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lOP T ER 9 INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF PALAEOBOTANY INTeRNATIONAL UNION Of BIOLOGfCAL SCIENCES -SECTION FDR PALAEOROTANY
Secretary: Or. M. C. BOULTER N. E. londan Potytoehn1c. RumfOrd Rarut. Prhidant: Prof. T. DELEVIJRYAS. USA
Vice Pr ... ldent.: Prof. E. BOUREAU. fRANCE London, £15 4lZ. England. Dr. S. ARCHANGEL.KY, ARGENTINA Dr . •. V. MEVEN, U •• R
lOP NEWS
MAY 1979
CONTENTS
lOP NEWS ......•...................... 1 REPORT OF RECENT MEETINGS .....•..... 3 FORTHCOMING HEETINGS ................. S NOMENCLATURE. ..•................•.... 6 j NTERPRETAT I ON OF Card I ~.! ....... 11 NEWS OF f'AlAEOBOTANISTS ............. 12 NEWS OF OTHER INSTITUTIONS .......... 13 BI BLIOGRAPMIES ...................... 15 "lUi PLiPLIUUIONS ..•...........•...•. 16 BOOK i\~ViE\oI5 ••.•.•..•.•..••••••.•••. 16
PLEASE MAIL NEWS AND CORRESPONDENCE TO YOUR REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE OR TO THE SECRETARY FOR THE NEXT (OCTOBER) NEWSLETTER NUMBER 10. The views expressed In the newsletter are those of Its correspondents and do not necessarily reflect the policy of lOP.
USE THE ATTACHED PINK APPENDIX SHEET TO REGISTER YOUR PAYMENT OF 1979 DUES. THE WHITE APPENDIX SHEET IS FOR REGISTRATION AT THE 1980 READING lOP CONFERENCE.
FIRST INTERNATIONAL PALAEOBOTANICAL CONFERENCE, ENGLAND 1980 lOP Is sponsoring Its first International conference next year, for what is hoped to become a regular event between the lOP sessions at each International Botanical Congress. This time, advantage ;5 being taken of the assembly of palaeobotanists at the Cambridge lep InternatIonal Palynological Conference, so the lOP meeting will lmn'edlately folio\-, that conference. The palaeobotanical meeting wi II be hosted by the Llnnean Society, the national body representing the int~re.ts of British palaeobotanlst •. The programme wi II Include field excursions and lecture ses.lons !n much the same style as that Initiated by the West German Arbeitskrels Joint meeting (Erstes Treffen Europalscher Palaobotanlker) held In 80nn and loIuppertal In April 1976.
! '):: s.J y
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1 r& (Jc: ,'as; c) t r ,-, "/ e 1 ,~y ) 1 g f \ C <-'", '( ; f f" :- 0 !J S : 0 C 1 [ ~ t
Yor 3blr~ to neadlng le\,tur:::- S€':SJOI:S, at ~(ea :ng un! tat R <) 3. d j II 9 !J n i ve r i t Y
fl(:~d f,~)',CU to the ·.,rb,' if rous or T~rt;0ry con fer;:;~;; c e u inn c r
StInday 1) July disperse 5 rt comrnl.~ni tic dE:- li·'I',J W l-t: all r:t () pal:ieobotal'/ a'-'-' !nvltecl and some PGst~r ~e5sions are e~v ged. FOj"lnal lnvlt tion f0' intended particip ~ts ~3n a~ran ~r reques~.
T ~1~: e:; tIm d ted c. 0 5 t Cl f f 7 2 ~~'; 1 lin cud e cl r e y 1st ~ a t i fee f 1 ~ fe, 0 J and Gccomodation n alt t!e d tr p xpens s. The £1 registr tlon fee i:;, (lot ret~) r n -1 b 1 end r ,"~ r{ U i d wit h (h e ,e t u (n o'r t h::-::: 'IN h ; ~ e reg!s~r3tion fornl at the end of th 5 newsletter Full details of the p i~arClme 'Ifj!i 'c,e rwar ed in j\j ... )ve;·:ber to ,;.i;! those
\,;,i h () ret.: urn t h 8 reg i :~ t r t i o;! f 01- N ,) m b h a \' e t..:.' b £ 1 j ill t f f\ d plac~;s '~..;iil be teser d :n order f registrat ,:;n. Pa (' full
1st rat 1 0 n fee vi! i 1 be r 8: Qui "2 d y 3 D Apr: 1 80 . 1 e d 5 e ! p ~ he crganlsers by retufni 9 the registration f:ofm bef::;r"f} 31 Oc-::.obcr 71.:'{
The f}rg:lnislng committeE.: consist:; of \J G. Ch2ior,er ~hajrmaa~I~~ P R,. n;: (::,£cFetary) Hill {tt"eas',rer) an M. BOLlt r.
lor BUSINESS MEET! G, PARIS TE~NE SEE, USA, Apr 1-T!l~ new lOP P(esid nt fe~sor Ted DalevDryas had ~n
Ith he secretary Mike Boul the ParIs Plaza Mot Tt. North American regionRl rer:res~'ltatlve D2ve O!I The meeting was funded by a trav~l gr nt f £200 from 1h and a 11 other costs we bor-ne by thos,' pre: nL Oet ! I, of l;"e discussions have b~en sent to ~" Execu lve Commlttee nlembcrs and ~ 1 he 'Jf:tailed in the next !;ewsletter. The topic co red included: ,the rc'lationSl''lip of In)' to othc;- intert1dticnaJ bodies, 21 t~'f"' de'inltlor {,f me;!~bership} 3, the produc.tion of bibliographies, and !-}J incre2sinq the benefits of membership.
lOP NEWSLETTER FORHAT No a d v e r sec r i tic 1 m d S b n (' c- eel 'i e d eft h E. n e 'd rue :t.: d :5 j i" e '1 c~ :~ s j f.) n of the newsletter which Is now being sen to mt~mbers outside Europe. On the contrary, a number f 'nembe~'s have writ en to approve the c ange C rtainly our costs of pro'Jllctfon and distribution dre a! sr hdi'tiEd.
