions in order to protect them. Based on the current laws, some measures of protection for these sites are discussed and proposed herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is a record of Permian (Lower Gondwana) and late Jurassic-early Cretaceous (Upper Gondwana) palynomorphs in megafossilbearing beds in Nimugudem area, Godavari subbasin, Telangana, India. Detailed palynological studies were carried out on outcrop samples from the exposure in a nala of Nimugudem area where leaf impressions of plant megafossils were also observed. Leaf impressions of Ptilophyllum and Pterophyllum recorded in this section indicate Upper Gondwana affinity for these sediments. Presence of different species of palynomorphs of Upper Gondwana affinity in sandstone beds indicates late Jurassic-early Cretaceous (Tithonian- Berriasian) age for these sediments. It is equivalent to Kota/Gangapur Formation of Godavari Graben. Reworked Permian palynomorphs were recorded in these sediments. The coal exposure yielding late Permian palynomorphs belongs to Raniganj Formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Early Triassic, following the end-Permian mass extinction, was an interval of severe low diversity. Increasing amounts of evidence demonstrate that variable environmental stresses were widespread and intense after the end-Permian mass extinction. Here we report biomarkers from lowest Triassic to lower Middle Triassic strata in South China (Qingyan and Chaohu sections), including biomarkers for environmental stress (2-methyl hopane index) and eukaryotic algae (steranes and C 21 n -alkylbenzene ratio). Using the 2-methyl hopane index, we detected the persistence of environmental stress during most of the Early Triassic. Using steranes and the C 21 n -alkylbenzene ratio, we found a gradual increase in the biomass of eukaryotic algae during the Early to early Middle Triassic. A decrease in environmental stress in the Qingyan section (Leidapo Member) during the early Middle Triassic was synchronous with the “explosion” of the Qingyan Biota, which is characterized by a high abundance and diversity of invertebrate marine animals. Because the environmental stresses revealed by the 2-methyl hopane index encompass various factors (e.g., pH and temperature), we cannot identify the exact stresses at that time; however, our results reflect the amelioration of harsh environments for life during the interval of complete biotic recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The palynological record from the Permian part of the Çakraz Formation from the Çamdağ area of NW Turkey has been investigated in order to obtain a more precise age assessment than achieved in previous studies. The 'Late Permian' age and a possible age range beginning in the Roadian (mid Permian) were discussed before for sections of palynomorph-bearing strata occurring within the formation. These deposits are now assigned to the late Cisuralian/Guadalupian and considered to be not older than early Kungurian, and not younger than Capitanian. The new age assessment was conducted via a long-distance, intercontinental palynostratigraphic correlation from NW Turkey to South America, where results of radiometric datings were linked to some siliciclastic sections by absolute ages to the chronostratigraphy. Common conspicuous taxa in pollen-dominated assemblages from both regions are Lueckisporites and Vittatina such as Lueckisporites virkkiae, L. latisaccus, L. stenotaeniatus, Vittatina corrugata, V. subsaccata and V. wodehousei. These species co-occur in strata of the northern as well as southern palaeohemisphere settings (NW Turkey and S America). Thus, Lueckisporites latisaccus, L. stenotaeniatus and Vittatina corrugata are, as well as L. virkkiae or V. subsaccata, considered as being cosmopolitan. Due to the more precise palynological dating of part of the Çakraz Formation and surrounding deposits they are here broadly correlated with Permian continental successions from the Southern Alps, Italy, including the Val Daone Conglomerate and the Verrucano Lombardo/Val Gardena Sandstone (Gröden) red beds, and the Rotliegend deposits of Germany. These results support some earlier views regarding the age and stratigraphic equivalences with European deposits. The new age for the Çakraz Formation also supports recent considerations as middle Permian (part Guadalupian), and as Cisuralian for the lower parts of the formation, such as the fossil-bearing section with plants and tetrapod traces further east in NW Turkey, where the unit also crops out. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein the type section of the Trogkofel Formation (Artinskian/Kungurian) in the Carnic Alps (Southern Alps) is described. The locus typicus is mount Trogkofel, where a succession up to ~500 m thick of reefal to peri-reefal limestones is exposed. In the pedestal of mount Trogkofel, a succession of shelf limestones (Zottachkopf Formation) is sharply overlain by the unbedded Trogkofel Formation. Farther north, at Zweikofel, the boundary between a package of shelf limestones (Zweikofel Formation), and the overlying, clino-bedded Trogkofel Formation is a disconformity. Deposition of the Trogkofel Formation started after a backstep from shelf deposition (Zottachkopf and Zweikofel Formations) to a carbonate shelf-margin setting with buildups. The backstep was associated with tectonism. The lower to middle part of the Trogkofel type section is characterized by patch buildups grown in a foreslope to uppermost slope setting. Main buildup facies includes Tubiphytes-bryozoan-algal-cement boundstones, botryoidal-fibrous cementstones with Archaeolithoporella, and phylloid-algal bafflestones. The buildups are intercalated with intervals up to 10-15 m thick of bioclastic limestones. The upper ~100 m of the type section consist primarily of bioclastic grainstones rich in fusulinid tests and fragments of calcareous green algae; the bioclastic grainstone intervals episodically aggraded at least to near sea-level. The upper part of the section may result from (i) a shoaling because of moderate progradation-aggradation of the platform, or because of eustatic or tectonic sea-level lowering, and/or (ii) changed patterns of offbank sediment dispersal. In the Trogkofel Formation, soft-sediment to brittle deformation features record