Search

We report here the occurrence of petrified wood resembling the modern dipterocarp Dryobalanops from the Neogene (late Miocene) of the Bengal Basin, India. We have determined the taxonomic position ...

In recent years,an increasing number of plant fossil leaves and petrified woods have been discovered from the Middle Jurassic Wanbao Formation in Moguqi Town of Inner Mongolia,NE China.Here,we describe a new species of Coniopteris moguqiensis sp.nov.preserved as a fragment with fertile and sterile pinnules.The sterile ultimate pinnules are elongate ovate with sphenopteriod type venation,and fertile pinnules are usually isolated,bipinnate at least with the sorus apical,elliptical,1 mm in diameter;sporangia are almost globular,100-150 μm in diameter,and the annulus is vertical.In situ spores are rounded-triangular in polar view,25-30 μm in diameter with sides straight and slightly convex;trilete,laesurae are thin and slightly straight;the exine surface is usually psilate under the light microscope but finely reticuloid sculptured on the proximal view under a scanning electronic microscope.The fern genus Coniopteris usually suggests a warm and humid environment,which is consistent with the palaeoclimatic conditions of petrified wood and megafossil plants.The new discovery further supplements the floral composition of the Wanbao Formation,providing new material for understanding the evolutionary trend and classification of Coniopteris.

A new fossil pine species from eastern Turkey is described and its botanical affinities are discussed. The sample was collected from the city of Kemaliye, Erzincan province, Turkey, and derives from the early-middle Miocene Divrigi formation. Transverse, tangential and radial sections were taken from the petrified wood, and its palaeoxylotomical features were investigated. Based on its anatomical features including idioblastic cells in rays a new fossil-species of the genus Lesbosoxylon Suss & Velitzelos was identified as Lesbosoxylon kemaliyensis Akkemik & Mantzouka, sp. nov. Diagnostic features of the new species are: Transition from earlywood to latewood mostly gradual; axial and radial resin canals with thin-walled epithelial cells present; latewood tracheids thin to thick walled; bordered pits on radial walls of tracheids 1-2(-3) seriate; crassulae common; rays heterocellular, uniseriate, partly biseriate; uniseriate rays up to 27 cells high; fusiform rays up to 30 cells high; axial parenchyma occasionally present; ray tracheids 2-3 rows; cell walls of ray tracheids smooth; cross-field pitting pinoid, 1-2(-6) pits per cross-field. Detailed investigation of the botanical affinities of the new fossil wood suggested that the most closely related modern species is Pinus canariensis C. Sm in Buch, a relict species from the Canary Islands.

A FEW of the existing publications on Egyptian fossil plants provide special aids to identifying fossil wood remains. Two dichotomous keys to the angiosperm petrified wood species reported to date from the Egyptian strata are presented here to facilitate the tentative identification of angiosperm fossil wood specimens. The first key includes 19 species of Palmoxylon which is the morphogenus for the petrified palm stem that is the common representative of monocotyledones (Arecaceae) in the Egyptian fossil flora and can be identified to the species level. The second key contains 46 species of dicotyledonous petrified wood of different families reported in the literature from different ages and locations in Egypt. These keys would benefit palaeobotanists who might find the literature on Egyptian fossil wood not easily accessible.

Conifer remains including petrified wood resembling Sequoia, and leafy shoots and seed cone scales of Glyptostrobus (Cupressaceae s.l.) were found in the late Paleocene Fort Union Formation (Tongue River Member) in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, northwestern USA. These findings indicate either a wider distribution of both Sequoia and Glyptostrobus in the late Paleocene compared with narrow habitat of modern genera, or possibly that Glyptostrobus-like cones were borne on trees with wood resembling that of Sequoia. The well-preserved wood is assigned to the new species Sequoioxylon carneyvillense sp. n. while the cone fragments and foliage are assigned to Glyptostrobus europaeus (Brongniart) Unger. Wood anatomical features of extant cupressaceous genera including Glyptostrobus, Metasequoia, Sequoia, Sequoiadendron and Taxodium were studied to provide more information for the identification of fossils.

Silicified wood preserved in the Güdül fossil forest site in the Galatian Volcanic Province (GVP) near Ankara in Central Anatolia is described. The material comprises six petrified wood samples that date from early to middle Miocene. The woods have very low rays (2–5 cells high), bordered tracheidal pitting (9–10 μm), pinoid cross-field pits and very thin, unpitted, smooth walls of axial parenchyma and rays. This combination of characters indicates affinity to the fossil-genus Glyptostroboxylon. The presence of this wood genus suggests that the local environment was either riparian or wetland forest.

Petrified wood is important evidence of forest type and past climate. Studies from mainly the Neogene of Turkey described many fossil woods, and revealed valuable information about the paleoenvironment structure and climate. This is the first occurrence of plant macrofossils belonging to the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum, a crucial period in Earth's history, found in Turkey. The purpose of the present study is to investigate, for the first time, the Middle Eocene Climate Optimum of Turkey through the first identification of two paleoxylotomical findings of Lutetian age from Central-North Turkey. After working on the thin wood sections, a new fossil genus of Lauraceae, Actinodaphnoxylon gen. nov. was described with a type species of Actinodaphnoxylon zileensis sp. nov. Another coniferous specimen was described as Pinuxylon cf. P. tarnocziense. These species indicate the presence of warm, humid rainforest and lower mountain forest 40–41 million years ago in the middle Black Sea region (Tokat-Zile) of North-Central Turkey.

The Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota, one of the most important Mesozoic lagerstatten in East Asia, is especially well-known for occurrences of fossil feathered dinosaurs and early angiosperms. However, the terrestrial biodiversity, especially the fossil wood record, is poorly known. In this study, several structurally preserved coniferous wood specimens from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation are investigated, based on collections from the Heichengzi Basin in Beipiao of western Liaoning, Northeast China. Four species referred to four genera of fossil wood are described, including Taxodioxylon heichengziense sp. nov., Thujoxylon beipiaoense sp. nov., Sciadopityoxylon liaoningense Ding and Protocedroxylon shengjinbeigouense sp. nov. These new records enlarge the fossil wood diversity of the Yixian Formation up to 10 species in 9 genera, and provide further insights into the forest vegetation composition of the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota. Systematic analysis of the floral constitution indicates that the petrified forests of the Yixian Formation are dominated by conifers, represented by Araucariaceae, Podocarpaceae, Sciadopityaceae, Pinaceae and Cupressaceae in the western Liaoning region. Palaeoclimatical analysis of the fossil wood assemblage implies that the western Liaoning region was dominated by a cool temperate, wet and seasonal climate with variable interannual water supply in the western Liaoning region during the Early Cretaceous.