NEWSLETTER LANGUAGE EnJiish has been used as the s(Jie langlj;)ge for the nevJ:~jetter Incc Han Tralau initiated the new syst of communi~atJ betwee~ I~P members ie 1976. The new ecret.ary has followed this tr ditiN1 bccauc;" all items submitted (-I,,,ith one exception) have been Vvritt80 in En]i!~,h. Some german speaking members have recently commented on this bias acd h ve as ed if other languages are acceptable. The monolingual secretary will try to cope with any language submitted, though clearly the more people thdt c n understand its content the better. The newsletter continues to be translated into chinese, by the way.
PAYMENT OF DUES The Executive Committee is being asked to approve an increase of the dues paid by members in countries with easy currency exchange faci Iities with London; from 1980 membership l>Jill cost US$6. This 15 the first
ig
1 yr~()deb r 1 s or· 5 e j i h 21 5 ~l d d~· ,-j
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30 cage>;; nd sill fldgf·l!c.:t~'s nd rf';,1l3 F1lga,:. 18 pa:~e:,~ ~.H, Bu~~; le;
DlnoflJgel late t dcrJ~ f'C~ ::-> ::. t" r , r" e sad P 'J j 1 e f ~ : n e r i 1-: i.::
Identic J (lutJ ines, ey Revi€wi;;g them !~: easy
f e ::. 8 [' for (--' mo::, 1. 1 Y peat d ,l~, ;) ~,i.~~~~.?~ to lr,ean
th 5~nle er~or 15 the ve,'y l'loJ .~l; j 1 fa pfes LS-
c Ie f in flageliai_es; not f t h {': f U 1: C t ! U f'. C f h e ~. C 5 " s t a ,1 l
fa t!1e lIfe cyc~e. Dillocysts t only J 5 1: frac~lon 0f the
:e 'st ng c~ ts (ar~cnd cne ~ ft gl:19 from s udle~: dinoflage late:)) is not b ght \.Jut, qlt gh it. poses s~gn~flc':--i)~ rrstrl"ti in E:rptetation':, is !ic.rm·~ of Ji flage Jatl. f_~VO!!it!;;"'J
\j,fhos",-~ \' t1t<.-,t, I t.-:::J(]2S 3.~·e prese v,-3f!ar:1on:;, In :'~ie n,!mb IT ot di
h0 1., j nlore i-hi}
"n dlif'~cy ts~
ot~er .~l·OUPS of f?ssl I ~~6n~to~ TtlC j I CJgram of f I f}i;;'<2 3j 'iOW! ng
t 5 pc ( i e sIn the S 0 i C Q' ': en', z 0 i ( ~tr~t! r~ptllL dlst Ibutioll of
cycle e, pre:·ent V8 ;' 0 r ; t 5 51 mp 1 i c 1 t Y ,
Fo t
! the
flo d
Th~-:-.: spcre nd t!:::r' d,::,c::!s re ::han the oth;:?:s ',..ilth pro,lem:::, of transport cleposltion, dnd much 1 S5 with lology and m 0 r p h 0 log y. T h j s so' 1.1 tic' , s.; 1: c e the. J a j~"" 0 t r t ext 0 f!
t sea 5 p 8 -, 1: C' f r ;:~ i y n c; ! 0 t hip kit !:; a pit ~ t Ii a t the 2' u t r 1<11 5 5 f~ d the·" rtv Ity tc; sume of he e ""t;al f suits from l1e(', bC<Jut fui \nd now ;a5;~ical \vo;rj{ on the ri oeD deit , which lO vie:."/ cont.~!lls materi:::l of I'eat pedag !e potent iaJ; the work is referred t{)
only In the lntroduct on to the c apter, The ref.:-:rerce t," the 11~~nlor!me 'le \/olutiol:'" of sporopollenIf1 011 pa 3::'; Is misicad;ng. It Is tl~~mpe ,':.It'.!re or G\!el~burden r,lthcf th?!n :.:Ime ich is tIle contrc.'lling fetor. T11;5 irnport:;nt ;)SP t cf p;;;l~/no!ogy and its applic.ation ad in my vievJ d\;;~oerv2d a iittif! mor8 attentl:)r1; this also applies to the s eel:! o f r e vJ 0 " ked pal y n 0 mo r ph 3 and I: he 1 r t eli t i ali n 9 e u 1 'J 9 j \~ d 1 r e ': 0 n s t rue ton , Ml felpj crlcic<:"l co-rirrent5 si10ul not be, permltte to ,,)ver:;nado''N tl'jE main r:onclusion: that it is a good and useful book. Competitors will have a hard task tv do ! t bet tel' ~ a t d")ubt thvt It ca:' be done IT<uch cheaper. S.B, MANUH, slo.