syn- to early post-depositional tectonism. Within paleokarstic caverns, 'intra-seismites' are represented by discrete, stacked packages of internal sediments with convolute lamination and/or intrabrecciation. Deposition of the Trogkofel Formation was terminated by uplift and subaerial truncation. Karstic caverns filled with geopetallylaminated lime mudstones to wackestones (typically dolomitized), and with caymanitic layers, reach to the base of the formation. Syndepositional deformation, and the uplift that terminated deposition of the Trogkofel Formation, may be related to the 'Saalian tectonic phase'. The truncation surface that caps the Trogkofel Formation is onlapped by carbonate-lithic breccias (Tarvis Breccia) that, on mount Trogkofel, probably accumulated from hillslope colluvium. The entire Tarvis Breccia and the upper part of the Trogkofel Formation are replaced by epigenetic dolomite. Down-section, dolomitization is tied to fractures and adjacent host rock, and to paleokarstic cavities and their vicinity. Dolomitization tapers out towards the base of the formation. Late-stage fractures and dissolution pores are filled with saddle dolomite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New sphenophyte stems from the Permian of the Parnaíba Basin (central-north Brazil) are described in detail and assigned to Arthropitys , a genus that was recognised from the Euramerican and Cathaysian floristic provinces. The fossil material is reported from the Permian Motuca Formation in northern Tocantins and was discovered in fluvial deposits, which originated under seasonal conditions in a widely distributed alluvial plain environment. The silica-petrified specimens are three-dimensionally preserved and provide considerable information on histological and developmental details not previously observed in the genus. The stems show very regular branch traces, attached branches or basal branching stumps. Based on their anatomical and morphological characteristics two new species are described: Arthropitys isoramis sp. nov. and Arthropitys iannuzzii sp. nov. One specimen of A. isoramis sp. nov. shows several woody roots attached to the basal region of the stem. This record differs radically from traditional and largely generalised reconstructions of calamitaleans, which are largely understood as rhizomatous trees based on inferences with extant Equisetum. The new sizable finds underline the high potential of northern Tocantins as a widely extended fossil lagerstätte that significantly enlarges our understanding of extinct low-latitude Southern Hemisphere floral communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fine morphology and exine ultrastructure are studied in pollen grains of Protohaploxypinus -type, which were extracted from a pollen organ of Permotheca striatifera from the upper Permian (Lopingian) Isady locality (Vologda Region, Russia). The pollen grains are bisaccate and striate, with up to ten proximal ribs. The ectexine and endexine differ in ultrastructure and electron density. The ectexine is alveolate; the endexine is more electron-dense and appears homogeneous, though some indices of layering were observed under higher magnifications. The sacci appear protosaccate. Areas that flank the body are a diminished and more regular version of the sacci. In ribs, the ectexine includes an outer continuous layer, a thinner underlying alveolate layer, and an inner layer. Grooves between the ribs either retain the inner homogeneous ectexinal layer resting on the endexine or are lined by the endexine alone. The distal face of the body is covered by the endexine alone. The obtained data are compared with available ultrastructural information on pollen grains of the Protohaploxypinus -type of different origins and with that on other peltasperm pollen types such as Vittatina , Vesicaspora and Cycadopites . The diversity of species of Permotheca is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palynological investigation was carried out on surface samples from up to 400 m thick continental siliciclastic sediments, here referred to as “Fincha Sandstone”, in the Blue Nile Basin, central Ethiopia. One hundred sixty species were identified from 15 productive samples collected along a continuous road-cut exposure. Six informal palynological assemblage zones have been identified. These assemblage zones, in ascending order, are: “Central Ethiopian Permian Assemblage Zone – CEPAZ I”, earliest Permian (Asselian–Sakmarian); “CEPAZ II”, late Early Permian (Artinskian–Kungurian); CEPAZ III – Late Permian (Kazanian–Tatarian); “CETAZ IV”, Lower Triassic (Olenekian Induan); “CETAZ V”, Middle Triassic (Anisian Ladinian); “CETAZ VI”, Late Triassic (Carnian Norian). Tentative age ranges proposed herein are compared with faunally calibrated palynological zones in Gondwana. The overall composition and vertical distribution of miospores throughout the studied section reveals a wide variation both qualitatively and quantitatively. The high frequency of monosaccate pollen in CEPAZ I may reflect a Glossopterid-dominated upland flora in the earliest Permian. The succeeding zone is dominated by straite/taeniate disaccate pollen and polyplicates, suggesting a notable increase in diversity of glossopterids. The decline in the diversity of taeniate disaccate pollen and the concomitant rise in abundance of non-taeniate disaccates in CEPAZ III may suggest the decline in Glossopteris diversity, though no additional evidence is available to equate this change with End-Permian extinction. More diverse and dominant non-taeniate, disaccate, seed fern pollen assignable to Falcisporites Alisporites in CETAZ IV may represent an earliest Triassic recovery flora. The introduction of new disaccate forms with thick, rigid sacci, such as Staurosaccites and Cuneatisporites , in CETAZ V and VI may indicate the emergence of new gymnospermous plants that might have favourably adapted to coastal plain wetland environments with the return of humid conditions in the Middle to early Late Triassic. The present data constitute the first paleontologically substantiated record for the existence of Permian strata in the Blue Nile Basin. The new results allow for the first time a reliable biostratigraphic subdivision of the central Ethiopia Karoo and its correlation with coeval strata of