| Abstract Detail
Paleobotany Hu, Shusheng [1]. New fossil plant assemblage from Late Triassic Chinle Formation, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. A large number of fossil plants were collected from the sediments likely belonging to the Jasper Forest Bed of the Sonsela Member in the Chinle Formation of the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. These specimens were collected during the Yale Peabody Museum funded Ginsberg expeditions from 2015 to 2017. These Late Triassic sediments, approximately 218 Ma, appear to represent a braided river system with unstable overbank areas and a less developed floodplain. Most of the plant fossils could be assigned to one of the seven following taxa: Equisetites bradyi, Equisetites sp., Phlebopteris smithii, Pagiophyllum sp., Zamites powelli, Williamsonia sp., and Pelourdea sp.. Additionally, the fossil assemblage includes unidentified “Pramelreuthia” like reproductive structures, cones, and seeds. The “Pramelreuthia” like reproductive structure bears four lanceolate bracts just below the stalks of synangia. The synangia individually attached to central axis by short stalks which arise with an angle of 30 to 90? to central axis and arrange helically. Synangia are pendant, with a “spur” like lanceolate appendage above the main body of synangia. The main body of the synangia is ovate to oval in lateral view and contain about 6-10 sporangia in each synangium. One type of the cones in the assemblage looks like Lycopsid cone. But its sporophyll has multiple veins. The leaves associated with this type cone also have multiple veins. The discovery of this new fossil plant assemblage has revealed that the plant diversity in Arizona during late Triassic is much more diverse than we originally thought.
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1 - Peabody Museum, 170 Whitney Ave, New Haven, CT, 06511, United States
Keywords:
fossil plants
assemblage
Late Triassic
Chinle Formation
Arizona.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 23, Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic Paleobotany
Location: 109/Mayo Civic Center
Date: Tuesday, July 24th, 2018
Time: 9:15 AM
Number: 23004
Abstract ID:874
Candidate for Awards:None |
