Fossil Wood Specimens Research Articles

Woody or not woody? Evidence for early angiosperm habit from the Early Cretaceous fossil wood record of Europe

The important question of early angiosperm growth habit (i.e., trees, shrubs or herbs?) remains unanswered. Various theories have been based on data from both living and fossil plants. The Early Cretaceous fossil wood record, however, was seldom used to investigate early angiosperm habit. We set up a database for the Early Cretaceous and Cenomanian of Europe, as this area has the most complete and stratigraphically well-constrained record. The database has 170 entries, based on a bibliographical survey and on the examination of more than 600 new fossil wood specimens from a wide range of palaeoenvironments. In our record the woody characteristic in angiosperms appeared during the Albian, whereas most of the angiosperm's early evolution took place earlier, during the earliest Cretaceous. From the European fossil wood record for the Early Cretaceous and Cenomanian, the global extension and dominance of angiosperms in the Cenomanian is concomitant with a sharp increase in heteroxylous wood diversity. It appears that small stature and weak wood limited the angiosperm ecological radiation for some time.

Physicochemical and biochemical characterization of non-biodegradable cellulose in Miocene gymnosperm wood from the Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse, Southern Belgium

Specimens of Miocene fossil wood from the Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse karsts (southern Belgium) were examined using physicochemical and biochemical techniques in order to understand the reasons for the exceptional preservation of these fossilized remains after 15 million years. Structural and chemical changes were assessed by comparing the structural features of the fossil samples with those of their modern counterpart, Metasequoia. Solid state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and microscopic analysis showed good preservation of the cellulose structure in the fossil wood from the Florennes peat deposit. Despite the substantial cellulose fraction available in the fossil tissue, an enzymatic degradation test and a biochemical methane potential assay showed that the fossil cellulose could not be degraded by cellulases and anaerobic microorganisms usually involved in the biodegradation of organic matter. Moreover, the cellulose structure (crystallinity and surface area) seemed to have no effect on cellulose biodegradability in these Miocene fossil wood samples. On the basis of our observations, we suggest that the presence of a modified lignin structure could greatly influence cellulose preservation/biodegradability.

Yeosu dinosaur track sites of Korea: The youngest dinosaur track records in Asia

Eighty two dinosaur trackways were newly discovered in Upper Cretaceous lacustrine deposits on islands in the vicinity of Yeosu, Korea. Most dinosaur tracks occur in marginal lake deposits with polygonal desiccation cracks. The dinosaur tracks at the Yeosu site include 65 ornithopod trackways, 16 theropod trackways and one sauropod trackway. The prevalence of ornithopod tracks and the limited occurrence of sauropod tracks at the Yeosu site evidently reflect decreased sauropod diversity in the Upper Cretaceous. All ornithopod trackways represent bipeds, and most of the ornithopod tracks are similar to Caririchnium from other sites of the Korean peninsula. All fossil wood specimens collected in the study area represent conifers (three species of cupressaceous and two species of taxodiaceous conifers, and a new species) except for one, which is a discotyledon. It is thus inferred that the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula was primarily covered with mesic forests with taxodiaceous trees during the Late Cretaceous. The K–Ar age of the Yeosu tracksite is determined as 81–65 Ma (Camapnian to Maastrichtian). It indicates that the Yeosu track site contains the last records of dinosaurs living in Asia. Consequently, semi-arid palaeoclimatic conditions, together with a large lake as a persistent water source and rich vegetation of gymnosperm trees as food, resulted in the preservation of abundant dinosaur tracks in the Upper Cretaceous on the Korean Peninsula.

A Roman correspondence: George Ent and Cassiano dal Pozzo, 1637–55

George Ent (FRS 1663), a distinguish physician, was in Rome in 1636, visited the notable collector Cassiano dal Pozzo and saw his Paper Museum. After he returned to London he carried on a correspondence with Cassiano in letters of more than ordinary interest. Cassiano had sent Ent specimens of fossil wood and a table made from fossil wood. They had come from the estates at Acquasparta belonging to Prince Federico Cesi, the founder of the Accademia dei Lincie. The specimens and the table were shown to early meetings of The Royal Society and had a significant part in the developing debate on the origin of fossils. The letters also record exchanges of books between London and Rome. Among medical matters there is news of William Harvey and his works.