adjacent regions in Gondwana. From a phytogeographic point of view, the overall microfloral evidence is in support of the position of central Ethiopia occupying the northern part of the southern Gondwana palynofloral province. In view of palaeoecological and paleoclimatic conditions, the microfloral change from the base to the top of the studied section may indicate a response to shifting climatic belts from warm- and cool-temparate climate in the earliest Permian to progressively drier seasonal conditions at successively higher palaeolatitudes during the Late Permian to Middle Triassic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aphlebia hvistendahliae Wang, Wan et Pfefferkorn sp. nov. is described from the early Permian peat-forming flora preserved in volcanic tuff near Wuda, Inner Mongolia. The new species is characterized by its pinnate lamina, stiff and sharply pointed shape, and the presence of densely spaced, stalked, scale-like trichomes on the edges and surfaces of various orders of lateral segments. The scale-like trichomes could be evidence that this species of Aphlebia Presl functioned as a cover of a juvenile frond protecting it from water loss and herbivores. Moreover, the Aphlebia might have been retained in an extended position in another function as a water-collecting organ. The close association of this new species with Pecopteris cf. norinii Halle suggests that it may have belonged to the same parent plant, probably a marattialean fern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Permian aged osmundalean fern Palaeosmunda yunnanense Tian et Chang has been re-investigated based on the original specimens and demonstrated to represent a new genus within the extinct family Guaireaceae that we name Tiania yunnanense (Tian et Chang) gen. et. comb. nov. The stem of T. yunnanense is small, c. 30 mm in diameter, and comprises an ectophloic siphonostele without leaf gaps. Pith is bilayered and consists of longitudinally elongated cells. Cortex is not differentiated into an inner parenchymatous and outer sclerenchymatous zone characteristic of members of the Osmundaceae, and possesses longitudinally elongated cells and large secretory cells. Leaf traces are numerous (> 100) and adaxially curved, with two endarch protoxylem strands upon departing the stele, increasing to more than four protoxylem strands as the trace passes the cortex, all distributed along the adaxial side of the leaf trace. Leaf traces have more-or-less incurved lateral tips, and are encircled by a vascular bundle sheath. A mass of thick-walled, longitudinally elongated cells occur in the adaxial concavity of the leaf trace. Adventitious roots arise singly from the abaxial and lateral margin of individual departing leaf traces, and extend in a sinuous manner horizontally and longitudinally. Abundant tyloses-like contents occur in cells of the cortex and represent the first account of these within fossil Osmundales, but unlike other plant groups in which they occur within xylem, fibre-tracheids and lactifers, in T. yunnanense they occur in longitudinally elongated cortex cells where they presumably impeded fungal hyphae growth. Radially aligned ‘secondary’ parenchyma within the stem appears to represent a wound reaction in the cortex in the living plant. Due to its siphonostele without leaf gaps, Tiania is interpreted as an evolutionary intermediate between the protostelic thamnopterids and the more advanced dictyostelic osmundaleans. Biogeographic implications of Tiania are discussed from which it is concluded that the osmundalean diversity from the Late Permian of South China is unusually high and that these plants are likely to play an increasingly important role in our understanding of the early evolutionary history and systematic relationships of the Osmundales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First discovered nearly 100 years ago, Hirsutum leslii (Thomas 1921) Smithies ex. Anderson et Anderson 1985 is one of the largest and most striking ovuliferous glossopterid fructifications known from Gondwana. A detailed examination of the extensive collection of impression/compression fossils from the lower Permian Hammanskraal locality in South Africa has revealed the presence of a peculiar and elaborate wing structure in this seed-bearing organ that was largely unrecognised in previous studies. Hirsutum leslii is assigned to Elatra leslii (Thomas 1921) comb. nov. in recognition of the unusual wing morphology shared only by the very similar Madagascan taxon Elatra bella Appert 1977, and in light of the disassembly of Hirsutum and transferral of the type species H. dutoitides (Plumstead 1952) Plumstead 1958 to Gladiopomum (Plumstead 1952) Adendorff et al. 2002. Preparation of the interleaved layers of matrix and impression/compression fossils revealed that the hooded wing of the fructification represents a modification of the double-wing structure evident in Bifariala intermittens (Plumstead 1952) Prevec et al. 2008. As in Bifariala , two superposed wings are present — an acuminate wing with campylodromous venation that is confluent with the veined surface of the fructification, and a radially striate wing that is contiguous with the seed-bearing surface of the receptacle. However, the radially striated wing in Elatra is over-arched into a hood-like feature that partially encloses the seed-bearing surface. The medial to basal portion of this cowled wing is more typical of other winged members of the Dictyopteridiaceae, such as Scutum , and forms a lobe to either side of, or overlaps the pedicel. The fructification is attached to the petiole of a Glossopteris leaf, with the seed-bearing surface of the receptacle oriented towards the subtending leaf. The base of the attached leaf is laterally expanded. This cloistered architecture, consistently evident in apparently mature dispersed fructifications, raises questions as to the pollination mechanism employed by these plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents author's comments on the Paleozoic stem-group echinoderms that survived the end-Permian extinction. It mentions that the holdovers in post-extinction strata has to be supported by collection of sedimentologic and taphonomic observations. It mentions that the redeposition of echinoderms from older deposits has been excluded.

