Fossil Wood Record Research Articles

First evidence of Pinaceae and Fagaceae in the fossil wood record of the České středohoří Mts. (Czech Republic): A comprehensive study of fossiliferous sites in pyroclastic rocks surrounding the late Oligocene Milá stratovolcano

A comprehensive anatomical and mineralogical study of fossil wood fragments from fields in the vicinity of Bečov and Břvany villages (NW Bohemia, Czech Republic) indicates that Taxodioxylon gypsaceum (Cupressaceae s.l.) predominates, but also identifies another coniferous wood: Pinuxylon parryoides (Pinaceae) and three angiosperms Quercoxylon böckhianum, Castanoxylon bavaricum and Lithocarpoxylon sp. (all Fagaceae). This paper therefore presents the first occurrence of Pinaceae and Fagaceae fossil wood in the volcanic rocks of the České Středohoří Mts. as well as its youngest palaeobotanical record in general, late Oligocene in age (26.56 ± 0.38 Ma). The samples were buried by alkaline pyroclastic deposits and were mineralized by carbonates. Two distinct depositional processes burying the fossil woods were identified. Closer to the vent, the woods occur in a near-vent pyroclastic fall deposits of the former pyroclastic cone, whereas more distant sites consist of pyroclastic flow deposits. Carbonate mineralization mostly consists of dolomite, but subordinate amounts of magnesite (likely the first time this is documented in fossil wood) as well as calcite and siderite are present. Only one sample collected in the same area, bearing clear signs of riverbed transport (Lithocarpoxylon sp.), was perfectly silicified, but its origin remains unclear.

Wood Anatomy of Modern and Fossil Fagales in Relation to Phylogenetic Hypotheses, Familial Classification, and Patterns of Character Evolution

The wood anatomy of fagalean families is summarized. Each family and most genera are wood anatomically distinct and can be distinguished by features such as vessel grouping and arrangement, vessel-ray parenchyma pit type, imperforate element type, ray structure, and axial parenchyma distribution. For each family, we review the published fossil wood record (with particular attention to Cretaceous and Paleogene occurrences) that we consider to be reliably identified on the basis of diagnostic character syndromes, giving insights into their stratigraphic range and former geographic ranges. Fossil woods with characteristics of the Fagaceae (Castaneoideae) occurred as early as the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of the Northern Hemisphere and were widespread in the Cenozoic. Nothofagaceae wood occurred in the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary of Antarctica. Ring-porous Castaneoideae were not common until after the Eocene, reflecting the increase in seasonality that occurred in the Northern Hemisphere at that time. Woods diagnostic of Betulaceae, Juglandaceae, and Myricaceae occurred in the Eocene. With the recognition of Morella Lour. as a genus distinct from Myrica L., we propose two new combinations for fossil woods of Myricaceae. Reliably identified Casuarinaceae wood did not occur until the Miocene. There are no reports of Ticodendraceae fossil wood, although there are reports of fossil woods with its combination of features from the Cretaceous onward, but these are assigned to different families or are of unknown affinities. Most fagalean fossil woods have anatomy similar to that of modern genera, but some Paleogene taxa have combinations of characters not found in present-day genera. We discuss the utility of wood anatomy in assessing phylogenetic relationships within and among families of Fagales, with reference to clades supported by molecular sequence data. Generally, wood anatomical groupings are consistent with recent phylogenetic analyses of the order and of its constituent families. We propose hypotheses about adaptive character evolution in the order based on previously presented phylogenetic relationships inferred from DNA sequence data and the current ecological preferences of individual families.