Plant fossils from the volcano-clastic marine deposits of the Coniacian Hidden Lake Formation of James Ross Island in Antarctica are described based on their macromorphology. Stratigraphic positions of fossiliferous horizons and details of the lithostratigraphic situation of the middle part of the Hidden Lake Formation are published for the first time. The flora consists primarily of leaf impressions and petrified wood. There are also small amounts of mesofossils, dispersed cuticles and charcoalified wood. The megafossils typically occur fragmented, underpinning their allochtonous origin. The plants are described in systematical order. This contribution in contrast to earlier observations reports a high diversity of pteridophytes (11 taxa) and conifers (6 taxa). Angiosperms representing families Nothofagaceae, Atherospermataceae, probably Lauraceae and Sterculiaceae are the most abundant and common plant groups of the flora (12 taxa). The presence of the tropical fern family Marattiaceae and rarity of the genus Nothofagus are of interest, arguing for the prevalence of a warm temperate to tropical humid climate during the Coniacian in this part of Antarctica.

The Lower Cretaceous Guantou Formation is known as an important horizon for the Cretaceous petrified woods in southern China. Though abundant Cretaceous wood remains have been found in this formation, only one species has been recognized. A new coniferous wood, Brachyoxylon zhejiangense sp. nov. is described from the Lower Cretaceous Guantou Formation in Xinchang of Zhejiang Province, southeastern China. Anatomically, the new species is characterized by obscure annual rings, mixed type of radial pitting, araucarioid cross-field pits and uniseriate xylem rays. The finding of Brachyoxylon zhejiangense sp. nov. represents the first well-defined record of Brachyoxylon in southeastern China, and enriches the diversity of the Early Cretaceous petrified wood in southern China. Additionally, the new finding sheds new light on further understanding the floral composition, especially the forest vegetation type of the southern phytoprovince in the late Early Cretaceous. Diverse compressed leaf fossils of Cheirolepidiaceae have been described from the Guantou Formation in the fossil locality of the present petrified wood. The co-occurrence of Brachyoxylon zhejiangense sp. nov. and those cheirolepidiaceous leaf fossils provide additional evidences to support that Brachyoxylon may be systematically related to the Cheirolepidiaceae.

A silicified wood, Welkoetoxylon multiseriatum, gen. et sp. nov., is described from the late Early Eocene Green River Formation of southwestern Wyoming. The combination of features observed in W. multiseriatum, including latex tubes (laticifers) in the rays and abundant sheath cells, indicates affinities with the Moraceae. This is the first report of fossil moraceous wood from the Eocene of the western interior of the U.S.A. and it provides reliable evidence for the Paleogene occurrence of Moraceae in this region. The indistinct growth rings of this fossil indicate this tree did not experience a distinct dormant season.

The Naturkunde-Museum Coburg was founded in 1844 by Duke Ernst II of Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha and Prince Consort Albert as ‘Herzogliches Naturaliencabinet’. The present museum building has 4800 m2 of usable floor space, with 2200 m2 for exhibitions, including 13 halls with the following fields: geology, animals of Central Europe and North America, archaeology, ethnology, and museums history. The paleontological collections comprise hundreds of thousands of fossils. About a third of the fossils are from the Jurassic, most of them from the Franconian and Swabian Albs. This is followed by the Triassic (a quarter) with specimens from the wider surroundings of Coburg. The Palaeozoic as well as Cretaceous and Cenozoic are only minor collection parts with 10% each. Important collections are those of Duke Franz Friedrich Anton (1750–1806), including Triassic fish (Semionotus), and petrified wood (Dadoxylon) from the Keuper Group of Coburg and the Reinecke collection (1818) with the type material of Leioceras opalinum etc.

petrified wood resembling modern wood of Terminalia(Combretaceae) is described from the Oligocene of the CairoPetrified Forest, Egypt. On the bases of xylotomicalhomologies, the fossil wood is attributed to Terminalioxylonedwardsii. A summary is given on Terminalioxylon andCombretaceae, with inferences on palaeoclimate.

Fossil wood is the naturally preserved remain of the secondary xylem of plants that lived before the Holocene epoch. Typically, fossil wood is preserved as coalified or petrified and rarely as mummified tissue. The process of fossilization is very complex and it is still unknown why in the same fossil record, wood can be found in different fossilisation forms. In 2007, a fossil forest was found in the Bukkabrany open-pit coal mine in Hungary. The non-petrified forest is estimated to be 7 million years old (Miocene epoch) and its trees were found standing in an upright position. This fossil assemblage is exceptionally rare because wood has been preserved as soft waterlogged tissue. This study aimed to investigate this remarkable way of fossil wood preservation, by examining its chemistry with C-13 CPMAS NMR and its morphology with light and electron microscopy. For comparison reasons, a petrified wood trunk from the Oligocene epoch (30 Myr) found in 2001 at Porrentruy region in Switzerland and two fresh wood samples of the modern equivalents of the Miocene sample were also examined. The results obtained showed that the outstanding preservation state of the Miocene fossil is not owed to petrification or coalification. Mummification is a potential mechanism that could explain Bukkabrany trunks' condition, however this fossilisation process is not well studied and therefore this hypothesis needs to be further investigated. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Over 1900 petrified wood specimens were collected from six localities spanning the Eocene to Miocene along a northeast transect parallel to the dip of the Payne Cliffs Formation and Western Cascades Group in southwestern Oregon. This study also presents new 40Ar/39Ar plateau age data for Cenozoic deposits in southern Oregon. Lower to Middle Eocene deposits yielded 305 specimens of petrified wood from sandstones and conglomerates of the basal part of the Payne Cliffs Formation with only 6% of dicotyledons exhibiting distinct growth rings and none having ring porous or semi-ring porous wood. Middle Eocene exposures just stratigraphically above the first locality produced 278 specimens from the lower to the middle part of the Payne Cliffs Formation, with 66% of the dicotyledons exhibiting distinct growth rings. Two specimens of Palmoxylon were also collected from sediments at this locality. An Upper Eocene exposure produced 792 petrified wood specimens from volcaniclastic sediments with 88% of the dicotyledons exhibiting distinct growth rings. Sediments at this locality also produced one specimen of Cibotium oregonensis (Oregon tree fern) and several specimens of Palmoxylon. Middle Oligocene deposits yielded 218 petrified wood specimens from volcaniclastic sediments of the middle part of the Western Cascades Group with 97% of the dicotyledons exhibiting distinct growth rings. An Upper Oligocene exposure yielded 254 specimens from volcaniclastic sediments of the upper part of the Western Cascades Group with all dicotyledons exhibiting distinct growth rings and 59% having ring porous or semi-ring porous wood. Further, this study establishes a 40Ar/39Ar plateau age date of 24.09 ± 0.24 Ma from plagioclase crystals in a tuffaceous sandy to pebbly siltstone at this locality. Finally, Lower Miocene rocks yielded 101 specimens, including 20 dicotyledons, of which 70% were ring porous or semi-ring porous, with most specimens consisting of gymnosperms. The increase over time in the percentages of dicotyledon specimens with distinct growth rings and with ring porous and semi-ring porous wood from this study suggests an overall climatic shift from tropical (Early Eocene) to cool temperate (Early Miocene) in southwestern Oregon. These results are consistent with a similar climatic shift evidenced by paleoecological reconstructions for the Eocene to Miocene of the John Day Fossil Beds in central Oregon.