Palaeoclimatic implications of Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) coniferous wood from the Neuquén Basin, west-central Argentina

Abstract Silicified coniferous wood is commonly found in the Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) Lajas Formation of the Neuquén Basin, west-central Argentina. The wood is preserved in a succession of sandstones, siltstones, mudstones and minor conglomerates that represent deposition as part of tide-dominated deltas and fluvial plains across which large rivers meandered. Most of the wood occurs as dense accumulations in the tidal and fluvial channels. The wood fragments are worn, abraded, and lack both bark and branches, indicating that they were transported prior to deposition. The material is typically 20–30 cm long, with only infrequent examples of larger trunks ( c. 80 cm in diameter, 5–6 m long). No trunks were found with root systems attached, and no stumps were found upright and in situ . The fossil wood genus Araucarioxylon dominates the assemblage. Growth rings are largely absent from the specimens, although one sample (from Rhea Gorge) displays highly diffuse and irregularly spaced rings, suggesting that it grew in different conditions from the others studied. Large-scale interpretations for southern Gondwana suggest a seasonally dry climate. However, these fossil wood specimens show no evidence of this, indicating that in this area at least the effects of any seasonal component to the climate may have been over-ridden by factors such as a locally plentiful supply of water and/or the possibility that growth was to some extent controlled by the taxonomic affinity of the trees.

Woods of the Eocene Nut Beds Flora, Clarno Formation, Oregon, USA

E.A. Wheeler and S.R. Manchester, 2002, International Association of Wood Anatomists Journal Supplement 3, 188 p. (Softcover, US $45.00) ISBN: 90-71236-52-8. Although commonly called “petrified wood,” only in a few cases, such as the jasper-replaced Triassic fossil wood of Arizona, has wood literally been turned into stone. A better term is permineralized wood, because cell walls visible in thin section are the original cellulose and lignin of the plant, and it is only the space left by the decayed cell that is filled with preservative minerals, such as silica, calcite and pyrite. Well-preserved microscopic cell-wall structure is used as the basis for identification of different woods. More often than I would like, enthusiastic rockhounds have urged me to identify fossil wood for them. Like the nodule and thunderegg collectors convinced that they have found dinosaur eggs, usually permineralized wood collectors also are disappointed, sometimes annoyed, when I confess that I am unwilling to identify fossil wood specimens for them. Not only is the preparation of the requisite thin sections an unreasonable financial and physical effort for casual inquiries, but identification of woods is difficult and not for the faint of heart. Nevertheless several of my students and visitors have persisted with thin section preparation and computer keys (using Wheeler et al., 1986) to find a treasure trove …

Stable carbon isotopes of wood: a clue to palaeoclimate?

Detailed stable carbon isotope and molecular investigations were undertaken on a number of archaeological and fossil wood specimens to provide insights into their use as rigorous independent palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental parameters. The isotope data revealed large differences amongst the material with the oldest specimens being least depleted in 13C. Although natural variation could account for some of the observed differences, the isotope values of the archaeological and Tertiary specimens are most probably related to the absolute abundance of polysaccharides present and the degree of lignin alteration. The molecular data, based on pyrolysis, of the Antarctic Cretaceous conifer specimens revealed only transformed lignin, with virtually no intact lignin building blocks (2-methoxyphenols) preserved, and no evidence of polysaccharides. This degree of chemical alteration is suggested here to be one of the main causes for the 13C enriched values of these conifer specimens. These results show the importance of combining detailed molecular information on individual wood components with stable carbon isotope data for palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental studies.

SCOTT, A. C. & FREEDBERG, D. 2000. Fossil Woods and Other Geological Specimens. The Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Series B: Natural History, Part III. 424 pp. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers. Price Euros 232.00 (hard covers). ISBN 1 872501 91 5.

SCOTT, A. C. & FREEDBERG, D. 2000. Fossil Woods and Other Geological Specimens. The Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Series B: Natural History, Part III. 424 pp. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers. Price Euros 232.00 (hard covers). ISBN 1 872501 91 5. - Volume 138 Issue 4

Madeiras fósseis dos aluviões antigos do Rio Tietê, São Paulo: estudos anatômicos e paleoecológicos

Este estudo versa sobre aspectos anatômicos e paleoecológicos de espécimes de madeiras fósseis do Pleistoceno Superior coletados nos aluviões antigos do rio Tietê (Itaquaquecetuba, São Paulo). Seguintes gêneros novos foram reconhecidos e descritos: Astronioxylon mainieri, Piptadenioxylon chimeloi, Myrocarpoxylon sanpaulense, Matayboxylon tietense e Qualeoxylon itaquaquecetubense. O significado paleoecológico ligado a um clima tropical úmido desta associação, considerado em estudo prévio de madeiras fósseis similares coletadas nos aluviões antigos do rio Pinheiros, foi aqui confirmado.