First fossil record in Tambería formation (Neogene) in Bolsón de Fiambalá, Catamarca province, Argentina: Palaeoenvironmental inferences through Leguminosae woods

The aim of this study is to report the first fossil wood record of Leguminosae in miocene sediments from Tambería Formation outcropping in the center-west of Catamarca province, Argentina. This Leguminosae specimen was found on levels of multi-colored sandstones that alternated with dark brown pelites and gray conglomerates. It is characterized by the presence of: semi-ring porous wood with vestured ornamented pits, helicoidal thickenings on the vessel walls, paratracheal parenchyma, homogeneous and multiseriate rays, all of which justify its assignment to Gleditsioxylon Müller-Stoll and Mädel. Six species are known and distributed in: Argentina, the United States, China and Japan in Miocene sediments coetaneous with sediments from Tambería Formation. The fossil wood specimen documented in this study is assigned to Gleditsioxylon fiambalense nov. sp. taking into account the combination of its anatomical features. Vulnerability and mesomorphy indices reveal its subtropical environmental condition which is not only typical of Gleditsia amorphoides, the current species, but also coincides with the palaeoenvironmental inferences derived from sedimentological research. This first paleontological record promises interesting analyses to understand the paleobiological and paleoecological aspects of the Tambería Formation and adds another new evidence to show the diversity of the neogene Leguminosae lignofloras of northern Argentina.

Combretaceous fossil wood from Ituzaingó Formation (Late Miocene?), Argentina, indicate a coastal marine environment

A new anatomical study of the fossil material assigned to Menendoxylon areniensis Lutz 1979 (family Fabaceae) was performed. In this study, new wood anatomical characteristics were observed. These are diagnostic characters present in the family, Combretaceae. Also, its presence suggests an adaptation to environmental variability: numerous vessels (mean 14–52 vessels/mm2), small vessel diameter (mean 26–103 μm), and low vessel height (mean 76–329 μm). The fossil is closest to the genera, Conocarpus and Laguncularia, with anatomical characteristics that are particularly similar to those of Conocarpus erectus. Conocarpus erectus is a species associated with mangroves and is classified as pseudo-mangrove or peripheral species. Mangroveoxylon areniensis gen. et comb. nov., recovered in the Late Miocene? of Ituzaingó Formation is the first record of fossil wood that indicates a coastal marine environment, which is further south of the tropics. This could resemble a tropical environment with species developing at different levels of the land.

Wood evolution: Baileyan trends and Functional traits in the fossil record

ABSTRACTWe revisited questions about changes in the incidences of functional wood anatomical traits through geologic time and compared the incidences of these traits in the fossil record with modern wood anatomical diversity patterns in order to test classical (“Baileyan”) and more recent ecophyletic hypotheses of xylem evolution. We contrast patterns through time for tropical and higher (paleo)latitudes. Data are from the InsideWood database. There are striking differences between woods from high and mid latitudes versus tropical (paleo)-latitudes. At temperate and subtropical latitudes (Laurasia and high latitude Gondwana), the epoch by epoch time series supports the Baileyan transformation series of vessel-bearing woody angiosperms (basal woody angiosperms and eudicots): “primitive” features such as scalariform perforations, exclusively solitary vessels, apotracheal diffuse parenchyma and heterocellular rays abound in the Cretaceous and become much less frequent in the Cenozoic, especially post-Eocene. In contrast, in the paleotropics hardly any changes occur in the incidences – each epoch has an equally “modern” spectrum of wood anatomical attributes. Although climatic gradients from the poles to the equator were less steep in the Cretaceous than in the late Cenozoic, the wood anatomical differences between mid-high latitude woods and tropical woods were much more pronounced in the Cretaceous than in later epochs. This seeming paradox is discussed but we cannot resolve it.We suggest that tropical conditions have accelerated xylem evolution towards greater hydraulic efficiency (simple perforations), biological defense and hydraulic repair (elaborate paratracheal parenchyma patterns) as evidenced by late Cretaceous tropical latitude woods having near modern incidences of almost all traits. At higher paleolatitudes of both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere “ancestral” features such as scalariform perforations were retained in cooler and frost-prone regions where they were not selected against in mesic habitats because of lower demands on conductive efficiency, and could even be advantageous in trapping freeze-thaw embolisms. The fossil wood record remains too incomplete for testing hypotheses on the wood anatomy of the earliest angiosperms. The low incidence of so-called “xerophobic” woods sensu Feild with scalariform perforations with numerous (over 40) closely spaced bars in the Cretaceous tropical fossil record is puzzling. At higher paleolatitudes such woods are common in the Cretaceous.Ring porosity, an indicator of seasonal climates and deciduousness, occurs at low levels in the Cretaceous and Paleogene at higher paleolatitudes only, and reaches modern levels in the Miocene. In Neogene and Recent temperate Northern Hemisphere, wide vessels are virtually restricted to ring-porous woods. In the tropics, there is a low incidence of ring porosity throughout all epochs.The fossil record indicates that ecophysiological adaptation to tropical or temperate conditions was already evident in the Cretaceous with considerable latitudinal differences.