This work is comprised of anatomical study of fossil wood collected from Chnji formation (72°22'E, 32°41'N) of Miocene age exposed at Chinji National Reservoir. The material consists of a single piece of petrified wood dark brown in colour. The three dimensional sections were prepared by ground thin section technique. Microscopic examination of the characters was compared with modern and fossil wood and found comparable with the family Leguminosae. The closest resemblance of our fossil wood is with the wood of Ougenia. This fossil wood shows close resemblance in respect of vessels, fibers, parenchyma and xylem rays character. Therefore it is considered as new species and it is named Ougenioxylon chienjiensis sp. nov. The specific epithet refers to Chinji formation to which fossil wood belongs.

La familia Fabaceae se encuentra entre las mejores representadas en el registro fósil del Cenozoico de Argentina y en particular de la Formación Ituzaingó. En el presente trabajo se describen cuatro tipos de leños permineralizados por silicificación y con caracteres afines a esta familia, Menendoxylon vasallensis Lutz, Anadenantheroxylon villaurquicense Brea, Aceñolaza y Zucol emend., Prosopisinoxylon americanum sp. nov. y Gleditsioxylon paramorphoides sp. nov. Se aportan dos nuevas especies fósiles y se enmienda la diagnosis de Anadenantheroxylon villaurquicense. Los ejemplares fueron hallados en los sedimentos fluviales de la Formación Ituzaingó (Plioceno–Pleistoceno), Entre Ríos, Argentina, y sólo han preservado la anatomía del xilema secundario. Se relacionan algunos caracteres anatómicos con la presencia de un clima seco y de estacionalidad. A partir de las características paleogeográficas y paleoecológicas de distribución de los géneros actuales más afines, se propone que, probablemente durante el lapso de tiempo que abarca esta formación, prosperó un ambiente heterogéneo caracterizado por presentar elementos arbóreos vinculados al Chaco, a bosques húmedos o riparios y, en particular, a los Bosques Secos Estacionales Neotropicales (BSEN). La presencia de los fósiles estudiados en la Formación Ituzaingó (Plioceno–Pleistoceno) en el extremo más austral de la Cuenca del Paraná, muestra una rica flora vinculada a los BSEN mucho más al sur de su distribución actual, avalando la hipótesis de que tuvieron una extensión mayor en el continente sudamericano durante el Cenozoico tardío. The family Fabaceae is among the best represented in the fossil record of the Cenozoic of Argentina and in particular of the Ituzaingó Formation. This paper describes four types of permineralized by silicification woods related to this family, Menendoxylon vasallensis Lutz, Anadenantheroxylon villaurquicense Brea, Aceñolaza y Zucol emend., Prosopisinoxylon americanum sp. nov. and Gleditsioxylon paramorphoides sp. nov. Two new fossil species were recognized and the diagnosis of Anadenantheroxylon villaurquicense was amended. The specimens were found in the Ituzaingó Formation (Pliocene–Pleistocene), Entre Rios, Argentina, and have only preserved the anatomy of secondary xylem. Some anatomical features were related with the presence of a seasonal and dry climate. From paleogeographic and paleoecological features of distribution of most related extant genera, it is proposed that during the Pliocene–Pleistocene developed a heterogeneous environment characterized by having arboreal elements linked to Chaco, riparian and component of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests (SDTF). The presence of the studied fossil wood in the Ituzaingó Formation (Pliocene–Pleis- tocene) in the Paraná Basin shows a rich flora linked to SDTF southermost of its current distribution, supporting the hypothesis that had a greater extent in South American continent during the late Cenozoic. Fil: Franco, María Jimena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; Argentina; Fil: Brea, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; Argentina; Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos; Argentina

Three typical plant taxa from the fossil assemblage of the 290-million-year-old Chemnitz Petrified Forest (Zeisigwald Tuff Horizon, Leukersdorf Formation) were studied with regard to the microstructure of the petrifactions: samples of the tree fern Psaronius sp., the seed fern Medullosa stellata, and the gymnosperm Dadoxylon sp. The plant’s tissues are anatomically preserved by silica exhibiting different crystalline order and by other mineralisations. Specimens were studied by means of electron backscatter imaging and electron backscatter diffraction in a scanning electron microscope. The cell walls were largely preserved by quartz crystals, the cell lumina by cryptocrystalline silica. The former organisation and chemical composition of the vascular tissue are mirrored by varying grain formation and grain size. Results are discussed in terms of extant xylem cell wall organisation showing highly hydrophilic cellulose and hemicellulose cross-linked by hydrophobic lignin. The effect of polar and non-polar wood components on the precipitation of silica from aqueous solution and on the formation of crystals is convincing, and the reported results provide a better understanding of how silica replaced organic matter during the petrifaction process.

