Archaeopteris sp.

By oilshale

• August 29, 2022

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae Haeckel 1866
Phylum: Aneurophytophyta Bold 1973
Class: Archaeopteridopsida Takhtajan 1978
Order: Archaeopteridales Zimmermann 1930
Family: Archaeopteridaceae Nicholson and Lydekker 1889
Genus: Archaeopteris
Species: Archaeopteris sp.

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Paleozoic
Period: Devonian
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Late
International Age: Famennian

Stratigraphy

Comblain-la-Tour Formation

Provenance

Acquired by: Purchase/Trade

Dimensions

Length: 8 cm

Location

Poulseur (District)
Comblain-au-Pont
Province de Liège
Belgium

• archaeopteris
• callixylon
• devonian
• famennian
• palaeopteris
• poulseur
• tff-oilshale-pfl2669

Comments

Taxonomy from Fossilworks.org.
Synonym: Palaeopteris Schimper 1869.
The fossil wood known as Callixylon and the leaves known as Archaeopteris are actually part of the same plant.
Diagnosis for Archaeopteris from Anderson et al. 1995, p. 310: “The sterile branching systems bear leaves attached either directly to the penultimate branch or to the ultimate branch. The leaves which flare from a narrow base become flabellate and rounded distally, and vary from nearly entire to deeply dissected (Beck, 1981: 199). The present collection fits more into the dissected end of the range. The fertile -branching systems produced ultimate fertile branches bearing leaves on the adaxial surface of which were borne sporangia and on occasion, basal and/or apical leaves which functioned primarily as photosynthetic organs. The new fertile material also bears sporangia on the adaxial surface of the leaves of the ultimate fertile branches and furthermore a few leaves also occur directly on the branch.”
Line drawing of Archaeopteris from Beck 1962, p. 374:

References:
Beck, CB (1960). "The identity of Archaeopteris and Callixylon". Brittonia. 12 (4): 351–368. doi:10.2307/2805124.
Beck, CB (1962). "Reconstructions of Archaeopteris, and further consideration of its phylogenetic position". American Journal of Botany. 49 (4): 373–382. doi:10.1002/j.1537-2197.1962.tb14953.x. hdl:2027.42/141981. JSTOR 2439077.
Beck, CB (1981). Archaeopteris and its role in vascular plant evolution. In: Niklas KJ, ed. Paleoebotany, Paleoecology, and Evolution, Vol. 1. New York: Praeger, 193-230.
Anderson, H. M., Hiller, N. & Gess, R. W. (1995) Archaeopteris (Progymnospernopsida) from the Devonian of southern Africa.  Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 1995, I I7: 305 320. With 37 figures.