Wood anatomy of Late Triassic trees in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA, in relation to Araucarioxylon arizonicum Knowlton, 1889

 

Authors: Savidge RA

Published in: Bulletin of Geosciences, volume 82, issue 4; pages: 301 - 328; Received 5 April 2007; Accepted in revised form 16 July 2007;

Keywords: Triassic, Pinophyta, Araucaria-type wood, North America, oculipore, Protopiceoxylon novum, ray, resin canal, resinous tracheid, secondary xylem, tracheidoxyl, new taxa,

full text (PDF, 2.46 MB)

Export to RIS

 

Abstract

Thin sections from the three syntypes of Araucarioxylon arizonicum Knowlton, 1889 were re-examined and found to be anatomically distinct. Two of the syntypes are similar and, considering Araucarioxylon (“Araucaroxylon”) Kraus, 1870 as nomen superfluum, those two are placed in Pullisilvaxylon gen. n. as nomen novum (lectotype Pullisilvaxylon arizonicum). The third specimen, known as the ‘Sherman log’, is transferred to Chinleoxylon knowltonii gen. et sp. n. Permineralized woods in three randomly sampled large-diameter logs assumed to be A. arizonicum plesiotypes were found to be anatomically distinct, two being species within Silicisilvaxylon gen. n., the third named Crystalloxylon imprimacrystallum gen. et sp. n. Thus, following descriptions of Arboramosa semicircumtrachea Savidge & Ash, 2006, Protocupressinoxylon arizonicum Savidge, 2006, and Ginkgoxylpropinquus hewardii Savidge, 2006, this study further increases the region’s number of woody plant morphotaxa and indicates that a diversity of large conifer species were co-evolving with cycads and ginkgo-like trees during Late Triassic.

References

Andrews, H.N. 1970. Index of generic names of fossil plants, 1820–1965. Geological Survey Bulletin 1300.

Ash, S.R. 1972. The search for plant fossils in the Chinle Formation, 23–43. In Breed,W.J.&Breed, C.S. (eds) Investigations in the Triassic Chinle Formation. Museum Northern Arizona Bulletin 47.

Ash, S.R. 1985. A short thick cycad stem from the Upper Triassic of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, and vicinity. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 54, 17–32.

Ash, S.R. 1992. The Black Forest bed, a distinctive unit in the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation, Northeastern Arizona. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 24–25, 59–73.

Ash, S.R. & Creber, G. 2000. The Late Triassic Araucarioxylon arizonicum trees of the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA. Palaeontology 43, 15–28.View article

Ash, S.R. & Savidge, R.A. 2004. The bark of the Late Triassic Araucarioxylon arizonicum tree from Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. IAWA Journal 25, 349–368.View article

Bailey, I.W. 1933. The cambium and its derivative tissues VII. Problems in identifying the wood of Mesozoic Coniferae. Annals of Botany 47, 145–157.View article

Bamford, M.K. & Philippe, M. 2001. Jurassic – Early Cretaceous Gondwanan homoxylous woods: a nomenclatural revision of the genera with taxonomic notes. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 113, 287–297.View article

Bannan, M.W. & Bayly, I.J. 1956. Cell size and survival in conifer cambium. Canadian Journal of Botany 34, 769–776.View article

Barefoot, A.C. & Hankins, F.W. 1982. Identification of Modern and Tertiary woods. 189 pp. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Conrad, E. 1910. Beiträge zur Morphologie und Anatomie von Agatis (Dammara) brownii. PhD Dissertation, University of Kiel.

Creber, G.T. 1972. Gymnospermous woods from the Kimmeridgian of East Sutherland and from the Sandringham Sands of Norfolk. Palaeontology 15, 665–661.

Creber, G.T. 1977. Tree rings: a natural data-storage system. Biological Reviews 52, 349–383.View article

Darrah, W.C. 1939. Textbook of paleobotany. 441 pp. Appleton-Century, New York, London.

Daugherty, L.H. 1934. Schilderia adamanica – a new fossil wood from the petrified forests of Arizona. Botanical Gazette 96, 363–366.View article

Daugherty, L.H. 1941. The Upper Triassic flora of Arizona. Carnegie Institute of Washington Publication 526, 1–108.

Dawson, J.W. 1871. The fossil plants of the Devonian and upper Silurian formations of Canada. 92 pp. Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Dawson Brothers, Montreal.

Eckhold, W. 1922. Die Hoftüpfel bei rezenten und fossilen Koniferin. Jahrbuch der preussischen geologischen Landesantalt 42, 472–505.

