A low diversity, seasonal tropical landscape dominated by conifers and peltasperms: Early Permian Abo Formation, New Mexico

DiMichele, William A.; Chaney, Dan S.; Nelson, W. John; Lucas, Spencer G.; Looy, Cindy V.; Quick, Karen; Wang, Jun

doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2006.11.003

Cited by 30 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…The only clearly visible pinnule venation, the pinnule midvein, is decurrent, strong, and extends nearly to the tip of the pinnule. As described by White (1929) and in other studies of large populations (e.g., DiMichele et al, 2007), there is considerable morphological and size variation in Supaia. This variation is demonstrated by the many species described by White (1929) and by the variation in some of these, especially S. thinnfeldioides, the most common form, within the scope of which the Cuchillo Negro specimens fall.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 56%

“…As has been remarked on elsewhere (Hunt, 1983;DiMichele et al, 2007), the flora of the red-to-yellow Abo Formation siltstone-sandstone beds is of remarkably low diversity. The flora is best preserved in upward fining sheet siltstones, which are the main hosts for trace fossils and macrofossils, particularly where thin beds of siltstone are separated by clay partings or 'drapes'.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

“…Based on associated foliage, we believe these plants are most likely Supaia thinnfeldioides. Plant fossils occur in numerous exposures of Abo Formation (or equivalent) siltstone-sandstone sheet and channel-form deposits throughout central and southern New Mexico (Hunt, 1983;MacDonald, 1994;DiMichele et al, 2007). In almost all instances, the flora consists of either the conifer Walchia or the peltasperm Supaia in monotypic parautochthonous to allochthonous assemblages, subject to degrees of transport that are difficult to determine.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vertebrate trackways among a stand ofSupaiaWhite plants on an early Permian floodplain, New Mexico

2012

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ABSTRACT-Little is known about the habit and spatial distribution of Early Permian tropical vegetation, a sharp contrast with the Pennsylvanian from which many in-situ ''T 0 '' assemblages are known. Even less is known about the potential interaction of plants and vertebrates. Here we report the discovery of a small stand of 34 probable Supaia White plants from the Abo Formation of New Mexico. The plants were growing on a mudflat, subject to periodic flooding and exposure. The same mudflat hosts trackways of vertebrates that appear to have walked around or between the Supaia plants. The stems are preserved as molds, and vary from 20 mm to 70 mm in diameter, averaging 42.4 mm, indicating heights of approximately 2.5-4 m. The plants, which may be described as small trees given their estimated height, are as close as 110 mm to their nearest neighbor and average nearly 300 mm apart. A series of lines or filled fissures, which we interpret as roots, radiates from the base of each stem. Leaves of Supaia thinfeldioides White are the only foliage found in association with these stems, on bedding planes above and at the base of the lowest expression of the stem molds. Associated vertebrate trackways either congregate around some of the stems or wend their way between the stems and include those of a single large temnospondyl amphibian (Limnopus Marsh) and many of small predatory parareptiles (Dromopus Marsh). This study demonstrates that S. thinfeldiodes were small-statured, weedy, opportunistic plants. It also shows that contemporaneous vertebrates prowled such environments, presumably either for food, shelter, or both given detectable pace and path.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 56%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vertebrate trackways among a stand ofSupaiaWhite plants on an early Permian floodplain, New Mexico

2012

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“…The Dongchuan Formation represents the first evidence of redbeds in South China with depositional environment similar to what is known from the Late Permian of North China (Shu and Norris, 1999;Yang et al, 2010;Thomas et al, 2011;Stevens et al, 2011), South Africa (Ward et al, 2000;Gastaldo et al, 2005;Coney et al, 2007), Russia (Benton et al, 2004), Europe (Körner et al, 2003;Schneider et al, 2006;Bourquin et al, 2006Bourquin et al, , 2007Bercovici et al, 2009b), and the Early to Middle Permian of North America (DiMichele et al, 2004(DiMichele et al, , 2005b(DiMichele et al, , 2007, with climate change to drier conditions (Sheldon, 2005). During the end of the Paleozoic, plants had been tracking the effects of global climate change , and South China represents the ultimate place where wetland floras still thrived close to the PTB (DiMichele et al, 2001(DiMichele et al, , 2006bHilton and Cleal, 2007).…”

Section: Dongchuan Formationmentioning

confidence: 66%

Terrestrial paleoenvironment characterization across the Permian–Triassic boundary in South China

