Experimental Cladistic Analysis of Anatomically Preserved Arborescent Lycopsids from the Carboniferous of Euramerica: An Essay on Paleobotanical Phylogenetics

Bateman, Richard M.; DiMichele, William A.; Willard, Debra A.

doi:10.2307/2399752

Cited by 166 publications

(148 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…The principal lycopsids were several genera of trees most closely related to the modern qullworts (Isoetes and Stylites; Bateman 1994), including such recognizable names as Lepidodendron and Sigillaria, but also many others, such as Paralycopodites, Bergeria, Diaphorodendron, Synchysidendron, Hizemodendron, Lepidophloios, Sublepidophloios, and Omphalophloios (Wagner 1989;Bateman et al 1992;Opluštil et al 2010;Thomas et al 2013;DiMichele et al 2013a; Á lvarez-Vá zquez and Wagner, forthcoming). These trees, supported by a cylinder of bark rather than a core of wood, are among the most unusual in all of earth history (Andrews and Murdy 1958).…”

Section: Wetland Floral Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of the larger species reached heights of more than 30 m (Thomas and Watson 1976), whereas others were of more modest size. The trees comprised three dominant growth architectures (Bateman et al 1992;DiMichele et al 2013a): those that grew as unbranched poles, producing cones periodically on short, trunk-borne peduncles (mainly Sigillaria); those of monocarpic habit, in which a dichotomously branched crown, bearing the reproductive organs, was produced only in the final phases of growth (primarily Lepidodendraceae; fig. 9A, left); and those that produced deciduous lateral branches on the trunk and in the final-phase crown, thus throughout the life of the tree (the ancestral condition found in several families; fig.…”

Section: Wetland Floral Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is difficult to detect species differences with confidence due to the very different forms of preservation between coal balls and adpressions (compressions and impressions; see Shute and Cleal 1986) and, hence, the different character suites on which much of the taxonomy is based. Direct comparisons are possible and have been made in some instances (e.g., pteridosperm foliage species [Oestry-Stidd 1979;Mickle and Rothwell 1982;Beeler 1983;Reihman and Schabilion 1985;Cleal and Shute 2012;Raymond et al 2013], lycopsid stem taxa [Bateman et al 1992;DiMichele and Bateman 1996]). However, comparisons at a broader level show consistent differences in quantitative aspects of composition, such as the more common occurrence of the lycopsid Sigillaria or the greater dominance of pteridosperms (King et al 2011;Wagner and Castro 2011) in mineral substrate wetlands than in peat swamps.…”

Section: Roof Shales Versus Peat-forming Florasmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Section: Wetland Floral Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Wetland Floral Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Roof Shales Versus Peat-forming Florasmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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“…The following genera have been separated from Lepidodendron in recent decades (see reviews by DiMichele 1980;Bateman and DiMichele 1991;Bateman et al 1992;and Phillips and DiMichele 1992): Anabathra /Paralycopodites, Diaphorodendron, Synchysidendron, and Hizemodendron.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lycopsida from the lower Westphalian (Middle Pennsylvanian) of the Maritime Provinces, Canada

Álvarez-Vázquez

Wagner²

2014

atgeol

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A taxonomic revision of lycopsids is presented as part of a reassesment of lower to middle Westphalian adpression floras from the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Being elements of the swamp flora their record reflects sedimentary bias. Systematic collecting from the “Fern Ledges” at Saint John (New Brunswick) has yielded only a few lycopsid remains as a result of the allochthonous facies. Most records (mainly by W.A. Bell in the twentieth century) correspond to sporadic collecting by Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) personnel. Their specimens are kept in GSC Ottawa. Additional remains are in museums at Montréal (Quebec), Joggins (Nova Scotia) and Saint John (New Brunswick). We introduce a new species (Lepidodendron bellii), and reinstate another (Diaphorodendron decurtatum) described by Dawson in the 19th century. Altogether, 26 taxa are described, including stem and branch remains as well as roots, leaves, strobili and sporophylls. Three specimens are illustrated from localities outside Canada so as to clarify specific characters. A copy of Lindley and Hutton’s illustration of the type of Lepidodendron dilatatum (here recorded as Bergeria dilatata) is figured in the context of a redefinition of the genus Bergeria for stem remains with false leaf scars. Problems surrounding the morphological interpretation of arborescent lycopsids of Pennsylvanian age are discussed, and the stratigraphic and paleogeographic distribution are recorded for the different taxa. The identity of the Pennsylvanian flora of the Canadian Maritimes with that of the British Isles and western Europe in general is emphasized by the synonymies discussed. Paleogeographic proximity and a similar paleolatitude justify the identity of floras.

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“…Despite their superficial resemblances, the trace emission patterns of these genera are different. Trace emission in the Barraba cone looks closer to the pattern observable in the chaloneriacean genera Chaloneria and Winslowia, and called "invaginate" by Bateman et al (1992). The protoxylem of these genera, however, is dissected and does not form a continuous band at the periphery of the primary xylem like in the Australian specimen.…”

Section: General Featuresmentioning

confidence: 62%