18
quantitative stand of "micropalaeobotany" in relation to marine micropalaeontology, as mirrored by this book. Of the fourteen chapters dealing \<it~ IndIvidual microfossil groups, six are devoted to groups of plant or'gln. By number of pages, the proportion is similar: the "plant" chapters occupy a little under 40%. This figure probably gives ~ re~50nable indication of the relati~e strength of plant palaeoscience In micropalaeontology today. The rise to this position is a fairly recent development, having taken place mainly over the last 10 to 15 years. The book's emphasis is on the Individual microfossil groups, while some more general aspects of micropalaeontology have In my view received too little attention. The objective of the editorS, as stated in their preface, has been to "provide a source for basic Information on each group, for comprehansion of the type of reasoning applied to the study of microfossils and their use in (paleo)oceanography, and for locating essential background material and references". In order to achieve this individual chapter contributors were asked to emphasise the "problem solving" potential of each fossil group, and to underplay such aspects as taxonomy and details of preparation techniques. In other words, less descriptIve, more interpretive. This is certainly an ambitious programme and editors and contributors should be congratulated on the results of their efforts to live up to It. In spite of the hotchpotch natur~ of the subject, and the high number of contributors (IS), the text IS remarkably homogeneous and well balanced. ! find the underplaying of taxonomy a good idea: students tend to find it boring at the introductory level, and it is something that Is best lr3rnt by experience with the fossils. On the other hand, the underplaying of preparation techniques has gone too far: with one or two exceptions the chapters contain hardly anything useful on the subject. Studentsshould learn that what we are doing to the fossils In the course of a few hours in the laboratory, may have severe effects on them: this may be more important than the entire sequence of processes acting between the living organism and the fossil state. Any Interpretation from foss. I assemblages has to take this Into consideration. I think therefore that a chapter on preparation techniques would have been appropriate. An account of the problems encountered In the work with well cuttings would also have been useful. In the introductory chapter (17 pages by W.A. Berggren) an array of complex t~plcs is presented, from basic concepts In biostratigraphy, through biology and evolution to plate tectonics and palaeooceanography. Of course, to deal with all this In so little space must be a thankless task. The chapter is so condensed that I t does I! tt I e more than to Introduce key concepts and problems and to offer leads to further reading. One subject of a more general nature has also been given too little attention, the story of dissolution, deposition and diagenesis of calcarious and siliceous fossils. The understanding, or lack of understanding, of the problems here involved Is crucial to interpretation based on microfossil assemblages. i think a separate chapter should have been devoted to this subject; a rich ~0~!r~~ 0f ~v~tt;~~ ~~~~~i~l exists in many research papers, some of which are quot~d In the text but not utilised in the way they should have been. This roblem area also provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the n lam-solving attitude to micropalaeontology. Chapters on the Individual groups are arranged according to the chemical composition of the foss;'!:;: calcareous t siliceou$ and orgnnt,-walled. Among the ca I careou. foss i 15 I ncl uded are ca I careou! algae and Bryozoa, which as microfossils differ from the other groups I. t~e sense that they are n~t represented as biologic entitles but fragments of larger . organ1sms. Palaeontology I. to 3 very large extent "fragmentolngy"
3
increase since 1976 and will enable the newsletter to be self financing. At May 1 only 80 members had paid their dues for the current year, so to encourage all others to remember their financial commitments a seperate sheet Is appended to this newsletter to accompany payment,
BENEFiTS OF MEMBERSHIP The lOP Executive is anxious to Increase the activities of the organization and to make more services available to members. One particularly important way In which this can be done Is to encourage more bibliographies of palaeobotany to be dIstributed, and suggestions about how this may be achieved will be announced In the next newsletter. At present all members of lOP are able to recleve: three newsletters a year, a copy of the address list of western members (this is revised at least twice a year), and a copy of the Amsterdam 1935 nomenclature definitions (see pagel1). Ite hope to Increase this list each year and welcome suggestions of new Items to Include. For efficiency, members receive only the newsletter automatically, and requests to the secretary are necessary for the despatch of all other benefits free of charge by surface mall.
REPORTS OF RECENT MEETINGS
USSR COLLOQUIUM ON THE SYSTEMATICS OF U. PALAEOZOIC PLANTS This was held in Moscow from 6th - 8th February 1979 at the Geological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The chairman was S.V. Meyen and the secretary A.V. Gomankov; there were 27 participants from 18 organizations of 13 cities. In the Introductory lecture S.V. Meyen reviewed the latest data on the liiliri-':!vivyy dilU ~Y~lClilil1.1C5 or j,cpidopnytes, artICUlates, pterldosperms, cordaites and conifers of the Upper Palaeozoic Angara floras and their bearing on phytogeography. He concluded among other things that for the Middle - l3te Permian a nc~ Dhyto~eographical area should be recognised, namely the sub-Angara area cDverlng the territories between the Angara area with the Kuznetsk-Pechora flora and the belt with Euramerlan (Atlantic) and Cathaysian floras. The eastern-most localities of the sub-Angara area are known In the Nan-Shan Range in China where the flora of Sexell'. zone C has been revised by Durante. The sub-Angara flora;s also known in Middle Asia (Uzbekistan), and Its derivatives were recorded In Afghanistan (Meyen, unpubl ished), near Vladivostok (Burago) and, probably In the Kamchatka peninsula (palynological data of I.A. Sivertseva), links between sub-Angara and North American floras were suggested. M.A. Senkevlch (Alma"Ata) spoke of the Devonian lepidophytes of Kazakhstan which show a very significant taxonomic diversity exceeding everything known in other Devonian floras. There are I igulate lepidophyte there.M,1. Radchenko (Alma-Ata) outlined the Carboniferous plant megafoss i I assemblages of Kazakhtstan and demonstrated collections of lepidophytes and pterldosperms. V.G. Zimina (Vladivostok) spoke about som peculiar plants from the Permian near Vladivostok. She found Interesting conifers, which like the Gondwanan Burladia produced solitary apical seeds on leafy twigs. Similar conifers were shown by G.G. Manaeva (Vorkuta) from the Permian of the Pechora bas in. S.G. Gorelova (Novosibirsk) presented regional phytostratlgraphlcal schemes for discussion, based on material from the Upper Palaeozoic of the Kuznet and ~'?~ l~vka bas i ns, A. V. Bogoy (~azan) spoke about f.l:!.LL.!~dodenn.!! from the lllimian and Kazanlan of 1ai:<3na. He thinks that fine epidermal characters of the genus may be used In phytostratlgraphical analysis.