Bercovici

Cui

Forel

et al. 2015

Journal of Asian Earth Sciences

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a b s t r a c tWell-preserved marine fossils in carbonate rocks permit detailed studies of the end-Permian extinction event in the marine realm. However, the rarity of fossils in terrestrial depositional environments makes it more challenging to attain a satisfactory degree of resolution to describe the biotic turnover on land. Here we present new sedimentological, paleontological and geochemical (X-ray fluorescence) analysis from the study of four terrestrial sections (Chahe, Zhejue, Mide and Jiucaichong) in Western Guizhou and Eastern Yunnan (Yangtze Platform, South China) to evaluate paleoenvironmental changes through the Permian-Triassic transition.Our results show major differences in the depositional environments between the Permian Xuanwei and the Triassic Kayitou formations with a change from fluvial-lacustrine to coastal marine settings. This change is associated with a drastic modification of the preservation mode of the fossil plants, from large compressions to small comminuted debris. Plant fossils spanning the Permian-Triassic boundary show the existence of two distinct assemblages: In the Xuanwei Formation, a Late Permian (Changhsingian) assemblage with characteristic Cathaysian wetland plants (mainly Gigantopteris dictyophylloides, Gigantonoclea guizhouensis, G. nicotianaefolia, G. plumosa, G. hallei, Lobatannularia heinanensis, L. cathaysiana, L. multifolia, Annularia pingloensis, A. shirakii, Paracalamites stenocostatus, Cordaites sp.) is identified. In the lowermost Kayitou Formation, an Early Triassic (Induan) Annalepis-Peltaspermum assemblage is shown, associated with very rare, relictual gigantopterids. Palynological samples are poor, and low yield samples show assemblages almost exclusively represented by spores. A 1 m thick zone enriched in putative fungal spores was identified near the top of the Xuanwei Formation, including diverse multicellular forms, such as Reduviasporonites sp. This interval likely corresponds to the PTB ''fungal spike'' conventionally associated with land denudation and ecosystem collapse. While the floral turnover is evident, further studies based on plant diversity would be required in order to assess contribution linked to the end-Permian mass extinction versus local paleoenvironmental changes associated with the transition between the Xuanwei and Kayitou formations.

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“…And, certainly, by the Permian, these plants had attained relatively large stature (Looy 2013). Throughout their Paleozoic history, from the earliest occurrences (Hernandez-Castillo et al 2009) to their abundant occurrences in the Permian (Florin 1950;Kerp et al 1990;Kerp 1996;Ziegler et al 2002;DiMichele et al 2007;Looy and Duijnstee 2013), conifers were probably the most consistently reliable indicators of environments with seasonal moisture stress; Ziegler et al (2002) mapped their paleogeographic distribution and found them to be restricted to seasonally dry environments of the Euramerican tropics and subtropics. The consistent association with indicators of periodic drought led White (1936) to call them "children of adversity.…”

Section: Dryland Floral Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wetland-Dryland Vegetational Dynamics in the Pennsylvanian Ice Age Tropics

DiMichele¹

2014

International Journal of Plant Sciences

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161

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Premise of research. The Late Paleozoic Ice Age was the last extensive pre-Pleistocene ice age. It includes many climate changes of different intensities, permitting examination of many and varied biotic responses. The tropical Pennsylvanian Subperiod, usually visualized as one vast wetland coal forest, in fact also was dominated, periodically, by seasonally dry vegetation that, in turn, covered most of the central and western Pangean supercontinent. Equatorial wetland and dryland biomes oscillated during single glacial-interglacial cycles. This recognition changes understanding of the Coal Age tropics; examination of their spatiotemporal patterns indicates that these vegetation types responded differently to global environmental disturbances and long-term trends and points to potentially different underlying controls on evolutionary histories of their component lineages.Methodology. This study is based on the published literature and on examination of geological exposures and fossil floras, mainly from North America but also from other parts of the world.Pivotal results. Wetlands and seasonally dry habitats were equally part of the Coal Age Pangean tropics. They dominated these landscapes at different times, under different climatic regimes. Wetland vegetation was likely forced into refugia during seasonally dry (subhumid to semiarid) parts of glacial-interglacial cycles; it reemerged/reassembled during wet (humid to perhumid) periods. Seasonally dry vegetation resided permanently in areas of western and central Pangea and in microhabitats within the Central Pangean Mountains. Both floras had lower biodiversity than modern floras in similar habitats. The wetland flora species pool was more phylogenetically disparate than any modern vegetation. In contrast, seasonally dry floras were dominated by seed plants. These biomes responded differently to acute environmental changes and chronic long-term aridification.Conclusions. From ecological or evolutionary perspectives, the present-day world is but one possibility. Lower-diversity worlds such as the late Paleozoic, with a rich spectrum of environmental variations, offer insights into relationships between organisms and environments that expand understanding of these phenomena and enlarge our sense of what is possible or probable as we look to the future.

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A low diversity, seasonal tropical landscape dominated by conifers and peltasperms: Early Permian Abo Formation, New Mexico

Cited by 30 publications

References 23 publications

Vertebrate trackways among a stand ofSupaiaWhite plants on an early Permian floodplain, New Mexico

Vertebrate trackways among a stand ofSupaiaWhite plants on an early Permian floodplain, New Mexico

Terrestrial paleoenvironment characterization across the Permian–Triassic boundary in South China

Wetland-Dryland Vegetational Dynamics in the Pennsylvanian Ice Age Tropics

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