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Possible Paleocene Montana Aquatic plant help needed


Plantguy

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So I was rooting again around in the garage and found a couple plates I had bought a few years back and never tracked down an ID for. Tentative provenance was Paleocene from Montana.

 

I found this article recently and was wondering if it could be one of the genera/sp described or one of the other genera mentioned in the discussion section.

Trapa, Trapago, Fortuna, Quereuxia. 

STOCKEY, R. A., AND G. W. ROTHWELL. 1997. The aquatic angiosperm Trapago angulata from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) St. Mary River Formation of southern Alberta. Int. J. Pl. Sci. 158: 83-94.

Can be found here: 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240563741_The_Aquatic_Angiosperm_Trapago_angulata_from_the_Upper_Cretaceous_Maastrichtian_St_Mary_River_Formation_of_Southern_Alberta

 

I also was looking at the USGS pub 375

https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0375/report.pdf

 

My plates have a number of leaflets and fragments with very little venation visible and in a pale gray and a light pink color in a very fine matrix.....Many of the leaflets have small teeth...

 

Plates: 

5ce1a1eb427e1_PossibleTrapagaplate2.thumb.jpg.3ed42558be0814fcf26353e904466a63.jpg5ce1a1ec67b4d_PossibleTrapagaplate.thumb.jpg.b764b121911c095bab35f02eed9943fe.jpg

Crenulations

5ce1a214cf7a0_PossibleTrapagaserrations.jpg.5138926bc154974f52db7f049faa92fa.jpg5ce1a21d20f7b_PossibleTrapagocrenulations.thumb.jpg.8e6fc3cb1fe43220c0e79ddc84fc33c3.jpg

5ce1a244371db_PossibleTrapagocrenulations3.thumb.jpg.7fa2e6ee40d4a76e769014147b0d380b.jpg

Leaflets and partial venation

5ce1a275337db_PossibleTrapagaleafletcloseup.thumb.jpg.cd198c987671452bc2229141712622d5.jpg

5ce1a2a27f24f_PossibleTrapagoMontana(2).thumb.jpg.9dfbbcefbcdbfab3d74b7798364816f7.jpg

5ce1a2a378c7b_PossibleTrapagoMontana.thumb.jpg.2e60b27a666f57600a1cbecaa8516a9d.jpg

Anyone have any expertise in these? Looks like the authors were indicating more study is needed in this area of aquatic plants--that was 20 years ago. 

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks! 

Regards, Chris 

 

 

Edited by Plantguy
Forgot the USGS info as well...dang....
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Those look like they could have inspired the old Japanese silk prints. Actually very pretty.

Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties.

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5 minutes ago, daves64 said:

Those look like they could have inspired the old Japanese silk prints. Actually very pretty.

Yes they do have a very cool and calming look to them. The symmetry is pretty neat as well..

 

From the USGS pub ref above.

5ce1a913edcdc_TrapaangulataplantfossilpossiblyfromMontana.jpg.287f98cda851534068bde0111e5bda3f.jpg

Regards, Chris 

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I can't help you Chris but what a pretty plate. The leaflets look like pink flowers. Definitely mother nature at work! :)

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There is a non-aquatic extant bush that has leaves similar (kind of pointy on the sides) to that but I don't know the name of it.

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:popcorn: John

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1 hour ago, JohnBrian said:

There is a non-aquatic extant bush that has leaves similar (kind of pointy on the sides) to that but I don't know the name of it.

Thanks! Yeah I should go back to square one and not assume aquatic plant as was proposed and start going thru some basic ID decision chains....I wish I could see some clear venation...maybe I need to try prepping some of these areas to see what comes up...I can see what I think looks like a very small gastropod  in one area and another plant like shape that almost looks like some type of frutification/seed...may be some clues in the stem attachments as well as other appendage forms. 

Regards, Chris 

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2 hours ago, Bronzviking said:

I can't help you Chris but what a pretty plate. The leaflets look like pink flowers. Definitely mother nature at work! :)

Thanks for the look and comments. Yes they are pretty nice specimens in spots. The whole Northwest US/Canada has some spectacular Cenozoic plant material. 

Regards, Chris 

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Hey Gang, I've been able to confirm an ID for these guys. Turns out they are Quereuxia.

I'm told that name Trapago applies, but the older name with priority for those leaves is Quereuxia

 

The reference explaining this: 

JOURNAL ARTICLE
On the Nomenclatural Status of the Morphogenera, Quereuxia and Trapago
Leo J. Hickey
Taxon
Vol. 50, No. 4 (Nov., 2001), pp. 1119-1124

Quereuxia Krysht. ex Baikovskaja is the correct name for a morphogenus of leaves and leaf 
rosettes belonging to an aquatic angiosperm of Late Cretaceous to Palaeocene age in North 
America and Eurasia and must be accepted instead of its illegitimate junior synonym, 
Trapago McIver & Basinger

 

Regards, Chris 

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4 hours ago, Plantguy said:

Hey Gang, I've been able to confirm an ID for these guys. Turns out they are Quereuxia.

