Paleoecology of Oligocarpia gothanii Halle from the Middle Permian of Southeastern Shanxi, North China
Fossil ferns are abundant and diverse in the Permian Cathaysian Flora of Shanxi, North China. Although plants assemblages of the Carboniferous and Permian have been extensively investigated, their palaeoecology and especially the paleoecology of ferns has not been studied in detail. Recent reinvesti...
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Published in | Acta geologica Sinica (Beijing) Vol. 89; no. 4; pp. 1063 - 1075 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Richmond
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01.08.2015
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China%State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany(LSB), Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China%LPS, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany(LSB), Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China LPS, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China%LPS, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China |
Edition | English ed. |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Fossil ferns are abundant and diverse in the Permian Cathaysian Flora of Shanxi, North China. Although plants assemblages of the Carboniferous and Permian have been extensively investigated, their palaeoecology and especially the paleoecology of ferns has not been studied in detail. Recent reinvestigation of Oligocarpia gothanii has revealed its growth habit and cloning reproduction strategy, but most previous studies lack integrated sedimentological and taphonomic data. In this study, new materials of O. gothanii have been collected from a floodplain setting in the middle Permian Lower Shihhotse Formation of southeastern Shanxi. These plant fossils were found in a lenticular claystone associated with rooting structures. They are characterized by aphlebia at the base of the penultimate rachis. Sedimentological, taphonomic and morphological analyses were conducted to understand the growth habit and ecology of the fern. The result indicates that the Oligocarpia gothanii had a prostrate, ground cover growth habit, and was dominant in pioneer floras that colonized disturbed floodplains. |
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Bibliography: | Fossil ferns are abundant and diverse in the Permian Cathaysian Flora of Shanxi, North China. Although plants assemblages of the Carboniferous and Permian have been extensively investigated, their palaeoecology and especially the paleoecology of ferns has not been studied in detail. Recent reinvestigation of Oligocarpia gothanii has revealed its growth habit and cloning reproduction strategy, but most previous studies lack integrated sedimentological and taphonomic data. In this study, new materials of O. gothanii have been collected from a floodplain setting in the middle Permian Lower Shihhotse Formation of southeastern Shanxi. These plant fossils were found in a lenticular claystone associated with rooting structures. They are characterized by aphlebia at the base of the penultimate rachis. Sedimentological, taphonomic and morphological analyses were conducted to understand the growth habit and ecology of the fern. The result indicates that the Oligocarpia gothanii had a prostrate, ground cover growth habit, and was dominant in pioneer floras that colonized disturbed floodplains. 11-2001/P HE Xuezhi WAN Mingli, YAN Mengxiao, CHENG Chen, WANG Shijun and WANG Jun( 1 State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany (LSB), Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beij'ing 100093, China 2 LPS, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China 3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China) palaeoecology, plant taphonomy, middle Permian, Oligocarpia gothanii Halle istex:DE80190FB164ECB4B84A8803BE175F2FDA5E664C ArticleID:ACGS12514 ark:/67375/WNG-LDVCVZ5L-R About the first author HE Xuezhi Male; born in 1985; Postdoctoral researcher in Paleobotany at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His major research interests focus on Carboniferous and Permian floras and their ecosystem. Current research interests field include: 1) A systematic study on Filicinae, which is abundant and diverse in Cathaysian Flora; 2) The forests ecosystem succession in Capitanian – Wuchiapingian on North China Block, which can reflect the climate and environment changes in the middle – late Permian. ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1000-9515 1755-6724 |
DOI: | 10.1111/1755-6724.12514 |