Cladophlebis is an extinct form genus of fern, used to refer to Paleozoic and Mesozoic fern leaves that have "fern fronds with pinnules that are attached to the rachis, and have a median vein that runs to the apex of the pinnule, and veins from that are curved and dichotomise". By convention this genus is not used to refer to fossil ferns from the Cenozoic. Ferns with this morphology belong to several families, including Osmundaceae, Dicksoniaceae and Schizaeaceae.[1] Ferns with this morphology are common during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic in both the northern and southern hemispheres.[2]

Cladophlebis
Temporal range: Permian to Campanian
~279–70 Ma
Cladophlebis nebbensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Class:
Order:
Genus:
Cladophlebis

Brongniart 1849
Species

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Cladophlebis retallackii from the Late Triassic, Langloh Coal measures at Merrywood Colliery, south of Fingal Tasmania in the Peter Rubenach Museum, St Marys, Tasmania[3]

Species

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There were many species of Cladophlebis, including: C. akhtashensis, C. arctica, C. browniana, C. denticulata, C. dunberi, C. haiburnensis, C. heterophylla, C. hirta, C. impressa, C. kurtzi, C. lobifolia, C. nebbensis, C. patagonica, C. phlebopteris, C. porsildi, C. readi, C. remota, C. retallackii, C. roessertii, C. septentrionalis, C. simplicima, C. spectabilis, C. tenuis, C. wyomingensis, and C. yanschinii.

Distribution

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Fossils of Cladophlebis have been found in many locations around the world, among others in the Valle Alto Formation of Caldas and the Caballos Formation of Tolima, Colombia,[4] and the Winton Formation, Eromanga Basin, Queensland, Australia.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Cladophlebis – New Zealand's Mesozoic Weed". Mike Pole. 2014-06-22. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  2. ^ Cladophlebis at Fossilworks.org
  3. ^ Holmes, W. B. Keith (2001). "The Middle Triassic megafossil flora of the Basin Creek Formation, Nymboida Coal Measures, New South Wales, Australia. Part 2. Filicophyta". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 123: 39–87.
  4. ^ Monje-Dussán et al. 2016, p. 38.
  5. ^ McLoughlin, Drinnan & Rozefelds 1995.

Bibliography

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