I'm told that name Trapago applies, but the older name with priority for those leaves is Quereuxia

 

The reference explaining this: 

JOURNAL ARTICLE

On the Nomenclatural Status of the Morphogenera, Quereuxia and Trapago

Leo J. Hickey
Taxon
Vol. 50, No. 4 (Nov., 2001), pp. 1119-1124

Quereuxia Krysht. ex Baikovskaja is the correct name for a morphogenus of leaves and leaf 
rosettes belonging to an aquatic angiosperm of Late Cretaceous to Palaeocene age in North 
America and Eurasia and must be accepted instead of its illegitimate junior synonym, 
Trapago McIver & Basinger

 

Regards, Chris 

 It's so rewarding when you can pin an ID on a find!  Nice work, and very nice fossil, Chris. :)

 
12-2023TFFsig.png.193bff42034b9285e960cff49786ba4e.png
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Nice fossils and very glad you got your id. :)

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160-1.png.60b8b8c07f6fa194511f8b7cfb7cc190.png

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some of you may find this enlightening:

2000Aquatic_communities_r.pdf

 

Acta Palaeobot. 40(2): 139-151, 2000
Aquatic plant communities at the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary in north-eastern Russia
LENA B. GOLOVNEVA

 

coverichuycrimeseelpresvisualHD_100968336_01.jpg

 

 

 

 

coverichuycrimefgseelpresvisualHD_100968336_01.jpg

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alternatively:

 

Kodrul, Krassilov 2009 - Reproductive structures associated with Cobbania.pdf

Acta Palaeobotanica 49(2): 233–251, 2009
Reproductive structures associated with Cobbania, a fl oating monocot from the Late Cretaceous of the Amur Region,
Russian Far East
VALENTIN KRASSILOV  and TATYANA KODRUL

or:

 

ajb.94.4.609.pdf

as posted in Fruitbat's Library(Stockey et al)

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6 hours ago, Plantguy said:

Hey Gang, I've been able to confirm an ID for these guys. Turns out they are Quereuxia.

I'm told that name Trapago applies, but the older name with priority for those leaves is Quereuxia

 

The reference explaining this: 

JOURNAL ARTICLE

On the Nomenclatural Status of the Morphogenera, Quereuxia and Trapago

Leo J. Hickey
Taxon
Vol. 50, No. 4 (Nov., 2001), pp. 1119-1124

Quereuxia Krysht. ex Baikovskaja is the correct name for a morphogenus of leaves and leaf 
rosettes belonging to an aquatic angiosperm of Late Cretaceous to Palaeocene age in North 
America and Eurasia and must be accepted instead of its illegitimate junior synonym, 
Trapago McIver & Basinger

 

Regards, Chris 

 

 

Thanks for this update! 

 

We have many of these labeled with Brown's combination: Trapa angulata

Manchester also shuffled numerous species and confirms Hickey 2001:

 

Manchester, S.R. 2014
Revisions to Roland Brown's North American Paleocene flora.
Sborník Národního muzea v Praze - Řada B, 70(3-4):153-210  PDF LINK
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image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

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Thanks for the update. I like flora more than fauna. 

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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18 hours ago, old bones said:

 It's so rewarding when you can pin an ID on a find!  Nice work, and very nice fossil, Chris. :)

 

18 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Nice fossils and very glad you got your id. :)

 

17 hours ago, piranha said:

 

 

Thanks for this update! 

 

We have many of these labeled with Brown's combination: Trapa angulata

Manchester also shuffled numerous species and confirms Hickey 2001:

 

Manchester, S.R. 2014
Revisions to Roland Brown's North American Paleocene flora.
Sborník Národního muzea v Praze - Řada B, 70(3-4):153-210  PDF LINK

 

13 hours ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

Thanks for the update. I like flora more than fauna. 

 

Thanks all for the looks/comments. I enjoy trying to find an answer/ID to satisfy this crazy curiosity thing I have and the resultant many many questions---usually its an impossible task but with you alls and with many of those in academia's patience and help I find most answers/ID's! Thank you! Special Kudos go out to all of the Florida Museum of Natural History folks--most notable Drs. Manchester, Portell and Hulbert for their help! There are still plenty of those unknown poorly preserved unidentifiable fragments that still haunt me that are in my garage and in your collections! Its still alot of fun!!

 

Regards, Chris 

 

 

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19 hours ago, doushantuo said:

some of you may find this enlightening:

2000Aquatic_communities_r.pdf

 

Acta Palaeobot. 40(2): 139-151, 2000
Aquatic plant communities at the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary in north-eastern Russia
LENA B. GOLOVNEVA

 

coverichuycrimeseelpresvisualHD_100968336_01.jpg

 

 

 

 

coverichuycrimefgseelpresvisualHD_100968336_01.jpg

Thanks. Looks to be a widely dispersed plant...another I was unaware of....cool. 

Regards, Chris 

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