ra te (Mos ) pres her ;;t
"l-'ev GUS 1 m,"",r,t j c;~'1.~d , T!i i.3 f; (' r a n a5semb}a~jes in
ns from the Zor>7:"
rVi3tions on the 0natom rly
<oe an the ttl
art;culates ( rmost Per!~-:lcl s Jurassic.) ~4jhi ~y fer'red to t qulsetacsae v blJt howlnq some Ca1amital ~n eatur 3~
Including th presence of se,ondary wood In t exes .. R Anail!e l ' (TOlllSk; showed cOlour transparenel f some Oevon:an plants and ti! fos5illfe outcrops iT' south Slberla. Participants at the colioqul\m demonstrated a number (if th ir ci)i~ec 10ns i.. I .,$avl tskaya and T.A, !5kanderkhodzhsev (both from Ta"hken demonStrated a large number of imcns from th Car of Uzbek!stal), including '-]r~gtna 5 of their monographic vJritlen with T.A Slxte1. f the pi ts ave undlsputable Eurarner1ai1 aff t n! ty (Ca 11 !Jl~_~~'!.i..:: and Ti)f )(~~mp :0) whereas ';lOmE', ethers n re endemic. Some conifers wh 0 have 0t?en identlfi d lack cuticle and do not show charactersitlc plnnnte branching twigs; their affinity remains uncertain_,.4 R. Anali~ev rJ)ugh some weil known Ca!rbrian Al~~!'...2.Pl~L~~,~~_ and LOVJ€-f CarbrHlifel.-:ous IJ~E2.i.i.odend~~I,' JJL:::"~~.222~~ A. Anan. In hi2~ specime 5 ot it 15 possible tcytee cylindrical l!shoots ll ]''<lith a hin Drgan c t
layer and internal cavit.y fi~led ':"ith sediment. pirally _C)(ran ad appendages occassionally show fur tlDn. The ~ddened bas part of the jjshoot 11 bears outgrowths 1eh look ilk,:; rhizolds FrOtTl an eternal No cellular detail Cdl be s n in re lec ad light or UV, .lJ:Ll:J'.~~~,'!.~ s e r v e d a s the t y pes i e s 1 'H the TP':::":':~7T::":'.':.t:..:.-=-::.:=.::-: .. .::.., .. V. Anan., and participants 0 t e colloquIum essential differences between this genus and demonstrated Devonian lepldophytes from Kaza s all 191J1a. pit.s and leaf cushions as in Tomiodendron. K.Z. SaimeCiova Ull -At} pre 5 e n ted her co J 1 e c t jon <- f r o~mthe'---pe r m i ,) n () f K a l a k h s tan ~ inc! u din 9 int re.l$\:lng fructifications leh 5 holt! ex erna~ r25emb~ance to Peltaspermum; but they have stalk attached to t~e conve SUf¥ace
O'f'themegosporangtate (1) disc. Other collections lefn<:J demonst;-r:d.ec came from the Permian of the Pee-hora basin (L.A~ Fefi :ova, Sykt'yvk:,:ir; G,G. Manaeva, Vorkuta; G G. Smaller, IJkhta), Upper Fermian 'If the Volga river valley (N.K. Esaulova, Kacan). Lower Permian of the fore-Ur 5
m 0:; t 1 y cut 1 c 1 e S 0 f cor d a i tel e a v e s { l . V > G 1 uk h 0 v cO 1> K r a 5 no jar 5 k}, L 01foJ e r Carboniferous of the Urals - mostly lepldophytes (G. Vasilie leningrad) Collections kept in the GeologIca! I tltute here cds examined, including the origInals to the publications of Schmalhausen. Zalessky. Neuburg, RasskazovA, Heyen etc),
LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON, EASTER PALAEOBOTANY HEETING. Of the 60 or so palaeobotani ts who attended this one day session of lectures and discussion six were from overseas. As usual, ttlere was \ ively discussion both at the meeting In the British Museum (Natural History)'s new palaeontology conference room and and at lunch and dinn~r in local public houses. The meeting was ably organised by Peter eOf'.
The following summary of the proceedings is taken from the ab tracts whict, were circulated to par Icipants: K.L P,lvin, London - Cheirolepidaceae: A prestigious family? On evidence of Classopollis pollen the family \vas of outstanding importance. especially In lower palaeolatitudes. prior to the rise of the
angiosperms. Our knowledge of these Classopollis producers is still
a the
C!utte.;ed :00 named
ps-
10':
J ff';, j e~'i' the distrlb (:iO'-1
r is! C
f .f) I 1 O\;,{ (0 d b'l a The' _
feiN gi\j~nq
sozuic .:rowded
~o over But tIle reSE!ltat on
C8f alnl/ a vk':~s1 on thk: Russtal ed tlon. Host f th )0(1 9icompt'essiofl!! f,oras of megafos i I So U\-! l'll re ch i)C(',C:us nd earl Tett 1 arl y when p.;~!ynol gi;:::-.'11 ,;.;.\/idc(;ce 'j~; fl'2ely drawn on. ;:It,J ton:; to the literature
re given for -flo
of the prii";cipa: sites plotted the map5~ and in !sts ( t least at gener c vel) ar given. In the
b
an
! t de I i c, ,"tlas of 1'h ;'oug t
rameev t'lnd [1CY n a tempt to Integrate the results with '::h,d (.il:natl( cC'jisidcra'LinflS Amollg iilter(,~st!f1g
cl:caJ, t\--JO St~~ L.h.ara(.t~er 0 each of the ti It:: - t Ie, Mesophytic
,-,oad world-wl tic uniformity, g.a tron::J reglonal aracter,
'!'Ice i!cation of two mai r "evie'oNs~ e. p,::;laeG-distf~; utiOil of pl"'!-:t5 Hallam 1
and 1-1 he 0 r I) (1 n j s ni sari d Con t '1 e Ii t s ly query whar n contri utlOll the!'