TREE RINGS: A NATURAL DATA‐STORAGE SYSTEM

Summary1. The wood of trees grown in temperate regions shows a periodicity in the form of rings which, with certain known exceptions, accurately reflects the annual cycle of the seasons. The wood thus has a built‐in dating system.2. Tree rings are not always the same width in successive years; the widths show a positive correlation with variations in environmental factors.3. Trees in a given geographical area influenced by the same environmental conditions show similar patterns in their ring sequences and may thus be cross‐dated.4. Ring sequences from cross‐dated trees may be used to construct long, accurate chronologies. This practice, the science of dendrochronology, is now so reliable that it is widely used in archaeology and has also served to calibrate the 14 dating method.5. The extent of the variation in a ring sequence may be expressed in the form of a coefficient known as the mean sensitivity.6. The climatic effects recorded in the growth rings are those which operate at certain crucial periods, such as the growing season. The effects are primarily those of rainfall and temperature; humidity is usually only secondary.7. Damage by insects or fire may be dated by examination of ring sequences.8. As tree‐ring sequences correlate positively with contemporaneous meteorological data, they may be used in the reconstruction of past climates. This is the basis of extrapolatory dendroclimatology.9. New isotope techniques have been developed which indicate the possibility of deducing the ambient temperature of the tree's environment whilst its wood was being formed.10. Interpretative dendroclimatology aims to deduce from the features of a sample, or preferably from a number of samples of wood, the nature of the climate which influenced their development.11. The wood of most growth rings is divisible into two zones, earlywood and late‐wood. The former consists of larger, thin‐walled cells while in the latter the cells are smaller and thick‐walled.12. Beams of light, X‐rays and β‐rays have been used in various instruments to determine the earlywood‐latewood ratio.13. The earlywood‐latewood ratio is dependent upon genetic as well as climatic factors. Of the latter, summer rainfall is the most potent in producing latewood.14. The ring‐width data from a number of Recent and fossil wood specimens have been analysed to show that certain deductions may be made about the climate in which they were formed.15. A histogram technique has been devised to show differences between wood specimens with otherwise similar coefficients.16. Evidence has been produced in support of earlier work to the effect that ring‐width sequences from different radii of a tree trunk have fundamentally similar features, thus demonstrating ‘circuit uniformity’.17. The interpretation of the features of tropical woods is more complex. The mode of development of such a wood is the resultant of the interplay of genetical factors, endogenous rhythms and slight variations in environmental conditions.18. There is evidence that endogenous rhythms are also involved in the development of woods in temperate as well as tropical regions.

MULTIVARIATE COMPARISON OF FOSSIL AND RECENT GINKGO WOOD

Multivariate statistical analysis of the anatomical structure of the wood of Recent Ginkgo biloba L. and of fossil Ginkgo beckii Scott, Barghoorn, & Prakash revealed significant differences not apparent through general microscopic observation. On the basis of a multiple discriminant analysis by computer of 10 anatomical characters, the living and fossil Ginkgo woods were separated into two distinct groups. All Recent wood specimens were classified into a single disjoint group by the computer, and all fossil wood specimens were classified into another without misclassifications when all 10 characteristics were included in the analysis. Three characters—number of pits per millimeter of tracheid length on radial wall, ray height, and tangential diameter of late wood tracheids—accounted for most of the discrimination between the two groups.

A Shoreoxylon and two other Tertiary woods from the Garo Hills, Assam

An examination of a collection of fossil wood specimens from the Tertiary of Assam revealed the presence of three distinct kinds of wood. Two of the woods, referable to the family Dipterocarpacea, are described under the names Shoreoxylon evidens sp. nov. and Dipterocarpoxylon kalaicharparense sp. nov. The third is a Terminalia wood, very similar to one previously reported from the Cachar Hills by Prakash and Navale.

On two specimens of fossil wood with adhering bark from the Nûgssuaq Peninsula

An important part of the paleontological material collected by the "Danish Nûgssuaq Expeditions" under the leadership of A. Rosenkrantz consists of very extensive collections of fossil wood. The greater part of the samples brought home are distinguished by a very good, in some case an excellent state of preservation which has made it possible to obtain from them slides of a unique quality. While previous finds of fossil wood from the artic have been mostly of a casual nature, the samples collected as erratics, the greater part of the material gathered in 1938 and 1939 has been taken either from strata of known geological age or at least found in the screes originating from such strata.

