SPORE TETRAD STRUCTURES OF POSSIBLE HEPATIC AFFINITY FROM THE AUSTRALIAN LOWER CARBONIFEROUS

Abstract

Palynological studies of Early Carboniferous (Viséan) sediments of the Bonaparte Gulf Basin, northwestern Australia, reveal the presence of intact tetrahedral spore tetrads (here described as Sagenotetradites gen. nov.) and, more usually, of their disjunct spore portions which had previously been interpreted as dispersed whole‐miospore species. Two species of the new tetrad genus are recognized: S. bonapartensis (Playford) comb, nov., as type species; and S. spiritensis (Playford) comb. nov. The species are distinguished, as originally, on the basis of sculptural attributes of their distal exoexines. When intact, both species share a common internal “binding” element (“Cadiospora abrupta” Playford, 1971) composed of the fused proximal exoexinal faces of all four spores of a given tetrad. Morphological comparisons with modern hepatic spores suggest an alliance of the microfossils with the order Sphaerocarpales. The occurrence of Sagenotetradites in exclusively marine sediments suggests that its parent plants grew in close proximity to the marine depositional basin. Moreover, the morphological attributes of the tetrads would appear to have facilitated dissemination by water.