Eleven fossil woods belonging to seven families are described from a petrified wood forest of Mizoram. This fossil assemblage is derived from sediments belonging to the Tipam Group considered to be Late Miocene–Early Pliocene in age. The modern counterparts of the identified taxa are: Gluta L., Mangifera L. (Anacardiaceae), Bursera Jacq. ex L. (Burseraceae), Terminalia L. (Combretaceae), Shorea Roxb. (Dipterocarpaceae), Cynometra Linn., Dalbergia L. f., Millettia Wight et Arn.–Pongamia Vent, Ormosia Jacks. (Fabaceae), Artocarpus Forst. (Moraceae) and Madhuca Gmelin. (Sapotaceae). The genus Dalbergia is described for the first time from India. The modern environmental tolerances of the above taxa indicate the existence of a tropical warm and humid climate in Mizoram during the depositional period. The reconstructed climate data using Coexistence Approach (CoA) based on palaeoflora database of Mosbrugger and Utescher, along with other published data sets indicates an MAT (mean annual temperature) of 26.1–27.7 °C, a mean temperature of the warmest month (WMT) of 25.4–28.1 °C, a mean temperature of the coldest month (CMT) of 25.6–26 °C, and a mean annual precipitation (MAP) of 3180–3263 mm. These climatic interpretations are congruent with the data obtained from the anatomical features of all the fossil taxa. As all the fossil taxa possess diffuse porous wood, they further indicate a tropical climate with little seasonality. The majority of the taxa in the fossil assemblage generally have large vessels and simple perforation plates which indicate high precipitation. The present study provides vital evidence of floral exchange or migration between India and southeast Asia.

Country-scale geological events of Neogene and Quaternary age are called neotectonism and so this is known as the neotectonic period in Turkey, where it was responsible for initiating and molding the present-day geomorphology of Anatolia. The neotectonism of the northwestern Anatolia (=western Pontides) are mainly represented by volcanic rocks called the Galatian Volcanic Complex (GVC) which consists of a series of andesites, basalts, and their pyroclastics. Rock sequences of the GVC indicate that volcanism took place abundantly in early and middle Miocene times as three separate phases intercalated by long-term fluviolacustrine environmental conditions. Therefore, the GVC consists of not only volcanics but also volcano sedimentary and pure sedimentary units. It blankets the various rock units from late Palaeozoic to Oligocene in age (=the Anatolian continent, substratum). As a result, rock units of the substratum here and the GVC together represent the whole record of the geological past of the western Pontides. Meantime, this region has been watched daily by thousands of travelers due to presence of highways, bringing a very colorful landscape with many erosional features to the public’s attention. In 2011, a 2,000 km2 part of the Galatian Volcanic Complex was registered as a geoconservation area called the Kizilcahamam–Camlidere Geopark Project by the authorized Turkish institutions. The general geology of the area and three geosites are introduced here. These geosites include (a) a petrified forest, (b) columnar basalts, and (c) a lacustrine sequence with leaf, fish, and insect fossils. These three geosites are the best representatives for demonstrating the Miocene environmental circumstances and sedimentary responses to a long-term, large-scale volcanism during the neotectonic period.

In 2005, archaeological excavations were undertaken in a single shell midden at a late prehistoric Irene phase (circa A.D. 1380) site on Ossabaw Island, Georgia. The excavations were designed specifically to collect information on the fabrication of shell beads and other shell ornaments. A considerable amount of stone was recovered, almost all of which is petrified wood used specifically in the production of “microdrills” for perforating shell beads. Also recovered were large quantities of fragmented knobbed whelk (Busycon carica), the principal raw material used for shell beads, as well as examples of shell beads in all stages of manufacture. The excavations of this midden, designated the Bead Maker’s Midden, produced abundant information bearing on shellworking technology, including the full range of tools and raw materials used and the sequences involved in the production of shell beads. Replication experiments were conducted to validate the archaeological findings. The collected data provide d...

Among the hosts of amateur fossil collectors, very few attain the status of “world authority” or “living legends.” But this year’s Strimple Award winner, Mr. Samuel J. Ciurca, Jr., deserves both of these titles. Google eurypterids and you will find an image of a wiry man up to his knees in water, hauling a “living eurypterid” from the sea: meet Sam Ciurca, posing with a cleverly crafted model of one of the largest eurypterids, he discovered, a 1.3 m Pterygotus . I have known of Sam for nearly four decades. I got to know him quite well when I began teaching at the University of Rochester and I am still working with him to this day. Indeed, in some ways he was already mentoring students when I arrived at Rochester. My first Master’s student, Richard Hamell (who did a study of the famed eurypterid-bearing upper Silurian Bertie Dolostone), was a disciple of Mr. Ciurca, who, even then, was nicknamed “Sam the eurypterid man.” At the time, Sam worked as a chemist for the Eastman Kodak Company, but his true passion was field study of eurypterid beds. Sam began his geological pursuits as a teenager in the early 1960s with initial interests in minerals and petrified wood. Sam started to document and disseminate his findings early on: he wrote an article on celestite in upper Silurian units in 1962, and even had a “petrified wood museum” for public view. It …

Fossil plants from Late Cretaceous strata (Hidden Lake Formation and Santa Marta Formation) of James Ross Basin exposed in the northern part of the James Ross Island are preliminary described. Both formations contain plant mega fossils, petrified wood, and charcoalified mesofossils. Fossil plants from the Hidden Lake Formation are represented by leaf impressions of pteridophytes (Microphyllopteris, Delosorus, Lygodium), conifers (Elatocladus, Brachyphyllum, Pagiophyllum, Araucaria, Podozamites vel Lindleycladus), Bennettitales vel Cycadales (Zamites vel Dioonites sp.) and angiosperms (Cinnamomoides, Dicotylophyllum ssp., Proteophyllum, Juglandi-phyllum vel Dicotylophyllum). Fossil wood can be attributed to the very broadly defined morphogenus Antarctoxylon Poole & Cantrill.

The early Cenozoic Chickaloon Formation is the main coal-bearing sequence in south-central Alaska. Coal and associated plant macrofossils are well exposed in the Eska, Premier, and Jonesville Coal Groups in the Wishbone Hill District. There is a striking variation in the degree and mode of preservation of fossil trees in a vertical sequence through these coal groups. We examined the wood taxonomy, mineralogy, and geochemistry to elucidate potential cause(s) for these differences. The wood anatomy indicates that the wood is all assignable to the Cupressaceae (Taxodiaceae s.str.) and assignable to the form genus Taxodioxylon Hartig emend. Gothan. However, we found no significant variation in the taxonomy of the wood between stratigraphic layers. The wood generally becomes better preserved in the Jonesville Coal Group. Wood from the stratigraphically lower Premier Coal Group exhibits greater plastic deformation and contains less well-preserved wood anatomical features. The wood from the overlying Jonesville Coal Group retains most of its original morphology, but has suffered from brittle fracture. The geochemistry and mineralogy of the wood follow a pattern that corresponds to the degree of preservation. The less well-preserved wood tends to have a higher concentration of iron carbonate minerals (e.g., siderite and ankerite), whereas the better preserved wood contains more calcium carbonate or silica. All evidence points to rapid permineralization of the original wood, although the least well-preserved wood shows evidence of greater organic matter decomposition than the better preserved wood. The wood taxonomy and mode of preservation of wood from the upper part of the Chickaloon Formation is similar to wood from coeval fossil forests that developed at higher (polar) paleolatitudes.