Some Petrified Wood from the Specimen Ridge Area of Yellowstone National Park

In Yellowstone National Park practically all exposed rock formations are igneous or metamorphic consisting mostly of ash, obsidian and basalt. The central sector is made up of plateau country which though 7,000 to 8,500 feet above sea level, is nearly completely surrounded by mountain ranges rising 2,000 to 4,000 feet above it. The lava masses of Specimen Ridge in the Lamar River region are evidences of their volcanic origin and are considered by geologists to have been ejected from ancestral Mount Washburn during the early part of the Miocene or late Eocene. Specimen Ridge cliffs which outcrop 2,000 feet above the plateau extend for 20 miles along the Lamar River and include strata wihch contain some of the most remarkable petrified trees in the park. Many superposed layers of upright petrified trunks (not less than 15 according to Knowlton [18993) appear to indicate that in past geologic time a succession of forests flourished only to be repeatedly covered with volcanic ash and lava. The great wealth of extinct plants of the Lamar River region must have astonished the early explorers and though reference to the area is first made by the early naturalist, W. H. Holmes (Hayden, 1873), no extended studies of the fossilized wood were made before 1899, when Professor Knowlton published his monograph The Fossil Flora of Yellowstone National Park. Fossil wood specimens which Knowlton collected from the Specimen Ridge area of the park form the main body of material for anatomical reports in his monograph (1899). However, he collected plant fossils at sites other than Specimen Ridge, some of which he later investigated. Conard (1933) discussed Pityoxylon amethystinumi Knowlton, and, in the same year, Read investigated some fossil woods of Specimen Ridge and described those which he identified as Pinus baumani Read, Pinus fallax (Felix) Read, Cupressinoxylon lamarense Read, and Sequoia magnifica Knowlton. In 1939, Andrews reported on anatomical details of several collections of fossil wood from Yellowstone National Park with particular reference to the fossil forest of the north-west corner of the park known as the Gallatin region. Geologically, this area is similar to Specimen Ridge. Andrews redescribed Sequoia magnifica Knowlton, Cupressinoxylon lamarense Read and Pityoxylon

A NEW FOSSIL OAK WOOD FROM IDAHO

ALTHOUGH SEVERAL hundred species of fossil oaks from the United States have been described from their leaf impressions, comparatively little work has been done on the fossil wood of the genus. This neglect may be attributed in part to the uncertainty of specific differentiation on the basis of characters of the wood anatomy, since positive identification of oak species often cannot be made from wood structure alone. However, the sub-genera of the genus Quercus may be determined by the microscopic examination of their wood anatomy, and many of their included species also may be identified by this means. Thus it seems reasonable that well preserved specimens of fossil wood might be expected to show similar distinctions. Most of the work on fossil oak wood has been done by German investigators who described a number of western American species as well as European ones. This work is so little known that Trelease (1924), in monographing the oaks of America, stated that the only fossil oak wood to receive a specific name was Quercus Marcyana Pen., although at that time more than a dozen species had been described. However, the descriptions of these oaks might have been overlooked very easily since they were not published in widely distributed journals. The first description of fossil oak wood was published in 1839 by Goppert, who described fossil wood from Silesia and northern Germany and named it Klidenia quercoides. At that time he mentioned the nearly complete agreement of K. quercoides and Quercus pedunculata and six years later changed the generic name to Quercites, the genus in which fossil leaves of oak are now placed. However, Unger in 1842 had proposed the genus Quercinium for fossil oak wood and had pointed out that probably Klodenia Gopp. should be changed to Quercinium. Very little notice was taken of the genus until Felix (1883, 1884) published the descriptions of the species known at that time and added four new ones. In the first of these papers he showed that the three species previously described by Unger were based on invalid characters and therewith included them in the group of species upon which he published. Penhallow (1891) described a fossil wood from the post-glacial of Illinois that strongly resembled the modern chestnut oaks and named it Quercus Marcyana, disregarding the established generic name Quercinium. Knowlton (1899) published a description of a new species, Quercintium lamarense, and nothing further appeared in the literature until Platen (1908) added five new species to the genus. Since that time little has been published except for two reports by American workers on fossil woods from California, one of which was apparently identical with the modern Quercus agrifolia. These woods were given the generic name

Note on Mr. Lee's Specimens of Fossil Wood from Griqua Land

Note on Mr. Lee's Specimens of Fossil Wood from Griqua Land

Letters to Editor

ON p. 249, vol. xi. is a query by Mr. F. Case as to the spontaneous decomposition of iron pyrites. I would suggest that the sulphur and iron of the mineral have been oxidised at the expense of the oxygen of the atmosphere in the presence of moisture. Some years ago I collected specimens of fossil wood, &c., from the London clay found in a deep well at the corner of Colchester Garrison. After a time my specimens were crumbling to powder, and were covered with light, silky crystals, which upon analysis proved to be sulphate of iron. Upon examining the clay minutely it was found to contain numerous golden spangles, exceedingly small, of native sulphuret of iron or iron pyrites, and the conclusion arrived at was that these spangles had absorbed oxygen and produced the crystals, and also rendered the specimens friable.