Following the greatest known end-Permian mass extinction plants have low diversity. Lycopsids and conifers dominated on land. A new gymnosperm Xinjiangoxylon gen. nov. is proposed based on a woody stem specimen collected from the Upper Permian (latest, Changhsingian) Upper Guodikeng Formation of the Taoshuyuan section, Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Northwest China. The decorticated stem is characterized by a complex pith, endarch primary xylem and a thick secondary xylem cylinder. Numerous petrified woods were found in the Changhsingian at this section. However, there are rare wood fossils in the Early Triassic. The abrupt decrease of fossil woods worldwide relates to the crisis at the end of the Permian. Xinjiangoxylon turpanense gen et. sp. nov. appears to represents one gymnosperm that existed in the latest Permian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Bletterbach flora is the most important late Permian (Lopingian) flora of the Southern Alps. The study of a new fossiliferous bed stratigraphically below the cephalopod bed yielded almost 500 plant fossils, 28 of which belong to rare Lopingian plant groups: horsetails, seed ferns and possible cycads. Forty-five other fossils from the collection of Utrecht University were examined. The study of these more than fossils reveals a higher diversity of seed ferns and putative cycadophytes in the Lopingian of Europe than previously documented. Horsetails are represented by dispersed sporophylls, stem fragments and leaf sheaths too badly preserved for attribution to a species. Seed ferns are represented by Sphenopteris and the new genus Germaropteris, which includes G. martinsii (Germar in Kurtze 1839) Kustatscher, Kerp et Van Konijnenburg-van Cittert comb. nov., a species from the German Zechstein formerly assigned to various genera (e.g., Callipteris, Lepidopteris, Peltaspermum). Two species of Sphenopteris (S. suessii, S. sp.) are recorded for the first time from Lopingian strata of the Southern Alps. Remarkable are pinnae with alethopteroid pinnules, because similar forms have not been described from Lopingian deposits of Europe. Putative cycadophytes are represented by two taeniopterid leaves (Taeniopteris sp. A and T. sp. B) and a fragment of a pinnate cycad-like leaf. The Bletterbach flora is one of the most diverse European Lopingian floras, at least with regard to the non-conifer taxa. The floras of the Germanic Zechstein Basin and of the Southern Alps are more similar than previously considered, notwithstanding the vicinity of the latter region to the northern margin of the Palaeotethys; there are no obvious similarities to the floras that occurred along the southern margin of the Palaeotethys. In Europe, plant fossils are generally very rare in Lopingian strata and the presence of plant fossils in the Zechstein Basin and the Southern Alps is apparently related to sea-level changes. They appear to be most common immediately before and after the maximum transgression or sea-level high-stand. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Dichotomous rachises bearing Eremopteris golondrinensis Archangelsky foliage in organic connection with probable microsporangiate structures were collected in the mid to late Permian La Golondrina Formation at Laguna Castellanos locality in southern Patagonia. The fertile bodies are receptacles slightly curved distally that bear 4–5 sessile, erect and oblong to elliptic sporangia-like bodies parallel to each other. They are fused laterally and apparently are enveloped by a delicate layer of conjunctive tissue that holds them together and have no visible dehiscence marks. These structures are here interpreted as putative microsporangiate organs. The novel information allows the emendation of the diagnosis of E. golondrinensis by adding new data on the morphology of the frond and its reproductive organs. As the genus Eremopteris has recently been emended excluding this species, a new genus, Kladistamuos with a new combination, K. golondrinensis is proposed here. Kladistamuos is therefore considered to be another SW Gondwana plant fossil of a putative ‘pteridospermous’ affinity, having distally attached fertile organs that differentiate it from the Euramerican species of Eremopteris. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This is the second contribution on the Permian permineralized flora of the Parnaíba Basin, NE Brazil that focuses on the gymnosperm woods from the Motuca Formation. We describe five new species of gymnospermous woods Damudoxylon buritiranaense sp. nov., Damudoxylon humile sp. nov., Damudoxylon roessleri sp. nov., Kaokoxylon punctatum sp. nov. and Taeniopitys tocantinensis sp. nov., and one new form, Taeniopitys sp. 1. The woods vary widely in their anatomy, mainly in their pith features, from simple parenchymatic to solenoid piths with canals and ducts, as well as different cells, such as secretory and sclerenchymatic ones. However, they have one characteristic in common — araucarian pitting in the radial walls of the tracheids. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Permian permineralized flora of the Parnaíba Basin, NE Brazil, has been studied since 1872, when the first fossil fern was described from this region. Since then, many fossil pteridophytes have been collected and studied; however, the gymnosperms are still little known. The present contribution focuses on the study of gymnospermous woods from the Motuca Formation. This study presents four new taxa of which three are formally described: Ductoabietoxylon solis gen. et sp. nov., Scleroabietoxylon chordas gen. et sp. nov., Parnaiboxylon rohnae gen. et sp. nov. and Parnaiboxylon sp. 1. The first two genera share an outstanding feature: the presence of abietinoid pitting, a rare characteristic among fossil woods, and a derived stage in the evolution of xylem rays. The presence of several new genera and species in the lowermost Motuca Formation reveals the richness and importance of this area for paleobotanical studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A new anatomically preserved megasporophyll, Lonchiphyllum aplospermum, is described from permineralized peat collected on Skaar Ridge in the central Transantarctic Mountains. This new genus contains vascular features similar to those of the leaf genus Glossopteris schopfii, which is the exclusive leaf genus in the specimens in which the sporophylls were found. The vasculature of the sporophyll consists of a central vascular region with bordered pitting and anastomosing lateral bundles with helical-scalariform thickenings. Ovules are attached oppositely to suboppositely to lateral veins on the adaxial surface of the sporophyll. There is an abundance of bisaccate pollen of the Protohaploxypinus type at the base of the ovules. The ovules of Lonchiphyllum ait small (1.1 mm x 0.97 mm) and ovate and have an unornamented integument. Comparison with anatomically known ovules from Skaar Ridge, i.e., Plectilospermum elliotii, Choanostoma verruculosum, and Lakkosia kerasata and Homevaleia gouldii from the Bowen Basin of Australia, supports the classification of Lonchiphyllum as a glossopterid. The differences in the sarcotesta and sderotesta of all the Skaar Ridge ovules may indicate specialization for pollination or dispersal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correlation between the fusulinid-based Tethyan and the conodont-based international timescales of the Permian System has become one of themost disputed issues among the Permian community during the past two decades. In this paper, we document a conodont fauna consisting of four species including Sweetognathus guizhouensis, Pseudohindeodus augustus, Hindeodus permicus and a new genus Meiognathus pustulus from the lower part of a large exotic limestone block at Hatahoko in the Nyukawa area, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, which all suggest aKungurian age. The Kungurian age indicated by the conodonts is consistent with the age of the associated brachiopods, but conflicts with the Murgabian age indicated by the associated fusulinids including Cancellina nipponica, Neoschwagerina simplex, Neofusulinella praecursor etc. This co-occurrence of Kungurian conodonts and Murgabian fusulinids in central Japan suggests that previously unrecognized temporal distributions of some key fusulinid or conodont elements need to be clarified and that the intensively-disputed correlation problem between theKungurian containing theMurgabian fusulinids at the Luodian section in Guizhou, South China with the strata containing the ammonoid Waagenoceras in Oman and Sicily was caused by artificial conodont taxonomic discrepancies. The Luodian section in South China could serve as a key reference section for the correlation of the Kungurian Stage (late Early Permian) between the Tethyan and international timescales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The largest petrified calamite is reported from the Early Permian fossil forest of Chemnitz, Germany. For the first time a sizable specimen of Arthropitys bistriata permits insights into both the internal anatomical structure and the spatial architecture of the complex branching system. The arboreal woody plant is characterized by a height of more than 10m and at least three orders of axes which formed a large crown. Ontogenetic analyses of the main stem and the various branches of the plant demonstrate that most of the morphological and anatomical features that have been previously recognized as important inter-specific distinctions exhibit a considerable variability. Spheroid to elongate ovoid coprolites have been recognized in the pith cavity of one woody branch ranging from 1.4–2.8×2–5.8mm in diameter. Semi- or undigested fragments of tracheids in the coprolites are identical with those of the parent plant and indicate their histologically pristine nature. According to the coprolite size and fossil records of detritivorous animals, we tentatively suggest that these coprolites were produced by specialized ancient myriapods. Growth rings are densely developed in the peripheral portion of the trunk in particular. As well as climatic cyclicity, they suggest that volcanism-induced environment turbulences become more serious and frequent, and finally buried the whole ecosystem in situ. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Jambadostrobus was established to accommodate fossils consisting of several multiovulate elliptical–ovate fructifications attached to the midline of glossopterid leaves. Two species have been assigned to the genus: J. pretiosus (the type species) and J. hillii from the Late Permian of India and Early Permian of Australia, respectively. Re-investigation of the original specimens reveals that only solitary fructifications are attached to the subtending leaf in J. pretiosus, hence the species is transferred to Plumsteadia, which was founded on equivalent characters. The putative reproductive organs constituting the single Australian specimen of J. hillii are re-interpreted to constitute a broad area of preservational damage on the leaf, hence Jambadostrobus is considered to be a nomen illegitimum. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Morphology and exine ultrastructure of pollen grains of Triassic peltasperms have been studied for the first time. Pollen grains of Antevsia zeilleri from the Rhaetian of Germany are of the Cycadopites-type and monosulcate; the sculpturing is the same in the apertural and non-apertural areas. The proximal exine includes a row of lacunae covered by a solid, thick tectum and underlined by a foot layer. Pillars are hanging from the tectum between the lacunae. The exine is thinning to a homogeneous layer in the apertural region. The latter is bordered by thicker alveolate areas of the exine, in places resembling a saccus-like ultrastructure. The endexine includes white-line-centred lamellae. The exine ultrastructure is compared with that of pollen of Permian peltasperms. Although pollen types ascribed to Permian peltasperms are completely different in their general morphology, a transformation can be hypothesized by ultrastructural data from Permian Vesicaspora into Triassic Cycadopites extracted from pollen sacs of Antevsia. Comparison with Cycadopites of non-peltaspermalean (Ginkgoalean, Cycadophyte) and unknown affinities has been accomplished. The exine ultrastructure is distinctive enough to differentiate among peltaspermalean, cycadalean and bennettitalean Cycadopites; some ultrastructural features are shared with pollen of modern Ginkgo biloba. More ultrastructural data are needed as well as numerous sections of pollen grains are necessary to reveal original unchanged ultrastructure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The fossil woods identifi ed in the Permian strata of Paraná Basin are revised in its validity, based in the original descriptions and proposed names published. Twenty-eight genera and 52 species are confi rmed, most represented by nearly complete preserved materials, and few by its tracheidoxyls. Most of the wood material originates from Irati Formation (Middle Permian), which outcrops are located in São Paulo state, and a smaller amount is found in Rio Bonito (Lower Permian) and Serra Alta (Upper Permian) formations, from Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina states. According to the rules of the ICBN and the new contributions in the fossil wood descriptions, 47 specifi c names used to the Permian wood remains could be legitimate by its diagnosis and diagramatic representation. Five species (Polysolenoxylon bageense, Scleromedulloxylon batoviense, Aracnomedulloxylon gabrielensis, Myelontordoxylon glandulifera and Polysolenoxylon resiniferum) are rejected in the diagnosis and description of characters presented and deserve a new description due to the unprecedented nature of some of their logs in the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The leaves of Gangamopteris McCoy are the dominant constituent of Glossopteris flora in Lower Permian sequences of Gondwana. Morphologically leaves are similar with Glossopteris Brongniart in having reticulate venation pattern but differ in the absence of midrib. Large number of plant fossils collected from the carbonaceous shale samples of Barakar coal seams (Lower Gondwana) of Satpura Gondwana Basin, India indicates the presence of number of specimens of Gangamopteris belonging to sixteen species including two new species viz., Gangamopteris sethiaensis sp. nov. and Gangamopteris satpuraensis sp. nov. The morphological diversity, stratigraphical distribution and character affiliation of Gangamopteris demonstrate its organizational involvement towards the development of Glossopteris and signify the evolutionary lineage in Glossopteridales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new taxon of ginkgophyte affinity Palaeoginkgoxylon zhoui gen. nov. et sp. nov. is described from the Guadalupian Lower Shihhotse Formation of the Hulstai coalfield, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Nei Mongol), northern China, on the basis of the anatomical structures of the broad eustele and pycnoxylic secondary xylem. The anatomical structure of the new woody tree trunk resembles both the early gymnosperms of Eristophyton–Pitus types and the modern Ginkgo. Therefore, the new tree trunk is interpreted as representing a transitional stage in the evolution of Ginkgo from early arborescent lignophytes since the Early Carboniferous. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents an updated overview integrating both previous and newly published data on the most important floras found associated with Early Permian coal seams in the Paraná Basin, Brazil. These floras occur within the Rio Bonito Formation and correspond to the Gondwana “Glossopteris Flora.” For this review, five floras are selected, in ascending stratigraphic order: the “São João do Triunfo,” “Figueira,” “Quitéria,” “Morro do Papaléo” and “Irapuá Bed” floras. They are the best-known floras of the basin in terms of taxonomic composition, paleoecology and environments of deposition. An early–mid Sakmarian to earliest Artinskian age is indicated for the Rio Bonito Formation based on absolute radiometric and relative biostratigraphic ages. Integration of available information about the selected floras allows evaluation of taphonomic and paleoecological factors to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the Early Permian floral record in the Paraná Basin. The variation observed in both the taxonomic composition of individual floras and in the frequency of occurrence of different plant groups is due to the broad range of environmental/edaphic conditions that prevailed in the many different depositional settings represented in the Rio Bonito Formation. A more precise age determination obtained for the plant-bearing deposits permits the establishment of a more confident correlation between the Early Permian floral succession in the Paraná Basin and other Early Permian floral successions in other basins. The Sakmarian global warming favored the appearance of pecopterid and sphenopterid ferns amongst the spore-producing plants, and the glossopterids amongst the pollen-producing plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A newly described Early Permian fossil plant assemblage in the Mt. Dall conglomerate in the Farewell terrane (Alaska Range, USA) is analyzed from a paleobiogeographic perspective. These data constitute the youngest paleontological dataset yet discovered in this terrane, represent the terrane''s only predominantly terrestrial fossil assemblage, and are the only plant macrofossil remains of Early Permian age within a >1500km radius today. A suite of multivariate statistical analyses comparing the Mt. Dall paleoflora to similar age (Asselian–Artinskian) collections from the Angaran, Euramerican, and Cathaysian Permian phytogeographic provinces reveals that the Mt. Dall paleoflora has a paleobiogeographic affinity with