Published records of supposed Triassic bees' nests are based on trace fossils in silicified wood and in sandstone in Upper Triassic strata of the Chinle Group in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. A critical, firsthand restudy of these trace fossils indicates that they lack diagnostic features of bees' nests, such as cells with smooth linings and spiral closure caps. Indeed, many of the observations claimed to identify these traces as bees' nests cannot be replicated. Instead, the putative Triassic bees' nests can be classified as: 1. Clavate borings in petrified wood, somewhat similar to Teredolites; these borings preferentially penetrate heart-rot fungus (Polyporites) and are mostly likely larval chambers of wood-boring beetles. 2. Cylindrical, vertical burrows in sandstone assignable to Skolithos; these are almost certainly arthropod produced. The recognition that the Chinle Group trace fossils are not bees' nests eliminates them as evidence that decouples bee origins from the Cretaceous origin of angiosperms. The Triassic trace fossils in silicified wood are also a new and unique record of likely beetle borings in Triassic wood.

Kose, Nesibe/0000-0001-5766-0526 WOS: 000389114900004 This paper introduces two new Miocene fossil forest sites in northwest Turkey. Both sites lie at an altitude of 900 m close to the town of Seben in the province of Bolu. One locality is near the village of Hocas; the second lies 17 km to the northwest of the village of Kozyaka. The silicified wood represents lower parts of trunks that were felled by an eruption associated with volcanic activity in the Galatean Volcanic Province. The Hops site yielded a total of 64 samples (51 in situ and 13 ex situ). Eight in situ trunks have been identified as Salix L/Populus L, Palmae,Juniperus L, Liquidambar L and Quercus L (evergreen); ex situ Cedrus Trew., Picea Mill. and Acer L were found lying on the surface of the soil. The Kozyaka site yielded a total of 26 samples (six in situ, 20 ex situ) including Cedrus, Pinus L., Acer, Salix/Populus, evergreen Quercus and Ulmus L. Today in Turkey these genera grow in coastal locations across a narrow altitudinal range. Collating data found herein with evidence from previous studies suggests that during the early Miocene subtropical to warm temperate conditions prevailed that supported a lakeside vegetation at the Hops site and a more typical upland or mountainous zone assemblage around the Kozyaka site. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Ministry of Forest and Water Affairs; Research Fund of Istanbul UniversityIstanbul University [YOP-41738] The project Determination of Natural and Cultural Values and Development of Management Plan in the Seben Petrified Forest was undertaken by The Western Back Sea Forestry Research Institute (Bolu-Turkey) and supported by the Ministry of Forest and Water Affairs. We thank the Ministry, and Prof. Dr. Halim Mutlu, Nurullah Guller, Tuncay Guner and Ali Kaya for help in the field. Sample preparation was financed by the Research Fund of Istanbul University Project Number: YOP-41738. We are grateful to Tomas Denk for insightful comments whilst reviewing this paper.

Mesozoic to Cenozoic petrified woods are very rich and well preserved in the Khorat Plateau, Northeast Thailand, serving as remarkable material for investigations of tropical vegetation history, paleoclimatic evolution, and paleoclimatic evolution, and paleoenvironmental changes. Out recent field survey and investigations have defined about 50 species of fossil wood assigned to 19 genera and 11 families from Mesozoic to Cenozoic deposits in this region. These woods are ascribed to two groups, gymnosperms and angiosperms. Among them, about 20 species assigned to 7 genera and 5 families are the first reports of the taxa in Thailand. The fossil wood floras indicate that during the late Mesozoic period, the tropical conifer vegetation in Northeast Thailand was dominated by the family Araucariaceae. From the Miocene to Pleistocene, a tropical climate prevailed in this region with perhaps both deciduous and evergreen broadleaf forests comprising the vegetation. * Supported by the Major State Basic Rese...

Conifer wood types from the Upper Cretaceous Aguja and Javelina Formations and the Paleocene Black Peaks Formation of Big Bend National Park, Texas, are briefly described. The Big Bend conifer woods represent the largest assemblage of late Cretaceous conifer wood thus far described from the western interior of North America, and include samples with characteristics of the Araucariaceae and Cheirolepidiaceae, and Cupressaceae and Podocarpaceae. Cupressaceae/Podocarpaceae types of the Maastrichtian Javelina Formation have, on average, narrower rings than those of the Campanian Aguja Formation, consistent with the drier climate already proposed for the Javelina Formation. Angiosperm wood assemblages differ between the lower shale and upper shale members of the Aguja Formation, the Javelina Formation, and the Black Peaks, so do the conifer assemblages. The Big Bend conifer woods differ from those described from other western interior localities and document more variation in growth ring types than previously recognized for the whole of the northern hemisphere Late Cretaceous. The sizes of some logs and width of their growth rings suggest that some trees might have reached diameters of 1 m in approximately 80 years. Woods of the Cupressaceae/Podocarpaceae type show that the strategy of having juvenile wood with narrower tracheids and less distinct growth rings than in mature wood occurred in the Late Cretaceous. The incidence of compression wood in mature trunk wood is relatively high and may reflect either unstable substrates or frequent storms with high winds.

Descriptions, comparisons and affinities are given for the following Late Eocene–Early Miocene new, to Egypt, records: Palmoxylon compactum Sahni, Palmoxylon geometricum Sahni, Palmoxylon indicum Sahni, Palmoxylon pondicherriense Sahni, Palmoxylon pyriforme Sahni, Palmoxylon rewahense Sahni and Palmoxylon wadiai Sahni. Comments on the geologic ages of the compared Palmoxylon species, Indian Plate migration, palaeogeography and palaeoclimates are given.

Hundreds of silicified standing stumps have been discovered within a lignitic horizon in the middle of the Tienen Formation near Hoegaarden in northeast Belgium. The anatomical features of the fossil stumps, as those of the numerous silicified secondary xylem remains collected since the last century from this area, demonstrate that they all belong to a single taxodiaceous taxon. The stumps bear characteristics shared by Taxodioxylon gypsaceum and Glyptostroboxylon tenerum, but affinities with the latter appear closer. They are attributed to Glyptostroboxylon sp. Calibration of the sedimentological, stratigraphical and organic carbon isotope data reveals that these taxodiaceous fossil trees developed in a swampy lowland environment most probably during the Initial Eocene Thermal Maximum at ca. 55 Ma.