First Pleistocene record of fossil wood of Bignoniaceae in the Americas and a comparison with the extant Tabebuia alliance and Tecomeae

First Pleistocene record of fossil wood of Bignoniaceae in the Americas and a comparison with the extant Tabebuia alliance and Tecomeae

Fossil wood with dimorphic fibers from the Deccan Intertrappean Beds of India – the oldest fossil Connaraceae?

Wood of Connaroxylon dimorphum (Connaraceae, Oxalidales) from the Deccan Intertrappean Beds of India (KPg Boundary 65–67 MY BP) is described. It is characterized by parenchyma-like fiber bands alternating with normal fibers, septate and nonseptate fibers, vessel-ray pits with strongly reduced borders, uniseriate rays of square and upright cells, and radial tubules in the center of ray cells that are arranged in a herringbone pattern. The overall wood anatomy strongly resembles Melastomataceae p. p., Lagerstroemia p. p. (Lythraceae) and Connarus (Connaraceae). However, the shared radial tubules of Connarus and the fossil strongly tilt the evidence of botanical affinities towards this genus. This would represent the second and by far the oldest fossil wood record of the Connaraceae, also considerably older than the earliest fossil records of the family’s other plant parts, and one of the oldest fossils of the order Oxalidales.

A Jurassic wood providing insights into the earliest step in Ginkgo wood evolution.

The fossil record of Ginkgo leaf and reproductive organs has been well dated to the Mid-Jurassic (170 Myr). However, the fossil wood record that can safely be assigned to Ginkgoales has not yet been reported from strata predating the late Early Cretaceous (ca. 100 Myr). Here, we report a new fossil wood from the Mid-Late Jurassic transition deposit (153–165 Myr) of northeastern China. The new fossil wood specimen displays several Ginkgo features, including inflated axial parenchyma and intrusive tracheid tips. Because it is only slightly younger than the oldest recorded Ginkgo reproductive organs (the Yima Formation, 170 Myr), this fossil wood very probably represents the oldest bona fide fossil Ginkgo wood and the missing ancestral form of Ginkgo wood evolution.

First record of Podocarpoid fossil wood in South China

A new species of fossil conifer wood, Podocarpoxylon donghuaiense sp. nov., is described from the late Eocene of Nadu Formation in Baise Basin of the Guangxi Province, South China. This fossil wood is characterized by distinct growth rings, circular to oval tracheids in cross section, 1–2-seriate opposite pits on radial tracheid walls, uniseriate (rarely biseriate) rays, smooth end walls of ray parenchyma cells, and the absence of resin ducts, suggesting its affinity to Podocarpaceae. The new species is distinctive from other Cenozoic woods ascribed to this family by the combination of distinctive growth rings, the absence of axial parenchyma, the occurrence of bordered pits on tangential tracheid walls, and the occurrence of 3–4 cuppressoid or taxodioid pits on cross-fields. This represents the first record of podocarpoid fossil wood in South China and provides fossil evidence for the early dispersal and diversification of Podocarpaceae in eastern Asia as well as for mild temperate seasonal climate in this region during the late Eocene.

Fossil wood of Pinus priamurensis sp. nov. (Pinaceae) from the Miocene deposits of the Erkovetskii Brown Coal Field, Amur Region

New species of the pine fossil wood, Pinus priamurensis sp. nov. (Pinaceae) from the Sazanka Formation (upper Middle Miocene–Upper Miocene) of the Erkovetskii Brown Coal Field (Amur Region) is described. The new species shares some wood anatomical features with modern species of the subsection Pinus (section Pinus, subgenus Pinus). This is the first record of fossil wood of Pinus in the Amur Region.