Endlicher, S.L. 1847. Conspectus coniferarum fossilium, 1–52. In Endlicher, S.L. (ed.) Synopsis Coniferarum. Scheitlin and Zollikofer, St.-Gall.View article

Gerry, E. 1910. The distribution of the “bars of Sanio” in the Coniferales. Annals of Botany 24, 119–124.View article

Göppert, H.R. 1850. Monographie der fossilen Coniferen. 286 pp. Natuurkundige Verhandelingen van de Hollandse maatschappij der Wetenschappen te Harlem, 2e verzam, 6e deel. Arnz and Company, Leiden.

Gothan, W. 1905. Zur Anatomie lebender und fossiler Gymnosperm-Hölzer. Abh. D. Königlich Preussischen Geologischen Landesanstalt und Bergakademie. Neue Folge 44, 1–108.

Gould, R.E. 1971. Lyssoxylon grigsbyi, a cycad trunk from the Upper Triassic of Arizona and New Mexico. American Journal of Botany 58, 239–248.View article

Greuter, W., Mcneill, J., Barrier, F.R., Burdet, H.-M., Demoulin, V., Filgueiras, T.S., Nicolson, D.H., Silva, P.C., Skog, J.E., Trehane, P., Turland, N.J. & Hawksworth, D.L. 1999. International code of botanical nomenclature (St. Louis Code). Regnum vegetabile. 138 pp. Koeltz Scientific Books, Königstein.

Hartig, T. 1848. Beiträge zur Geschichte der Pflanzen und zur Kenntnis der norddeutschen Braunkohlen-Flora. Botanisches Zeitung 6, 122–128, 137–141, 166–172, 185–190.

Hoadley, R.B. 1990. Identifying wood: accurate results with simple tools. 240 pp. Taunton, Newtown, CT, USA.

Holden, R. 1913. Contributions to the anatomy of Mesozoic conifers. No. 1. Jurassic coniferous woods from Yorkshire. Annals of Botany 27, 533–545 + plates 39, 40.

Jeffrey, E.C. 1910. A new araucarian genus from the Triassic. Boston Society of Natural History Proceedings, 34, 325–332.

Jeffrey, E.C. 1911. The affinities of Geinitzia gracillima. Botanical Gazette 51, 21–27.View article

Jeffrey, E.C. 1913. The history, comparative anatomy and evolution of the Araucarioxylon type. American Academy of Arts and Sciences Proceedings 48, 531–571.View article

Knowlton, F.H. 1889. New species of fossil wood (Araucarioxylon arizonicum) from Arizona and New Mexico. U.S. National Museum Proceedings 1888, 11, 1–4.

Knowlton, F.H. 1890. A revision of the genus Araucarioxylon of Kraus, with compiled descriptions and partial synonymy of the species. U.S. National Museum Proceedings 1889, 12, 601–617.View article

Knowlton, F.H. 1913. Fossil forests of Arizona. American Forestry 19, 209–218.

Knowlton, F.H. 1919. A catalogue of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic plants of North America. United States Geological Survey Bulletin 696, 1–815.

Kraus, G. 1870. Bois fossiles de coniferes, Pt. 2, 363–385. In Schimper, W.P. (ed.) Traité de Paléontologie Végétale, J.B. Bailliere et fils, Strasbourg.

Kräusel, R. 1949. Die fossilen Koniferenhölzer (unter Ausschluss von Araucarioxylon Kraus). Palaeontographica, Abt. B, Paläophytologie 62, 185–275.

Leitch, M.A. & Savidge, R.A. 1995. Evidence for auxin regulation of bordered-pit positioning during tracheid diferentiation in Larix laricina. IAWA Journal 16, 289–297.View article

Morgenroth, E. 1883. Die fossilen Pflanzenreste im Dilluvium der Umgebung von Kamenz in Sachsen. 50 pp. Tausch & Grosse, Halle.

Panshin, A.J. & de Zeeuw, C. 1980. Textbook of wood technology: structure, identification, properties, and uses of the commercial woods of the United States and Canada. 736 pp. McGraw-Hill, New York.

Parker, W.G. 2006. The stratigraphic distribution of major fossil localities in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, 46–61. In Parker, W.G., Ash, S.R. & Irmis, R.B. (eds) A century of research at Petrified Forest National Park: geology and paleontology. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 62.

Philippe, M. 1993. Nomenclature générique des trachéidoxyles fossils mésozoiques á champs araucarioides. Taxon 42, 74–80.View article

Philippe, M. 1995. Bois fossiles du Jurassique de franchecomté (NE-France). Palaeontographica Abt. B 236, 45–103.

Phillips, E.W.J. 1948. Identification of softwoods by their microscopic structure. Forest Products Research Bulletin 22, 1–56.