t h ; s 'If () I U flj e t m OJ kIn 9 < r h t: a n 5- we r j i e 5 i n In Hal~an~'5 nd u~1hes' complia !on-:-, e'ier
pre ted; t e ira I m Iva s n e , a I 1 Y tor esc t road rat!~e( than raw d tao The resEnt vJurk gives a much ful ier
(.um(-:ntat;on (It t f"ctua uata; lIE. the i!mits of f rl de p vinc(~s re hown on the maps, the readei' Is presented mOf"e fUI iy '.vi th the primary ii) rrnatlon li/h!ch they are based. There are Qve, 700
As a 'l oJ ua
\ttd i 1 bi
an'~': fu I! I nd I ces to p I a l naf\'ieS and auth rs. leal refei~ence 50U(Ce~ alone 1 this \.A:ark 15 most
tributl:";fj i:(; the iiterat re~ bu It: Is also basis or. whIch thr.-:-_::;;es of laeocll te ;:}nd f pia e mO\jem€l1t. i htipe it
be seen dnd read a broader reader"shlp than pa!aeobo anists. All rs owe d t to j ts four Russ ian authors for the! r v! qorous
1 and to Or Daber for putting this wor into a to west rn readers.
AN IW.~R0DU::TION TO HARINE MICROPALAEONTOLOGY Ed. S,U. Hnq & A. Boersma, 1978. Elsevier, New Yo,-k, 376pp. $2 J1.0Q, This book wi II be highly apprecl ted by students and teachers of mit. laeonotlogy ;:"ince it s the first comprehensi tex.t dealing with a 1 J major groups of foss! J 5 ~ and orne Hi i nor ones: now be i ng used in m~1rine micropaldeontol gy. As a teacher of palaeobotany, too, t welcome the boo. That is because it pa"ovldes a most useful supplement to existing palaeobotanical texts which so often neglect the algae; tilis book contains four good chapters on fossil planktonic algae (cocco! lthophores. diatoms, silicoflagellates and dinofl"gellates) and in addition provides and excellent aCCOlJnt 0 calcarious algae. Palaeobotanists may e curious to know what is~ so to speak~ the
16
NEW PUBLICATIONS
COMITE DES TRAVAUX HISTORIQUES ET SCIENTIFIQUES A meeting of palaeobotanists was held in Nancy, France In March 1978 and the 17 papers presented have recently heen publi.hed by this organization. The volume Is available 3t the Blbliotheque Nationale, 58 rue de Richelieu, 75084 Paris, Cedex 02 for 65 Francs. The 225 pag"s contain a wide range of palaeobotanical articles; a xerox copy of the contents can be obtained from the lOP secretary.
PALYNOOATA Two recent surveys of palynological I Itecature are available from G.O.W. Kremp, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson 85711, USA. The earliest appearance worldwide of trlcopate pollen and the origin of angiosperms. The importance of palynology In determinIng worldwide the PennsylvanlanPermian boundary. The costs are not Included In the February 1979 price 1 ist, so write to Professor Kremp for deta I Is.
PAlYNOLOGIA The special volume 1 of this publication '''as published In 1978 and contains 505 pages. It contains a selection of papers presented at the Collo~uium of Palynology which was held in Lfon Spain during Septemeber 1977. Send 3,OOOPts plus 75Pts for surface mail to: Instituto f'ulinologico, Apartado 244, Leoll, Spain.
BOOK REVIEI4S
PAL~OZOISCHE UND MESOZOISCHE FLOREN EURASIENS UND DIE PHYOGEOGRAPHIE DIESER ZEIT. V.A. Vakhrameev,'I.A. Dobrusklna, S.V. Meyen and E.O. laklinskaja (revised edition translated from the Russian by R. Daber) 1978. Fischer Verlag, Jena, DOR. 300pp. 30 text-figs., 79M. Dandn called phytogeography "that grand subject, that almost-keystone to the laws of nature". When we see phytogeography changing in the dimension of time It is bringing us even closer to that keystone. That Is perhaps one of the most important aspects of this book, which presents the changing distribution of terrestrial fossil plants of Eurasia through some three hundred ml Ilion years. The book is by four leading Russian palaeobotanlsts and was originally published in 1970 as volume 208 of the Transactions of the Geological Institute of the Academy of Science, Moscow. This edition is based on that volume; but Its four authors have totZ)11y revised and somewhat shortened the original Rus,;ian text 1 and the up-dated version has been translated from Russian into German by Rudolf Daber. The time span covered is from the close of the Silurian, ,.,Itn the earliest records of terrestrial plants, to the beginning of the Tertiary period, so that it takes in the early divergence and spread uf the angiosperms. The area dealt with may seem a less logical choice. It represents ~ of course, a land mass centring on Russia~ "'>Ii th the adjoining contInental areas of Europe, Asia Minor, India and the "Cathaysian" province including Japan and Malaysia. In palaeofloristic terms this in fact constitutes quite ail informative, if rather arbitrary region ~t 1ncludes for example, representative£ of the four ~ajor Palaeozoic floristic provinces (Eurame~-ia9 Angara~ CAthaysia and GOI1dwana), and by
5
