A shoot with attached leaves of Desmiophyllum harrisii Barbacka et Pacyna from the Rhaetian of Bavaria, Germany

Van Konijnenburg-van Cittert, Johanna H. A.; Pott, Christian; Kustatscher, Evelyn; van der Burgh, Johan; Schmeissner, Stefan und Duetsch, Guenter (2019): A shoot with attached leaves of Desmiophyllum harrisii Barbacka et Pacyna from the Rhaetian of Bavaria, Germany. In: Palz, Bd. 93, Nr. 3: S. 531-541

Abstract

Desmiophyllum harrisii was described from the Hettangian of Poland based on specimens yielding dispersed leaf fragments only, albeit with cuticle. Here, we record a shoot with attached leaves assignable to Desmiophyllum harrisii from the Rhaetian of Bavaria, besides a few specimens with dispersed leaf fragments. The leaves yielded also a thin and fragmentary cuticle with stomata arranged in characteristic single, short longitudinal files. This record does not only expand the temporal range of the species but also necessitates emending the specific diagnosis accordingly. The affinity of Desmiophyllum among gymnosperms is still uncertain, and the epidermal anatomy resembles that of Czekanowskiales and of some fossil taxa that have been assigned to Ginkgoales and Coniferales. The thin cuticle points to a habitat in moist environments.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Geowissenschaften > Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 550 Geowissenschaften, Geologie
• ISSN: 0031-0220
• Sprache: Englisch