Lower Miocene silicified woods from south‐east Coates Bay, Hukatere Peninsula, Kaipara Harbour, northern New Zealand, were studied using thin sections and scanning electron microscope micrographs. Woods resembling Avicennia, Nothofagus, Leptospermum, Vitex, Quintinia, Eucalyptus, Dacrydium, and other gymnosperms are described. Pyroclastic flows carried woods from a podocarp‐broadleaved forest to mix with Avicennia (mangrove) growing in estuarine conditions close to the site of preservation. The wood was probably alive or recently dead when overwhelmed by a pyroclastic flow. Fossil termite faecal pellets are recorded from borings in Avicennia sp. The hexagonal silicified pellets are similar to those formed by the extant New Zealand dry wood termite Kalotermes brouni. Four other types of borings in the wood and traces of fungal breakdown are described.

Petrified (silicified) wood is found throughout the Miocene sub‐aerial volcanic sequence of Coromandel Peninsula. The identification of 160 samples, mostly collected from geological formations of known age, shows that over the period from 18–6 Ma the majority of trees within local forests were angiosperms, particularly southern beech (Nothofagus spp.) and casuanna (Casuarinaceae). A species close to modern Weinmanma and Lauretta was also relatively common. Conifers, including kauri (Agathis), celery pine (Phyllocladus), and other podocarps (Podocarpaceae), were subordinate. Only the stems of larger forest tree species, with more durable heartwood, appear to have been preserved, and angiosperm species in general are poorly represented. This is attributed largely to the selective destruction of smaller, mainly angiosperm, trees by fire, decay, and abrasion during transportation within volcanic flows. Charred wood does not seem to have been silicified. Analysis of the wood assemblage suggests there were some...

In der oligozanen vulkanischen Serie der westlichen Uferregion des Evros, dem Grenzflus zur Turkei (Thrakien, NW-Griechenland), wurde in jungster Zeit eine reiche Blattflora gefunden. Nach den Ergebnissen der bisherigen Untersuchungen dominiert die ausgestorbene Fagacee Eotrigonobalanus furcinervis (ROOSM.) WALTHER & KVACEK, die bisher in Griechenland unbekannt war. Begleitelemente sind Pinaceae, Cupressaceae (Tetraclinis salicornioides), Lauraceae, Alnus-Arten, Facher- und Fiederpalmen (Sabal, Phoenicites). Im fossilfuhrenden Horizont kommen verkieselte Holzer („Versteinerter Wald von Thrakien”) vor, die zumeist zu Lithocarpoxylon helladae PETRESCU und Quercoxylon intermedium PETRESCU & VELITZELOS gehoren und Stamme von Eotrigonobalanus furcinervis sein konnen. A diversified leaf flora has been recently recovered in the Oligocene volcanic series in Thrace (NE Greece) on the western side of the Evros river near the border to Turkey. According to the so far undertaken studies the flora is dominated by the extinct Fagaceae Eotrigonobalanus furcinervis (ROSSM.) WALTHER & KVACEK so far unknown from the Greece Tertiary. Associated elements are Pinaceae, Cupressaceae (Tetraclinis salicornioides), Lauraceae, Alnus sp., and palms (Sabal, Phoenicites). In the fossilbearing horizon petrified wood remains occur (“Forest of Thracien”) which mostly belong to Lithocarpoxylon helladae PETRESCU and Quercoxylon intermedium PETRESCU & VELITZELOS and may represent trunks of Eotrigonobalanus furcinervis.

Permineralized leaves of the Triassic podocarpaceous conifer Notophytum krauselii are described from the Fremouw Formation of Antarctica. The leaves are elongate and apetiolate with 8‐12 parallel veins. The adaxial epidermis consists of rows of rectangular to pentagonal cells; the abaxial epidermis is papillate. Longitudinally oriented stomata occur on both surfaces. An adaxial palisade layer is present and auxiliary sclereids are common in the mesophyll. The vascular bundles have a weakly defined sheath and are flanked by transfusion tracheids. Bundles in the basipetal area of the leaf are capped by sclerotic tissue and subtended by resin canals. These leaves are superficially similar to those of the extant podocarp genus Nageia, but probably represent a distinct acquisition of this leaf type within the Podocarpaceae. Notophytum leaves are similar to the common compression fossil Heidiphyllum elongatum and may be closely related or even conspecific. Evidence from Antarctica suggests that Heidiphyllum and the seed cone Telemachus were produced by the same plant, and may be closely related to several other early Mesozoic conifers with multiveined leaves. With the exception of permineralized and petrified wood, anatomically preserved plant fossils from the Triassic are exceedingly rare. This is unfortunate since it is widely accepted, based on the impression-compression fossil record, that the Triassic was a pivotal time in seed plant evolution. Some of the more dramatic examples of Triassic evolutionary radiations include the Bennettitales, the pteridosperm order Corystospermales, and the conifers. To date, the silicified peat deposits of the Fremouw Formation in Antarctica remain the only significant source of abundant, anatomically preserved Triassic plant fossils (Taylor, Taylor, and Collinson, 1989). Meyer-Berthaud and Taylor (1991) described Notophytum krauselii, a conifer stem with probable podocarpaceous affinities, from the silicified peat of Fremouw Peak. Leaf bases were well preserved. However, the distal parts of the leaf were represented only by short straps of tissue with poor internal preservation. Specimens with better preservation have recently been recognized, which demonstrate that the leaves of Notophytumwere elongate with up to 12 parallel veins, and are morphologically similar to the impression-compression taxon Heidiphyllum elongatus (Anderson, 1978). This is of particular significance since Heidiphyllum is among the most common Gondwanan Triassic fossil seed plants (Anderson and Anderson, 1983). In this paper we describe the leaves of Notophytum and consider the implications of this leaf type in understanding the early evolutionary history of the Podocarpaceae. We also provide the first information on Heidiphyllum cuticles from Antarctica, and present additional evidence suggesting that Heidiphyllum elonga

This paper describes six species of permineralized pinoid woods with resin canals from the Upper Cretaceous of Hokkaido, Japan and Saghalien:Piceoxylon transiens Shimakura,P. scleromedullosum Shimakura,P. macroporosum sp. nov.,P. takahashii sp. nov.,Pinuxylon microporosum Ogura andPinoxylon dakotense (Knowlton) Read (new to Saghalien and the Cretaceous).Piceoxylon macroporosum is characterized by large resin canals and rays without ray tracheids and in lacking tylosoids in resin canals.Piceoxylon takahashii, which resemblesP. scleromedullosum, is distinguished from the latter in having ray tracheids and nests of sclereids in pith.

