A high-latitude Gondwanan lagerstätte: The Permian permineralised peat biota of the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica

Fungal sporulation in a Permian plant fragment from Antarctica

“…The spores are characterized by a polygonal surface pattern, and by prominent attachment points to the parental hypha. Moreover, Slater et al (2015, fig. 6d) describe thick-walled spores of unknown affinities from within plant tissue that are 54 µm in diameter and possess a wall up to 5.3 µm thick.…”

“…This is in spite of the fact that the Antarctic Permian deposits have yielded a number of structurally preserved plant fossils, including a moss, lycopsids, a fern, and several different seed plants (Smoot & Taylor 1986;Galtier & Taylor 1994;McLoughlin & Drinnan 1996;Slater et al 2011;Ryberg et al 2012a, b;McLoughlin et al 2015). The vast majority (> 80% of specimens in some localities; Cúneo et al 1993) of plant remains preserved in the Permian peat are disarticulated parts of glossopterid seed ferns (e.g., Schopf 1970aSchopf , b, 1976Smoot & Taylor 1986;Taylor & Taylor 1987, 1992Klavins et al 2001;Taylor et al 2007;Ryberg 2009Ryberg , 2010Ryberg et al 2012a;Ryberg & Taylor 2013).…”

“…The documented record of fungi from Permian peat deposits almost exclusively consists of dispersed and fragmentary remains (Holdgate et al 2005;García Massini 2007;Harper et al 2015Harper et al , 2016Slater et al 2015), with little information available on the biology and ecology of the fungi. Permian Antarctic fungal interactions are documented almost exclusively with members of the Glossopteridales, with one notable exception with lycopsids (McLoughlin et al 2015), and include mycorrhizal associations with young Vertebraria rootlets, wood decay fungi, fungal hyphae and reproductive units associated with Glossopteris leaves, and fungi colonizing coprolitic material from inside excavated galleries in glossopterid structures (Weaver et al 1997;McLoughlin et al 2011;Slater et al 2012Slater et al , 2015Harper et al 2013Harper et al , 2015Harper et al , 2017a.…”

“…Permian Antarctic fungal interactions are documented almost exclusively with members of the Glossopteridales, with one notable exception with lycopsids (McLoughlin et al 2015), and include mycorrhizal associations with young Vertebraria rootlets, wood decay fungi, fungal hyphae and reproductive units associated with Glossopteris leaves, and fungi colonizing coprolitic material from inside excavated galleries in glossopterid structures (Weaver et al 1997;McLoughlin et al 2011;Slater et al 2012Slater et al , 2015Harper et al 2013Harper et al , 2015Harper et al , 2017a. Fungi have also been reported in association with glossopterid pollen within sporangia (Slater et al 2015) from Antarctica; however, to date there are no studies that exclusively focus on fungi associated with glossopterid reproductive structures.…”

Fossil clitellate annelid cocoons and their microbiological inclusions from the Eocene of Seymour Island, Antarctica

“…No parasitic or commensal associations have been described previously from the Paleogene continental biotas of the Antarctic Peninsula. However, a broad range of herbivorous, detritivorous, commensal, and parasitic interactions have been reported from older (Permian and Triassic), non-marine fossil assemblages in Antarctica (Klavins et al, 2005;Slater et al, 2012Slater et al, , 2013Slater et al, , 2015Harper et al, 2013). The Seymour Island fossils provide an additional component to the trophic complexity identified in high-latitude terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems during the Paleogene.…”