Pool, J.W. 1929. On the anatomy of Araucarian wood. Recueil des travaux botaniques Neerlandais 25, 484–620.

Riggs, N.R., Ash, S.R., Barth, A.P., Gehrels, G.E. & Wooden, L.L. 2003. Isotopic age of the Black Forest Bed, Petrified Forest member, Chinle Formation, Arizona: an example of dating a continental sandstone. Geological Society of America Bulletin 115, 1315–1312.View article

Savidge, R.A. 1983. The role of plant hormones in higher plant cellular differentiation. II. Experiments with the vascular cambium, and sclereid and tracheid differentiation in the pine, Pinus contorta. Histochemical Journal 15, 447–466.View article

Savidge, R.A. 1993. Formation of annual rings in trees, 343–363. In Rensing, L. (ed.) Oscillations and morphogenesis. Marcel Dekker, New York.

Savidge, R.A. 1996. Xylogenesis, genetic and environmental regulation – a review. IAWA Journal 17, 269–310.View article

Savidge, R.A. 2000. Biochemistry of seasonal cambial growth and wood formation – an overview of the challenges, 1–30. In Savidge, R.A., Barnett, J.R. & Napier, R. (eds) Cell and molecular biology of wood formation. BIOS Scientific, Oxford.

Savidge, R.A. 2001. Intrinsic regulation of cambial growth. Journal of Plant Growth Regulation 20, 52–77.View article

Savidge, R.A. 2003. Tree growth and wood quality, 1–29. In Barnett, J.R. & Jeronimidis, G. (eds) Wood quality and its biological basis. Blackwell and CRC Press, Oxford and Boca Raton, Florida, USA.

Savidge, R.A. 2006. Xylotomic evidence for two new conifers and a ginkgo within the Late Triassic Chinle Formation of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA, 147–149. In Parker, W.G., Ash, S.R. & Irmis, R.B. (eds) A century of research at Petrified Forest National Park: geology and paleontology. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 62.

Savidge, R.A. & Ash, S.R. 2006. Arboramosa semicircumtrachea, an unusual Late Triassic tree in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA, 65–81. In Parker, W.G., Ash, S.R. & Irmis, R.B. (eds) A century of research at Petrified Forest National Park: geology and paleontology. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 62.

Savidge, R.A. & Förster, H. 1998. Seasonal activity of uridine 5’-diphosphoglucose: coniferyl alcohol glucosyltransferase in relation to cambial growth and dormancy in conifers. Canadian Journal of Botany 76, 486–493.View article

Scott, R.A. 1961. Fossil woods associated with uranium on the Colorado Plateau. Short Papers in the Geologic and Hydrologic Sciences. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 424-B, B130–B132.

Seward, A.C. 1904. Catalogue of the Mesozoic plants in the Department of Geology The Jurassic flora II. Liassic and Oolitic floras of England. 192 pp. British Museum (Natural History), London.

Seward, A.C. 1917. Fossil plants, volume III, Pteridospermeae, Cycadofilices, Cordaitales, Cycadophyta. 656 pp. Cambridge University Press, reprinted by Hafner, New York and London.

Seward, A.C. 1919. Fossil Plants Vol. IV, Ginkgoales, Coniferales, Gnetales. 543 pp. Cambridge University Press, reprinted by Hafner, New York, London.

Sinnot, E.W. 1909. Paracedroxylon, a new type of araucarian wood. Rhodora 11, 165–173.

Solms-Laubach, H. graf zu 1891. Fossil botany, being an introduction to palaeophytology from the standpoint of the botanist. 401 pp. Clarendon, Oxford.

Stopes, M.C. 1914. A new Araucarioxylon from New Zealand. Annals of Botany 28, 341–350.View article

Swaine, P.T. & Hegewald, J.F.C. 1882. Information concerning some fossil trees in the United States National Museum. U.S. National Museum Proceedings 5, 1–3.View article

Unger, F. 1850. Genera et Species Plantarum fossilium. 627 pp. Vienna.

Whipple, A.W. 1856. Report of explorations for a railway route, near the thirty-fifth parallel of latitude, from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. U.S. 33rd Congress, 1st Session, Secretary of War Executive Document 129(3), 1–154.

Witham, H. 1833. The internal structure of fossil vegetables, found in the Carboniferous and Oolitic deposits of Great Britain, described and illustrated. 84 pp. Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh.

Woody, D.T. 2006. Revised stratigraphy of the Lower Chinle Formation (Upper Triassic) of Petrified Forest National Park, 17–45. In Parker, W.G., Ash, S.R. & Irmis, R.B. (eds) A century of research at Petrified Forest National Park: geology and paleontology. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 62