Fossil coniferous wood from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in western Liaoning, NE China: New material and palaeoclimate implications

The Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota, one of the most important Mesozoic lagerstätten in East Asia, is especially well-known for occurrences of fossil feathered dinosaurs and early angiosperms. However, the terrestrial biodiversity, especially the fossil wood record, is poorly known. In this study, several structurally preserved coniferous wood specimens from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation are investigated, based on collections from the Heichengzi Basin in Beipiao of western Liaoning, Northeast China. Four species referred to four genera of fossil wood are described, including Taxodioxylon heichengziense sp. nov., Thujoxylon beipiaoense sp. nov., Sciadopityoxylon liaoningense Ding and Protocedroxylon shengjinbeigouense sp. nov. These new records enlarge the fossil wood diversity of the Yixian Formation up to 10 species in 9 genera, and provide further insights into the forest vegetation composition of the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota. Systematic analysis of the floral constitution indicates that the petrified forests of the Yixian Formation are dominated by conifers, represented by Araucariaceae, Podocarpaceae, Sciadopityaceae, Pinaceae and Cupressaceae in the western Liaoning region. Palaeoclimatical analysis of the fossil wood assemblage implies that the western Liaoning region was dominated by a cool temperate, wet and seasonal climate with variable interannual water supply in the western Liaoning region during the Early Cretaceous.

New records of Jurassic petrified wood in Jianchang of western Liaoning, China and their palaeoclimate implications

Diverse and rich fossil wood records have been documented from the Mesozoic of Liaoning Province, NE China. The Tiaojishan Formation (mainly distributed in Beipiao, Chaoyang, Fuxin and Jianchang regions) is one of the most significant horizons for the Jurassic petrified wood in Liaoning Province. Previously, wood fossils of this formation were mainly reported in Beipiao and Chaoyang regions, whereas fossil wood record was merely known in Jianchang region. Here we describe new fossil wood specimens from the Tiaojishan Formation in Jianchang County, western Liaoning. Two fossil wood taxa, i.e., Protaxodioxylon jianchangense Tian et Wang sp. nov. and Xenoxylon peidense Zheng et Zhang were recognized on the basis of anatomical features. These fossil wood records add new data for understanding the fossil wood diversity, floral composition and palaeoclimate of the Tiaojishan Formation. The occurrence of Xenoxylon and Protaxodioxylon implies a cool temperate, wet and seasonal climate condition with interannual variations during the Middle to Late Jurassic transition in western Liaoning region.

A new record of fossil wood of Vochysiaceae from the Late Pleistocene (Arroyo Feliciano Formation), Argentina, South America

Fil: Moya, Eliana Vanesa. Provincia de Entre Rios. Centro de Investigaciones Cientificas y Transferencia de Tecnologia a la Produccion. Universidad Autonoma de Entre Rios. Centro de Investigaciones Cientificas y Transferencia de Tecnologia a la Produccion. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Cientificas y Transferencia de Tecnologia a la Produccion; Argentina

Fossil woods from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) of Kamchatka Peninsula, Russian Far East

Three coniferous fossil wood taxa are described from the Kedrovka Formation (Albian) of Kamchatka Peninsula, Russian Far East: Protocedroxylon gregussii (Shilkina) Shilkina & Chudajberdyev, Taxaceoxylon sp. and Xenoxylon phyllocladoides Gothan. This wood flora is quite peculiar when compared to coeval wood floras from the same area. It yields the first safe report of Taxaceoxylon fossil wood from the Lower Cretaceous of Asia. The record of Xenoxylon phyllocladoides represents the latest stratigraphic occurrence of this species and the first from Russia. Taxaceae-like fossil wood record is reappraised and shown to be consistent with recent cladistic results, suggesting a boreal origin and a link to the Pinaceae. The palaeoecology of the Kedrovka Formation wood flora is investigated. The peculiarities of the flora might be explained by an oceanic palaeoclimate.