II. On Caulopteris Punctata, Goepp., a Tree-Fern from the Upper Greensand of Shaftesbury in Dorsetshire

The Upper Greensand is a marine formation. Dr.Fitton, in his elaborate Memoir on ‘The Strata below the Chalk‘ (Geol.Trans., Second Series, Vol. IV.), has enumerated 60 species of Mollusca, 2 Annelids, 3Echinoderms, and 2 Protozoons from the beds in the South of England belonging to this period. These numbers have been more than doubled since the publication of that paper. They still retain the same proportions; but the fossils which Dr. Fitton characterised as ‘ fish remains ’ have been referred to 9 genera, and there have been added 4 genera of Saurians. As might be expected, very few vegetable remains have been observed. Dr. Fitton records the occurrence of some impressions of leaves. The remains of what appear to be sea-weeds are occasionally met with. Specimens of fossil wood have also been found. William Cunnington, Esq. F.G.S., of Devizes, who has kindly, through the Editor, furnished me with some particulars regarding the Upper Greensand deposits near Shaftesbury, informs me that for forty years he has been collecting the fossils of these beds, and that during that time he has obtained about thirty specimens of woods, many of them certainly drift woods, as they had been attacked by lithophagous molluscs. I have examined all the specimens of these woods contained in the collections of the British Museum, and I find that they are all Coniferous. Little more than this can be said. The woody fibres contain a single row of discs, and I have not detected any spiral fibres associated with them.

On some Fossils from South Africa

Abstract A t the close of 1850 Mr. Stow and his party fell back into the interior to avoid the Kaffirs; in making the journey he collected largely the fossils on his route, and succeeded, with much trouble, in preserving them on his return. In a plain at the foot of the Rhenosterberg, a branch of the Sneewbergen Range (of which latter the Spitzkop is the culminating point), the author met with patches of ground strewed with nodular concretions and fossil wood (specimens 2 to 63) over an extent of about two miles in length and one in width. These fossils were on the surface, and had been probably derived from the neighbouring mountains. The plain was of a lozenge-shape, about twelve miles broad and twenty long; and was one of several of a similar kind that he had travelled through. It was bounded by the Rhenosterberg Mountains on the N.E., on the S.W. by a nearly parallel range, and on the S.E. was contracted to a narrow valley between low rocky hills. Two low volcanic dykes crossed the plain, one on the north-western, and the other on the south-eastern side. The strata forming the mountains are horizontal. There are about eight strata of sandstone forming the lower part of the Rhenosterberg. Immediately above there is a limestone full of rounded fragments of other calcareous and non-calcareous rocks, and sometimes containing bones (specimens 64, 65, 66). Of this pebbly limestone, or calcareous grit, there are four layers, separated one from another by several yards of strata, and varying in thickness from a few inches to about a foot. The mountains on the opposite side of the plain are apparently composed of the same strata as the Rhenosterberg; for, taking a commanding position on one of the dykes, one can distinctly count the strata in the mountains on either side ; and so uniform are they in colour and thickness, so alike in height, and equally horizontal in position, that the idea at once forces itself upon the mind that they must at one time have been continuous. At one spot on the side of the Rhenosterberg is a Kloof where the author found some fossils imbedded in the rock; and he often regretted when visiting the spot that the Kaffirs had left him nothing but a hammer and old chisel that were thrown into the waggon at starting, as with better tools he might have obtained many more specimens. Here he found the specimens 68, 69, which appear to be casts of stems of plants in sandstone. The first bones he here discovered were those of the skeleton, specimen No. 83 (a small Dieynodon). They were directly in the water-course, and only a small piece of one part was at first visible. By dint of hammering and chiseling each succeeding portion revealed itself to view. Unfortunately the skull was wanting. Underneath a large part of it there was a whitish scaly appearance on the rock, which might have been the remains of the covering that the animal had when alive. Many portions of the strata here were matted together with the stem-like fossils, such as specimens 70-75. Specimens 76 to 82 (nodular concretions)appear to have been washed from the same strata.