Abstract Detail

Paleobotanical Section

Ryberg, Patricia [1], Taylor, Edith [2], Taylor, Thomas [3].

Glossopterid diversity between Transantarctic Sedimentary Basins.

The glossopterids are a group of plants that dominated the Gondwanan continent during the Permian Period (299–251 Ma). The majority of the diversity in the glossopterids is known from ovulate organs, some of which are found across all of Gondwana, such as Scutum, while some genera are found in certain geographic regions, such as Cometia. In Antarctica, the focus of study on the glossopterids has been on indentifying the different genera of megasporophylls to determine how diverse the group was on the continent. With the amount of data that has been collected, comparisons between sedimentary basins can now be conducted. The two sedimentary basins in the Transantarctic Mountains with Permian outcrops are the central Transantarctic Mountains and Victoria Land. The Permian deposits in the central Transantarctic Mountains are part of the Buckley Formation and have provided both permineralized and impression/compression specimens of glossopterid vegetative and reproductive material. Impression and silicified ovulate organs have been described (e.g., Plumsteadia, Lakkosia, Lonchiphyllum, Scutum) as well as the first anatomically preserved pollen cone (Eretmonia macloughlinii). In southern Victoria Land, Permian glossopterid fossils are known from the Weller Coal Measures of the Victoria Group. To date, Plumsteadia is the only ovulate organ that is abundant in these coal measures. However, during the 2012–2013 austral field season, field members in the Allan Hills found several new ovulate morphologies in impression material. These fossils provide some of the first evidence of glossopterid megasporophylls never before observed in Antarctica, such as Ottokaria and Cometia, whereas other fossils have morphologies distinctive from known genera and will increase the known diversity within the glossopterid clade. With the numerous genera now known from both basins, differences between these two sedimentary basins indicate the presence of localized diversity of the glossopterids across Antarctica.

Broader Impacts:

1 - Park University, Department of Natural & Physical Sciences, 8700 N.W. River Park Drive, Parkville, MO, 64152, USA
2 - University of Kansas, Department of Ecology And Evolutionary Biology, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Haworth Hall, Lawrence, KS, 66045-7600, USA
3 - University of Kansas, Department of Ecology And Evolutionary Biology, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Haworth Hall, Lawrence, KS, 66045-2106, USA

Keywords:
Glossopteris
Permian
Megasporophyll
central Transantarctic Mountains
southern Victoria Land.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 12
Location: Melrose/Riverside Hilton
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2013
Time: 4:15 PM
Number: 12011
Abstract ID:881
Candidate for Awards:None