Background: The pre-Jurassic record of terrestrial wood borings is poorly resolved, despite body fossil evidence of insect diversification among xylophilic clades starting in the late Paleozoic. Detailed analysis of borings in petrified wood provides direct evidence of wood utilization by invertebrate animals, which typically comprises feeding behaviors. Methodology/Principal Findings: We describe a U-shaped boring in petrified wood from the Late Triassic Chinle Formation of southern Utah that demonstrates a strong linkage between insect ontogeny and conifer wood resources. Xylokrypta durossi new ichnogenus and ichnospecies is a large excavation in wood that is backfilled with partially digested xylem, creating a secluded chamber. The tracemaker exited the chamber by way of a small vertical shaft. This sequence of behaviors is most consistent with the entrance of a larva followed by pupal quiescence and adult emergence — hallmarks of holometabolous insect ontogeny. Among the known body fossil record of Triassic insects, cupedid beetles (Coleoptera: Archostemata) are deemed the most plausible tracemakers of Xylokrypta, based on their body size and modern xylobiotic lifestyle. Conclusions/Significance: This oldest record of pupation in fossil wood provides an alternative interpretation to borings once regarded as evidence for Triassic bees. Instead Xylokrypta suggests that early archostematan beetles were leaders in exploiting wood substrates well before modern clades of xylophages arose in the late Mesozoic.

A permineralized specimen of Prototaxites Dawson collected from the Upper Devonian Cleveland Shale in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, is grayish black, resembling decorticated, petrified wood. Cellulose acetate peels and ground sections show only the medullary region, consisting of wide and narrow, densely crowded tubes, almost all running parallel, and some oblique, to the long axis of the specimen. The tubes are thick-walled, two-layered, with longitudinal furrowa on the inner surface, septate, showing successive branching, some branches anastomosing. Thin-walled septate branched filaments are present in the intertubal spaces and also cover the tubes; small areas of disintegrated tubes are present all over. Structural details of the tube wall observed with SEM, coupled with other characters, when compared with the structurally known species of Prototaxites, warrant a new name for the Cleveland specimen: P. clevelandensis sp. nov.

Three new species and one new genus of dicotyledonous woods,Chilechicoxylon microporosum gen. et sp. nov.,Proteoxylon patagonicum sp. nov. andLaurinium beilschmiedioides sp. nov., are described from the Tertiary (or in case of the first and last species from the Cretaceous-Tertiary) of Chile Chico, XI Region, Chile. Previously only wood of temperate species has been identified from Patagonia.Proteoxylon patagonicum (Proteaceae) is the first recorded tropical wood species from this geographical area.

Samples of different three-dimensionally preserved fossil plants ( Medullosa sp., Dadoxylon sp., Calamodendron striatum , Psaronius sp.) from the Lower Permian petrified forest of Chemnitz were examined with regard to their chemical composition and structural order. Raman spectroscopy and cathodoluminescence microscopy are shown to be powerful tools for such investigations. Silicified wood from Chemnitz–Hilbersdorf generally shows yellow cathodoluminescence (CL) of the cell walls and only weak yellowbrownish CL of the cell lumina. By time-resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy, a secondary mineralisation of hydrothermal origin was recognized. The latter is shown by short-lived blue CL at the cell walls extinguishing the yellow signal. Therefore, after the primary silicification step a secondary mineralisation step initiated by hydrothermal processes, seems to have taken place at probably slightly higher temperatures. The resulting silica matrix consists of phanerocrystalline and microcrystalline -quartz as well as microcrystalline moganite, both partially associated with iron oxides. Dadoxylon sp. is a prominent example for parallel permineralisation by -quartz and fluorspar, which is outstanding for the Chemnitz Petrified Forest. CL on this samples shows parallel silicification and fluoritisation, followed by infiltration of iron oxides. Permineralised samples show very low percentage of original organic remains. The seed fern Medullosa, for example, shows dispersed carbon, which is mainly restricted to the centres of the typical star-shaped vascular bundles. Raman spectroscopy revealed that these carbonaceous particles are of an anthracite structure. For experimental confirmation coal samples of different rank, especially anthracite from different geological times and localities, were studied by means of Raman spectroscopy. The remaining pith of the vascular bundles is white-coloured and consists of -quartz and moganite, whereas surrounding tracheides exhibit white and reddish coloured parts. The reddish parts, mainly found in the rays, additionally contain -Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 among the SiO2 polymorphs of -quartz and moganite. Sometimes iron oxides could have dominated permineralisation processes as the peak intensities of distinct parts of the samples suggest. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The land was "soft," still going through its creative process when the Navajo people first emerged into this world. They traveled from worlds beneath this one, entering into the Four Corners region, ready to establish a new life. Yet few things are ever as easy as they initially appear. Monsters also inhabited the land and destroyed the Dine, or People, at every opportunity. Many of these creatures assumed different forms and powers, such as Ye'iitsoh, a man-eating giant that had an uncanny ability to ferret out people in hiding; another monster killed with its eyes; another pushed unsuspecting travelers off cliffs; another, with large horns, skewered its victims, while others flew in the air, carried off their prey, and smashed them on the jagged peak of Shiprock, New Mexico. Into this chaos were born two supernatural twins, sons of Changing Woman and Sunbearer. The boys, Monster Slayer and Born for Water, eventually journeyed to their father who lived in the heavens and received from him arrows made of chain lightning, sheet lightning, sunbeam, and rainbow. They returned to the earth and set about ridding the People of these monsters. The remains of the vanquished foe still dot the landscape: Cabezon Peak, New Mexico, is the severed head of Ye'iitsoh; his dried blood the lava flow outside of Grants; and petrified wood his bones. Dinosaur tracks and fossils belonged to other creatures slain by the Twins. The sands of Red Mesa, Arizona, were stained with the blood of a monster that killed with its breath; the remains of other creatures are found in the igneous and sandstone rock formations that cover Navajo land. Each serves as a reminder of the battle once waged to free the People from destruction. Yet some of the monsters and their remains survived in different forms to eventually help the Navajo. For instance, flint came from the armor of Ye'iitsoh. From the flying monsters came the eagle that provides bones for whistles and feathers for ceremonies, the owl that prophesies of man's future, and small birds to beautify the earth. Tracking Bear Monster gave from his body yucca fruit for nourishment, soap from its roots, plus needle and thread from its spines.' The list goes on.

