New Members Eloise Posted May 8, 2022 New Members Share Posted May 8, 2022 (edited) Hi everyone, I've been working on a project about fossilised megaspores found in a Namurian (Late Carboniferous) coal seam in the UK. There are very few papers and photographs of megaspores so classification is a challenge! I have a couple of my unidentified specimens here that have been extracted from the coal, and was wondering if anyone could help me out? Light microscope images are attatched. The maximum diameter of the compressed spore is 1125 µm for Species A, and 1225 µm for Species B. I believe that the depositional environment was a Late Carboniferous swamp forest, dominated by arborescent lycopsids. All the best, Eloise Edited May 8, 2022 by Eloise spelling errors 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 Oooo! That's definitely a question for specialists. Now I'm really curious to see who responds here. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members Eloise Posted May 8, 2022 Author New Members Share Posted May 8, 2022 11 minutes ago, Ludwigia said: Oooo! That's definitely a question for specialists. Now I'm really curious to see who responds here. Me too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.cheese Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 I have followed your thread and will now sit back and wait to learn something! Looks fascinating by the way! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 @paleoflor ? @Plantguy ? Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleoflor Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 Not really my cup of tea, as I mainly collect plant macrofossils. The various publications of S.J. Dijkstra might be of help here, though. Attached herewith a photo of Triletes grannulispinosus as figured on Plate I of S.J. Dijkstra and P. Piérart (1957) Lower Carboniferous megaspores from the Moscow Basin. 4 Searching for green in the dark grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleoflor Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 From Van Wijhe et al. (1974) The Westphalian of the Netherlands with special reference to miospore assemblages 4 Searching for green in the dark grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleoflor Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 Went through a couple more of Dijkstra's publications. Think you'll need data on the internal structure of your megaspores, in order to differentiate different genera that have "frills" which look superficially similar... 3 Searching for green in the dark grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted May 9, 2022 Share Posted May 9, 2022 Out of my element as well. This article might offer some help on some Namurian but I dont have access to it...maybe you will have better luck thru your school library function locating the pub/Research paper Namurian (Arnsbergian/Chokierian) megaspore assemblages from northeast England Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology Volume 94, Issues 3–4, December 1996, Pages 211-230 N.TurneraE.Spinnerb a British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UKb Centre for Palynological Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK Received 4 July 1995, Accepted 16 April 1996, Available online 15 June 1998. Abstract Megaspore assemblages are reported for the first time from clastic sediments of late Arnsbergian/Chokierian age in northern England. Palaeoecological reconstruction using the megaspores and selected miospores indicates lycopod-dominated floral communities inhabiting wet and lowland forests bordering a braidplain environment. Conifers, plants of upland forests, are present sporadically. One new species, Cryptoletes? rugulatus Turner et Spinner, sp. nov., is described. The stratigraphic ranges of Velumousspora owensii, Setosiporites pseudoreticulatus and Lagenicula subpilosa are revised; they extend upward to the late Arnsbergian/Chokierian. Velumousspora owensii has potential as a biostratigraphic marker taxon for early Chokierian or older strata. The record of the genus Tuberculatisporites represents its oldest occurrence. Previously it has only been observed in late Namurian/Westphalian assemblages. Comparisons suggest that there are significant differences between Brigantian/Pendleian and Arnsbergian megaspore assemblages. Regards, Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleoflor Posted May 20, 2022 Share Posted May 20, 2022 @Eloise Have you made any progress with the identification of your megaspores? Searching for green in the dark grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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