Sub-Angaran plant fossil assemblages collected from Mongolia and the Primorye region of southeastern Russia. The paleoflora has dual importance in the construction and testing of hypotheses for which there are geographically and temporally few controls. First, these data may be used in association with other faunal and floral remains to test models of the assembly of Alaska, which seek, in part, an understanding of the paleogeographic and lithological origins of accreted terranes. That the Mt. Dall paleoflora indicates mixed Eurasia–North America paleobiogeographic affinity among individual taxa and plots in multivariate space with mid-latitude assemblages on northern Pangea may suggest deposition in that latitudinal belt. Second, contrary to the well-sampled fossil plant-bearing Permo-Carboniferous of the paleotropics and the northeastern temperate Pangean regions (Angaraland), terrestrial biome structure and vegetation type of northwestern Pangea are poorly known. This lack of understanding is due to the paucity of paleofloral collections from this region in this time period and the paleogeographic uncertainty of their position along the ancient active margin of Laurentia. The Mt. Dall paleoflora''s phytogeographic affinity to paleobotanical collections from the northeastern Pangea therefore suggests that the Angaran province extended meridionally westward in the Early Permian into what is now northern North America. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Sizable permineralized calamitean trunks from the Permian petrified forest of Chemnitz, Germany, enabled us to recognize two different branching patterns and wood anatomies for material currently classified as Arthropitys bistriata. This resulted in re-evaluation of the generitype of the widely distributed organ genus Arthropitys Goeppert 1864. As a result, a mosaic of anatomical and morphological characteristics has been recognized that permit A. bistriata to be characterized in much more detail than previously possible. The first type of calamite previously included in A. bistriata is characterized by whorls of branches at every 5th to 9th node and simple scalariform thickenings in tracheid walls of the secondary xylem. Additionally it shows irregularly positioned woody adventitious shoots that also carried whorls of leafy branches. The second type shows reticulated thickenings and multiseriate pitting in secondary xylem tracheid walls and regular branching at every node. Branches alternate in successive nodes and, therefore, lie on the top of each other at every second node. Comparison with the type material suggests the two calamite forms need to be split taxonomically as follows. The first type of calamite is regarded as A. bistriata and emended herein, the second type is separated and introduced as Arthropitys sterzelii sp. nov. The secondary tissues of both species are characterized by a high portion of parenchyma (around 45%). Sometimes irregular growth rings were recognized that may reflect some kind of seasonality and/or environmental influence. We suspect the leafy branches, which were free of any secondary growth in both species, were probably grown and abscised seasonally. Comparisons are made with both different calamitean species and other preservational forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The discovery of a plant-fossil assemblage, situated ∼70m below the vertebrate-defined Permian–Triassic boundary, allows for the characterization of part of the Late Permian landscape in the southern Karoo Basin. The megafloral and microfloral assemblages are preserved in association with an O-horizon above a weakly developed palaeosol, exposed in both New and Old Wapadsberg Pass, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Stable-isotope geochemical evidence indicates that pedogenesis occurred under conditions of a high regional water table, and the palaeosol was entombed by overbank or avulsion deposits in an aggradational landscape that includes tuffite. The low-diversity macroflora contains gymnospermous (Glossopteris) and sphenopsid (Phyllotheca, Trizygia) elements that include vegetative (axial, leaf) and reproductive (strobilar) remains. Glossopteris leaves are microphyllous and may reflect the taxon''s physiological response to purported climate perturbation or wetland edaphic conditions, and exhibit a range of plant–animal interactions. Palynological residues contain sphenophyllalean cuticles, and the microfloral assemblage is consistent with a low-diversity glossoperid-dominated woodland with a sphenopsid understory. Extrabasinal elements include representatives of peltasperms (Alisporites), corystosperms (Falcisporites), and conifers (Lueckisporites). Pollen conforming to Lunatisporites pellucidus is present in the assemblage and is considered an indicator taxon for the latest Permian to Early Triassic. When compared to palynological assemblage zones in Australia, the Wapadsberg Pass flora is assigned a Late Changhsingian age and, therefore, represents the youngest autochthonous, Glossopteris-dominated flora to be reported from Gondwana. These results extend a palynostratigraphic framework across the Southern Hemisphere that complements other zonations presently applied to the Karoo Basin succession. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A new lycopsid morphotaxon, Collinsonites schopfii gen. et sp. nov., is described from an Upper Permian deposit on Mount Achernar, in the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica. The species is represented by numerous fragments of slender dichotomizing stems. Leaves are <5mm long, eligulate and arranged in a low spiral. One stem bears leaves with 12–16 delicate spines at the lateral margins. Collinsonites stems represent the first illustrated macrofossil evidence for the presence of herbaceous lycopsids in the Permian of Antarctica. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: New material of the Early Permian alethopterid genus Macralethopteris is examined in detail. The material stems from different locations and statistical comparison of the morphological differences between collections suggests that the material is derived from several populations of a single species. Comparison is made with related Cathaysian and Euramerican species, showing the isolated occurrence of Macralethopteris in the Cathaysian region. Characteristics of the species and possible ecological implications suggest that Macralethopteris hallei grew in more mesic circumstances than usually associated with alethopterids. It is argued that M. hallei might have been a relatively small alethopterid with possible cormous growth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The flora of northwestern Venezuela shows close links with the Pennsylvanian flora of the Northern Hemisphere and Northern Africa; in the Early Permian, it also closely matches the flora reported in the Southwestern and Central United States. The Permian fossils from Venezuela have various species and genera in common with that of this part of the USA, not only flora, but also warm-water marine fauna. The floristic data studied here provide evidence of a close relationship of the plants of the central portion of Pangea with those of Gondwanaland. Based on these similarities in the flora, it is suggested that during the Pennsylvanian-Early Permian, the northeastern part of Gondwanaland, which was one of the regions most affected by the formation of Pangea, had a progressively drier climate, with the vegetation characteristic of such conditions. Moreover, the relationship between the vegetation of this equatorial area and that of the Cathaysian Province during the Early Permian is discussed. Both showed the presence of gigantopterid genera, although there were climatic differences; furthermore, the differences in the species of the group suggest that the two regions may have had quite different vegetation, rather than the shared one traditionally proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A new Middle Permian plant assemblage from South Ash Pasture in King County, Texas, may be the youngest and is certainly the most unusual flora known from the Permian of either West Texas or adjoining north-central Texas. Found serendipitously in the evaporite-rich upper Blaine Formation (Pease River Group, Guadalupian Series), the flora is of very low diversity despite intensive collecting efforts, and the affinities of nearly all taxa are enigmatic. The most common elements are parallel-veined leaves that resemble cordaites but that could be isolated pinnules of a pinnate leaf. Gigantopterid foliage is present but not assignable to any known taxon. A single foliar conifer specimen is too incomplete for assignment. Numerous reproductive organs, however, and an abundance of axes may represent conifers. Conchostracans, palaeoniscoid fish scales, and small heteropolar coprolites also occur in the deposit, which originated as a small, claystone-dominated channel fill in a coastal plain setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the Szecladia multinervia genus and species, a late Permian conifer with multiveined leaves from the Guangxi Autonomous Region and Guizhou Province, South China. Description on the shoots, stem and leaf traces; Szecladia as the earliest known conifer with multiveined leaves; Implication for the Paleozoic evolution of the Podocarpaceae.

The nomenclature of the Upper Palaeozoic fossil genus Gigantopteris is reviewed. The authorship of Gigantopteris is determined to be H.T. Geyler, who published the name as a replacement name for the illegitimate later homonym, Mega-lopteris A. Schenk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a proposal to conserve the name Vertebraría Royle ex McCoy of family of fossils Gymnospermae and Glossopteridales at the place of Vertebraría Roussel of the family Rhodymeniophyta.It informs that Vertebraria represents the roots of Glossopteridales and are the markers of extinct vegetation of Permian Gondwanaland.

The article discusses the discovery of ancient plant fossils preserved under ash in China's Wuda basin by paleobotanist Wang Jun of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology. Topics include an analysis of the fossils which revealed them to be a group of extinct fern-like plants, geological conditions in the Wuda basin during the Early Permian period, and Jun's efforts to protect Wuda fossils from the coal mining industry. Also discussed is how the Wuda fossils will enable researchers to reconstruct North China's climate in the Permian period.

Triassic predatory guild evolution reflects a period of ecological flux spurred by the catastrophic end-Permian mass extinction and terminating with the global ecological dominance of dinosaurs in the early Jurassic. In responding to this dynamic ecospace, terrestrial predator diversity attained new levels, prompting unique trophic webs with a seeming overabundance of carnivorous taxa and the evolution of entirely new predatory clades. Key among these was Crocodylomorpha, the largest living reptiles and only one of two archosaurian lineages that survive to the present day. In contrast to their existing role as top, semi-aquatic predators, the earliest crocodylomorphs were generally small-bodied, terrestrial faunivores, occupying subsidiary (meso) predator roles. Here we describe Carnufex carolinensis a new, unexpectedly large-bodied taxon with a slender and ornamented skull from the Carnian Pekin Formation (~231 Ma), representing one of the oldest and earliest diverging crocodylomorphs described to date. Carnufex bridges a problematic gap in the early evolution of pseudosuchians by spanning key transitions in bauplan evolution and body mass near the origin of Crocodylomorpha. With a skull length of >50 cm, the new taxon documents a rare instance of crocodylomorphs ascending to top-tier predator guilds in the equatorial regions of Pangea prior to the dominance of dinosaurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]