meagre, but a picture of considerable morphological diversity begins to emerge; this may reflect ecological d~iversity including speclalisations unknown amongst the conifers. P.H. Smith, London - Tertiary fossil fungi The different types of fungal structures encountered: fruiting bodies, hyphae and spores, were reviewed and some suggestions about the appropriate taxonomic and nomenclatural procedures were given. R.A. Spicer, London (USGS) - Alaskan Cretaceous angiosperm leaf impressions Extensive collections of Upper Cretaceous plant megafossils have been made in the last few years from the Alaskan peninsular, south west Alaska and the Alaskan Arctic slope. Angiosperm leaf Impressions are numerically dominant although some localities have also yleded a variety of gymnosperm material. Leaves belonging to the Hamamelidae are particularly abundant and comparisons based on leaf achitectural characters suggest that by the mid Upper Cretaceous the differentiation between the orders Eupteleales and Hamamelldales had not yet become established. The nature and possible relationships of some of the specimens were described. C.R. Hill, london - Phylogenetic systematics and palaeobotany The theory and practice of biological systematics have probably never been so Intensively scrutinised as during the past decade. Many zoologists, notably entomologists and ichthyologists, became aware of the highly significant work of the German entOMologist W. Hennig, first published neary thl rty years ago. Hennig provided a methodology for a general biological reference system of great elegance compared to other systems, based empirically on determining nested sets of shared derived charactE·r states (synapomorphles). The wholly relevant nature of Hennig's system was outlined in relation to palaeobotany and palynology. H.N. Andrews, New Hampshire, USA - Palaeobotanical reminiscences: the age of Seward During the afternoon session there was a "debate" on the motion: "This house supports the retention within the I.C.B.N. of organ-genera and form-genera as two distinct taxonomic concepts". W.G. Chaloner, London, spoke FOR the motion: The new (1978) edition of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature now recognises only two categories of fossil plant taxa of generic rank - "genera" and "form-genera". The latter are distinguished from "genera" on the criterion of being unassignable to a family. However, many genera of fossil plants, based on detached organs, have a securely established partial synonomy with each other (ea the stem Lepidodendron, cone ~Idos~~, leaf Lepldophylloides, megaspore Lagenicula and microspore !-.L£0spora). Such genera differ fundamentally from genera of extant plants in that although it may be argued that hypothetically Lycospora is a "genus of who~e plJnts!l ':)Ui- ..:';:Hlcept of th..:~::: genus is, and must all-lays be, limited to spores alone. The form,,] recognition of the organ-genus and form-genus within the Code would give stabi I ity to this long-establ ished usage. M.C. Boulter, London, spoke AGAINST the motion: The dp.finitions of the terms lIorgan-genus" and IIform-genus H have been changed three times In post 1945 editions of the Code, culminating in a confusing and even ambiguous Article 3.2 of the current Leningrad version. A new draft proposal was tabled and justified. This combines the. earl ier concepts of organ-genus and form-genus into a single taxon for fossil plants: the "fossll-genus ll • This 15 or is not assignable to a family, If it Is not as Ignable to a family it may be referable to a taxon of hi her rank~ There is support for this action in a numb~r of publications on the subject (eg K. Faegri 1963, Taxon 12; R. Potonie 1964, Taxon 13; F.A. Stafleu 1967, Rev. Palaeobotan. Palyno1. J) and ;r. some of the items that have appeared recently In lOP nevlSletters. It is
not DaHL! natura'j'!
{' n. r r-' ;
TYCOMING H[[rINGS
;". iJMYCOLOG i mee tin "!;
a or
OMARK EVENTS I N THE A sy slum on t is therre t.~lur ,June 21 1979, It is A~50clatlon and the Cdnadlan
be presented wi 11 De qi and evolution of -kton. Write to D.C. rio, Canada K1A OE8 for
t!
b3 i" 1 '/ a I Surv
THE MIOCENE CLARKIA FOSSil DS,Moscow, aha, U A June 1379 These 2ds are described by Gray a d Huggins 49, 833 ~ 844, i975~ dnd it is enior author who is ar
Slum. It will insiudc ta~ a number 0 palaeob,:) as by ndleYt J. Gray, K. NiklRs~ O. G!anna~, , H. Becker} E Leopol
on
C,'o!, Wang, L. Huggins and J,P. Bradb rv along wit. 0 ~er rts on the ish9 insects and palaeoclimate. The iTJ~--;et;n9 starts Of" June tho a don ursday June 7th there II! be an ail "'I field tlip to the C! tk a beds.
Det ils from C.N, Mijler~ Botany uepdr t~ 0ni".,::;;rsi;::y Oi ;-101;[,0"11'1
Mls.oula, Montana 59812, USA.
iNTERNATIONAL PALYNOLOGICAL CONFERENCE, amblld uiy The second eire lar Is no'" ilvailable nd inClude,·
Enql Jet is uf I.h tin~~s
a booking forms etc. Re~jis ration nd all forms be ILL
retur before Isr December 1979.A BUSINESS HEETING FOR lOP "EH8f S
AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS CONFERENCE. BE !\HH/\Nf.1EO
NONENCLATURE
THE ABU E F NAMES Havl read the letter of the late .M. Schop in lOP Hev,s e ter 8 ! am reminded of one of the commonest symptoms of our sick ge: old are forgotten. That is why it was high time that someone e~plalned v.Jhat a scientific name is. Although Iinarneli, as such, is probabl as as human language, today its meaning seems to be nllsunder3tcod. I iterature on Glossopteris studies for the past 80 years is a gooa
t !' I,; t h ~~ ;) i .1
old
RN4T!ONAl AS~OCIA 10 FO first mi~~·~;el;aneous publl
fj 0 giosperm cllef)bo t ped d~~d r proGuc;c;d
J t
h\rshed r 'i, a ~'J 1 n
PALEOBOTANV (!AAP)
i~ SgUf"! ra flora as
the Taque
and and c gen
h
i\NGIO PE t~on of con 5 is'?, 0 f a b 1 b i log " 0 p h y as been (;oH1j:i led by Gary E, [ioi)h ;-:lnd
\/ fsi y. ! t: ,,:ontains ;_~lls of t \ti'_';' n prOQre s dud nij 7 and" a ii"
:;. wo r k n ,.. f 5 S ~ t h € i ;) '.; 1 I cat i u r, S
It Is that ti~
to non-members of iAAP
GEOLO OF POLAND - CATALOGUE 0 SSllS
hlb!!o'lr"phy ca" <Jlstrib In the next lOP Ne~Jsfetter.