Shimakuroxylon a new homoxylous Mesozoic wood genus from Asia, with palaeogeographical and palaeoecological implications

Revision of the Mesozoic fossil wood record for Eastern Asia led to the recognition of a new type of homoxylous wood radial pitting, called here “the japonicum type”. This anatomical feature has a limited distribution in both time and space. On this basis a new genus, Shimakuroxylon gen. nov., is recognized. It has limited biostratigraphical interest, ranging from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous. Paleogeographically, however, it is bound to these terranes which lined southernmost Eastern Asia during the Jurassic (Lhasa, Indochina, Semitau, etc.). Being also found in the Outer Zone of Southwest Japan, the origin of which is still a matter of debate, Shimakuroxylon points out a southern cradle for this tectonic unit. The genus distribution also suggests it is an indicator for warm and wet climates.

Myrtineoxylon gen. nov.: The first fossil wood record of the tribe Myrteae (Myrtaceae) in eastern Asia

AbstractThe new genus and species Myrtineoxylon maomingensis is described from the Late Eocene Youganwo Formation of Maoming Basin, South China. It is the first record of fossil wood from eastern Asia assigned to Myrtaceae. The combination of solitary vessels, simple perforation plates, alternate vestured intervessel pits, bordered vessel–ray pits, vasicentric tracheids, ground tissue fibre–tracheids, diffuse and diffuse–in–aggregate parenchyma in 3–8 cells strands, and 1–3–seriate, strongly heterocellular rays, and absence of crystals is suggestive of a position of the fossil in the tribe Myrteae (informal "Australasian group"), a basal lineage in Myrtaceae. This is the first fossil record from eastern Asia and from all of Eurasia confidently referred to this tribe.

Novo registro de Zollernioxylon tinocoi Mussa (Fabaceae) no Vale do Juruá, Mioceno da Formação Solimões, Bacia do Acre, Brasil

A new record of fossil wood to the Valley of Jurua, Solimoes Formation, Southwestern Amazon, is analyzed. The fossil material came from one of the countless outcrops found along the Jurua River. The wood described presents anatomical affinities with the Fabaceae and more specifically with Zollernioxylon tinocoi Mussa. This new record confi rms the presence of the Fabaceae in the past vegetation of Amazon and by its comparison with modern vegetation contributes to the paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the region. Key words: fossil wood, Fabaceae, Miocene, Jurua Valley, Acre Basin, Brazil.

Optical and geochemical characterization of Upper Sinemurian (Lower Jurassic) fossil wood from the Lusitanian Basin (Portugal)

Copyright © 2013 by The Geochemical Society of Japan. Pienkowski, 2011). It is assumed that when the δ13C record of both marine carbonates and fossil wood show a coupled trend, (reflecting the oceanic and atmospheric carbon reservoirs), it is an indication that there was a global perturbation of the carbon cycle. However, the use of fossil wood isotopic data are related to two main assumptions: 1) that the δ13C of fossil wood reflects, to some extent, the δ13C of the atmosphere at the moment of tree growth; 2) although diagenesis has altered the original δ13C values, it is likely that through a given section all samples have undergone similar diagenetic changes. Although the first assumption may seem fairly reasonable, the second assumption raises concerns as it tends to ignore lithological constraints (e.g., Grocke, 1998), the process of degradation associated with residence time in the continental and marine environments prior to deposition (e.g., Tyson, 1995), the early diagenetic/coalification processes (e.g., Suarez-Ruiz and Crelling, 2008), a shift in composition due to severe oxidation (including burning) (e.g., Czimczik et al., 2002) and the impact of these processes on the isotopic composition of fossil wood (e.g., Rimmer et al., 2006). In conOptical and geochemical characterization of Upper Sinemurian (Lower Jurassic) fossil wood from the Lusitanian Basin (Portugal)

Contribution to the Neogene fossil wood record and palaeoecological understanding of Bangladesh

Contribution to the Neogene fossil wood record and palaeoecological understanding of Bangladesh

520 Vegetational changes during the Late Cretaceous-Tertiary interval across Antarctica and South America, based on the fossil wood record

520 Vegetational changes during the Late Cretaceous-Tertiary interval across Antarctica and South America, based on the fossil wood record