Gymnosperm trees from the Permian of Antarctica: An anatomically preserved trunk of Kaokoxylon sp

• Published in: Comptes Rendus Palevol
• Main Authors: Decombeix, Anne-Laure, Taylor, Edith L., Taylor, Thomas N.
• Other Authors: Equipe 2 " Architecture, Fonctionnement et Évolution des Plantes ", Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, University of Kansas Lawrence (KU)-University of Kansas Lawrence (KU), Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, University of Kansas Lawrence (KU)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2012
• Subjects: Antarctica; Permian; Kaokoxylon; Silicified trunk; Gymnosperm; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Buckley; Coalsack Bluff; Transantarctic Mountains; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://hal.science/halsde-00700842; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2011.10.002

ACL-12-13 International audience Anatomicallypreservedgymnosperm axes are relatively abundant in Permian localities of Antarctica, but their anatomy has rarely been studied in detail, which limits comparison with other Gondwanan morphotaxa. Here we describe a silicified trunk collected from the Upper Permian Buckley Formation at Coalsack Bluff, in the central Transantarctic Mountains. The trunk has a small heterogeneous pith approximately 4 mm in diameter containing conspicuous sclerotic nests, endarch primary xylem maturation, paired leaf traces, and secondary xylem of the Araucarioxylon type. Comparison with contemporaneous gymnosperm axes from Antarctica indicates that the Coalsack Bluff trunk represents a new Permian morphotaxon for the region. The anatomical characters of the pith and secondary xylem suggest an affinity with the genus Kaokoxylon Kräusel, previously reported from Permian and Triassic localities of Southern Africa, South America, India, and Australia.