Dicotyledonous woods from the Upper Cretaceous of Southern IllinoiS. Five species of fossil dicotyledonous wood are described from an Upper Cretaceous (Maestrichtian; locality in Alexander County, IllinoiS. U.S. A.Paraquercimum cretaceum has structure similar to the Fagaceae (evergreen Oak-Lithocarpus) and Casuarinaceae and represents the earliest known occurrence of this structural type (large solitary pores and uniseriate and large multiseriale rays).Paraphyltanthoxyhin illirioisense and Icacinoxylon alternipunctata are species of genera represented at other Cretaceous and Early Tertiary localities In large diameter trees.Parabombacaceoxylon magniporosum has large diameter pores and scalariform perforation plates, a combination of characters that is extremely rare in the extant flora.Paraapocynaceoxylon barghoorni has a combination of characters represented in extant Apocynaceae. These five species lack growth rings, have high vulnerability indices (mean vessel diameter divided by mean number of vessels per square millimeter, and a relatively high proportion of ray parenchyma. They lack specialized wood anatomical characters, and a compilation of vessel element lengths in these and other Cretaceous woods indicates that short vessel elements (a derived character) were less frequent in the Cretaceous than in extant dicotyledonous trees.

Thirteen species of petrified wood have been assigned previously to the genus Paraphyllanthoxylon which was established by Bailey (1924) as representative of the section Phyllanthoideae of the family Euphorbiaceae. Madel (1962) considered the genus Paraphyllanthoxylon representative of only the Glochidion wood group of the section Phyllanthoideae. This necessitates the establishment of a new genus, Phyllanthoideoxylon , for fossil woods which have characteristics in common with several of the other wood groups in the section Phyllanthoideae. The thirteen previously identified species of Paraphyllanthoxylon are reviewed and compared with the characteristics of the genus. Eleven of these species are retained in Paraphyllanthoxylon Bailey (emend. Madel), one ( P. bangalamodense ) is assigned to Phyllanthoideoxylon nov. gen. and one ( P. keriense ) is transferred to Bridelioxylon Ramanujam.

Formation on the Colorado Plateau. It is compared with other species of Xenoxylon, with X. latiporosum being the closest. Xenoxylon morrisonense differs from X. latiporosum in its marked indentations, simple pits on the horizontal and tangential walls of ray cells, absence of crassulae, presence of wood parenchyma, and thin borders on podocarpoid type crossfield pits. The origin of the septa in the tracheids is summarized, and the possible affinity of Xenoxylon with the Podocarpaceae is considered. THE PETRIFIED WOOD considered in this report was collected from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation on the Colorado Plateau in southcentral Utah. The locality, near Clay Point, Garfield Co., Utah2, was shown to us by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hopkins of Hanksville, Utah. The site is relatively undisturbed and contains several wellpreserved specimens. Petrified woods are locally abundant in the Morrison Formation. Many of these woods are highly siliceous and variously

Described is a new species belonging to a new genus of petrified wood,Oguraxylon yubariense sp. nov. It exhibits characteristics of the Taxodiaceae in general anatomy and closely resemblesTaxodioxylon sequoianum andT. albertense. It is, however, unique in having tertiary spiral thickenings on the walls of the tracheids, which have never yet been found in any extent or extinct species of the family.

A collection of petrified wood from the Lower Pliocene Ogallala Formation in western Oklahoma was examined. All specimens appear to be of the same taxon and exhibit features of extant Robinia species. To date, four fossil wood species of Robinia have been described. The relationship of Robinioxylon zuriensis Falqui to Robinia is doubtful because of the lack of diagnostic critical features. The remaining three, Robinia alexanderi Webber, Robinia breweri Prakash, Barghoorn and Scott, and Robinioxylon zirkelii (Platen) Muller-Stoll and Madel do show affinity to Robinia and all have been noted as structurally similar to R. pseudoacacia . The Oklahoma woods and these three fossil species show considerable overlap in quantitative features and are identical in qualitative features. Examination of different sections (and specimens) of extant Robinia pseudoacacia wood reveals quantitative and qualitative variation similar to that found amongst the petrified woods. Robinia alexanderi , Webber, R. breweri Prakash, Barghoorn and Scott, R. zirkelii (Platen) Muller-Stoll and Madel, and the Oklahoma specimens are considered to be conspecific as the differences between these fossil wood species are no different from those accounted for by variation within a single living species, R. pseudoacacia .

Few Australian ichthyosaur remains have been found outside the Queensland Artesian Basin .. Near Darwin , N.T. poorly preserved in situ ichthyosaur fossils are relatively common in Upper Albian Beds of shore line character, often in association with fragments of petrified wood. One specimen of Ichthyosaur, recovered from a thin, shaley bed outcropping at the mouth of Rapid Creek near Nightcliff is complete enough to record Some overall structural and proportional details, but no taxonomically diagnostic elements were present. The indeterminate ichthyosaur material , resembling platypterygius australis in general proportions and vertebral morphology is presented as gen . et sp. indet.

This investigation identifies the abundant petrified wood found in the basal Diablo Member of the Palm Spring Formation, Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Three families of temperate hardwood trees are recognized from the fossil wood cell structure. The Lauraceae represented by Umbellularia , the Salicaceae with specimens of Populus and Salix , and the Juglandaceae represented by Juglans . A review of the paleontologic and paleomagnetic literature establishes the base of the Diablo Member at approximately 3.8 m.y.B.P. with continued deposition for 1.2 m.y. The unique paleobotanical assemblage found in the Diablo Member together with the floral ecology of present-day equivalents reflects a temperate climate with ocean influence and predominantly winter rainfall in this region during the Lower Pliocene Epoch.

About 200 specimens of petrified wood, predominantly root wood, from an Upper Miocene locality near Grover, Weld County, Colorado, were studied. Ten dicotyledons were distinguished, but it was possible to assign only three to an extant genus and/or family. They are Salix pawneensis sp. nov., Maloidoxylon coloradoense sp. nov., and M. galbreathii sp. nov. This represents the first description of fossil wood of Salix from the western United States. These petrified woods corroborate earlier determination of the presence of the Rosaceae and Salicaceae in the Late Tertiary of the High Plains.