Part 3a of till use u series 0 pt;biicatlons v<!as publis!lCd in 1977
eel
nd deals wit 1)55!15 frf)nl th Tertisry. The 288 ,3ge book ha:- det,)lled cornp~jation5 u-:: mlcroflora d mflcrofl I'a~ ith an nd;;? of genera 2ti'lrl
SD es. Ther~ ~re 658 r!~ferencesy up a 75. book is '::,llt8d by Wanda HuhJe f PutJl:shing House iA'y'dawnictl,'!d
Geologic ne and can be c,btained frarn Drukarnla Narodowa Zakl 6, Krakol,-lr u1. Orl'eSZKowej 7. The pri e Is not avai'iabl , and there is even some IJJ1Certalnty about the valid! y of this address: it would be more ,'cliable to try and obtain it or: an exchange basis,
14
S.K. Dutta, H.M. Kapoor, C.G.K. Ramanujam, S.K. Srivastava and B.S. Venkatachala.
SECOND iNDIAN PALYNOLOGICAL CONFERENCE This was held at Central College, Sangalore Unlvers!ty during October 1978 and was attended by more than 125 delegates. There were lectures on pollen and plant genetics, pollen biochemistry, palaeopalynology, aeropalynology and melittopalynology. There was also a symposium on Palynological Education in India.
THIRD INDIAN GEOPHYOlOGICAl CONFERENCE This I. to be held from December 8 - 10 1979 at the Botany Department, Lucknow University, and a symposium on Recent Advances in Cryptogamic Botany will be the main aspect of thp meetl~~ Inv;t~~ ~2P~~: 0~
palaeobotany, palynology, morphology and other topics will be presented. For further details contact Dr M.N. Bose, Blrbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow 226 007, India.
ASSOCIACION PALEONTOLOGICA ARGENTINA (APA) This organization organised a series of meeting. on palaeoecology during the end of 1978.The speakers included Azcuy, Romero, Baldoni, lIolkheimer and Archangelsky; the APA will publish their lectures in a special issue of its journal Ame~~!:2~'
LATINAMERICAN BRANCH OF IAAP There vJas du.ingApril
a meeting of this group In Buenos Aires University 1979, coordinated by Dr E. Romero.
INTERNATIONAL WORKING GROUP ON U. PALAEOZOIC COMPRESSION FLORAS This newly formed group holds its first meeting during the 9th International Congress of Carboniferous Stratigraphy and Geology at Urbana Illinois thl. month. Details of this meeting and the Intent of the organization will appear in the next lOP Newsletter. AI I palaeobotanlsts working on Upper Palaeozoic compression fossils should contact H.W. Pfefferkorn, Geology Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philapelphla, PA 19104, USA, for details. It Is hoped that the group will have close contact with lOP and will use this newsletter as a means of communication.
NATURE CONSERVANCY COUNCIL, UK. Work is being carried out on a report of palaeobotanical sites in Britain by C. Cleal (Palaeozoic) and M. Jones (Mesozoic). Both of them are working 0'" Tertiary sites. They are identifying the localities in Britain whose conservation is regarded as essential for the continuation of palaeobota.,ica'i research and teaching. ill se wi 11 Include ype local i ties, sites of historic Importance, sites which Include plants of evolutionary importance as well as smaller less well known ,Ites. Their method is to examine, In consultation with all workers with relevant expertise, palaeobotanical localities which are of interest, and then to choose key localities to designate as sites for conservation. it is hoped that this will lead to future management of outstanding localities to prevent over-collectil1g and other abuses. It will also be possible to reopen sites whiah have been closed or overgr"own.They w'll be citing the location of a11 the major collections in the coulltry and where the type material is deposited. A compiete bibli raphy of all oalaeobotanical papers that have been published on Brl t sh materia! being produced as part of t~le review. Both workers would apprecIatE cooperation ft"llm anyone who can be of assistance, by writing to them at Pearl HOU5 Bartholc,mew Street, Newbul
Berkshire RGI4 5lS, England.
7
example of forgetting such "old knowledge". Going a step further than Schopf: a name, - any name, Including the scientific name, - is a symbol to denote a thing, and nothing else. If, for example, Felstmantel gave the name Glossopteris retifera to leaves with certain characters, nobody should use the same name for leaves which display the characters of Glossopteris tortuosa Zei Iler. lhough it happened repeatedly in this century. It happened to many more Glossopteris specific names. By such a practice, not only the specific name Is meaningless, but the name of the author, affixed to the specific name, Is meaningless also. The abuse of names was already the consequence of forgetting another old truth, namely the concept behind a specific name. As scientific thinking became more and more Influenced by Pragmatism, the concept of species in general became blurred. The role of observation in research was stressed, though obviously a concept cannot be seen, only thought. That is why systematics cannot be separated from phllosophythe science of logical principles. As long as it Is unclear, what we are naming, the how (technical nomenclature) cannot be solved. if the scientific name covers a group of individuals, then the palaeobotanlsls who assigned different names to leaves with and \1ithout fructifications, leaves with and \1lthout cuticles, fructifications with and without cuticles, etc., were right. They named certain groups of Individual fossils. The name, however, Is designed to express a concept. The object of the concept is an entity wtth an existence Independent of human coanition. This e)(isting reality is manifested In the Individuals, Irresp~ctive of "hether it Is represented by whole individuals, or leaves, or fructifications. The researcher recognises this entity, forms a concept, and denotes the concept with a name. In palaeobotanY,leaves, fructifications, seeds, etc. are usually found separately. This situation effects the cognitive, or human side of the study. The entity, the object of the concept is independent of this human cognition. It, however, can be recognised to a certain extent by study of leaves or fructifications. One e f os 5 i 1 P 1 ant par t 5 are f 0 uri U d ltd C [1 e d Lv e d C f. 0 the r f t. h l.! knowledge of the entity is increased. The concept and the name then symbol ;.e a more detailed cognition. When a name was given to a leaf 01 similar pl""L par~. it die! ;)ct, and should not denote an organ, but a s~ecies presented fOI hunlan cognition as a Jeaf~ etc., until we are able to learn more about the plant, as a member of a species. in this respect a name is an abbreviation to express truth. The author has to believe, and then make an effort to prove, that he denotes an entity by the name, otherwise the name cannot be acceptable. All scientlsts~ as humans j make mistakes. An error Is possible. however, only In relation to truth. E. Kovacs-Endrody, Pretoria, South Africa.
ALL YOU PROBABLY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNATIONAL CODE OF BOTANICAL NOMENCLATURE ("ICBN"), AND MORE. ...... . Those af us unfortunate souls who have been visited with a vocation to take care of small parts of ICBN tend to assume that t~l~ purposes and workings of that Code are nlatters of common hO~Jshold kr,owlerlge. it is a mild, humbling shock to rediscover from time to time that this is far from true. As secj-etary of the IAPT (Inter'national Association for Flant Taxonomy) Committee for Fossil Pi ants 1t 15 my duty, along with the chal rman of that Committee (now Professor 'A.G. Chaloner), to arrange for consideration of proposed amendments to the Code. Many ~)eople who us t~-!e Code are understandably not aware of the procedures Involved, and as Professor Chaloner and 1 have no desire to keep anything
b'_1U L th n prepa
rates.
proceciu es c{.)t'lf 1 j n t i t (~r a br'i
T: ,~!-d to D\~
{_e ~bl)u:
On pap2-r 1 rhE adopt Ion ,)1" ny amen :"jt -'"0 the
J'J ter)~
plenary session of an Internatlonal Botanical Congress about ~ ry five or Ix yeal"S I~ fact, the I,lcnary s s alwa 5 simply rubb r stamps the deci Ion of t
Congress, wtll is ar nged by Ti~e Nomenclat re Secti during a period of a few d itself. Host proposals j=or
Congress, and most, ut by no Inean5 sustained by the votes on the floor of the Nom0nclature relimirlary maii vote is on1y a uide 'i and 1s
; t
e mall vote is taken front a sma! ntJmbe," of authors of all proposals and members of the! Usually an E"len smaller er of Ie attend
committees
formal lagislative tings of the Nomenc b t many ;_1F ;"-1-,05e who come carry 5,,;:vera: votes l,~~;tltutio 5 v..ihich are rded such iple s h-y Nomenclature.
5 5 ~
resent f
On the Floor of the Nomenclat re Section an proposal be debate and mos are, unle 5: 1 ~ they a held to editorial 0nd no :; u b san t i vel nco n t eli t (c han 9 e 5 j n 1 a p U fl C t U a t ion etc the 5 e ar-e referred to the IApr Editorial ittee for aporoprlate etlan. in practice , SUCfl referi'a' ften means the effect;v~ end of th,~
proposal, _f,O that chanq!!! l:editorial l ! matters by prnpoSiJl !j
nigh lmposslble "2, they are heJd to be specialist q es ions tt,at should be decided by the approprjate IAPT specialist ci.)fnmjtte{:~.
Proposals to amend \\"hlch seem to affect mostly fossil ~a ts are thus referred to the IAPT Committee for Fossil PIa ts (the pre'.;ent membership of this committee Is described on pag~ 0 of thi sletter) a d the Nomellclature Se nearly n1 ays rubber stamps the ltteeis r commendation to adopt reject. Hovli'ever~ indivl ij'(:15 who
uistered for the Nome lature Sect! i-'I sessiont"") c n demand heard on-any proposal ~ and sometime hi happens, even for a p was referred to the Committee for Foss!' Plarlts*. A most ways) however, the Committee1s recommendation is ultimately acct~pted even when someone demands the ri ght to debate the! s:;ue, 0:-1(: acce~ted ~ -f l,:j;
by the Nomenclature Sectfon and then b the plen:3ry session ~~f t.be wlloie Congress, a raposa) to amend is turne over to the ditorial ittee of IAPT for that committ e to see to it that the language of th -lew C de reflects the voted amendment. Th Editorial Committee has meeting during the year following the Congress to come up with the n amended Code. I have intentionally discussed the last tages an amendment's history first. If yo have an amendnlent to the Code, please give ser!ous consideration to dropping it - think the work Involved fer so ~any people. Hm,ever, If you 'H£' 100% (well, 90% at least) convinced that your amendmellt would help the Code. write it out: arefully in the following form:
,', A 5 b 0 tan-~~un-i ike Z 0 o-fo-gy-~does-nothave~-a-no menc'Ta-T'u-r:-<i T-'s()-mn;'T~~s-To-n-,m the list of conserved names Is an integral part of the Code itselF, Therefore a name can only be conserved by a formal and successful proposal to amend the Code, by conserving a particular a:ce. The prOCedlJre is the same as for any other amendnlent. The conserved name Calamites Brongnlart for example is as much a part of leBN as are the r-.:JIe:,;-;;-r-priority and any change In the conservation statement for Calamites requires a new proposal.
J, F.
i, ~)[LEIJDRV'"'
HSU
some ;-) , 5
pa I a8
whom i c· " Pa 1 ac ,-1 ,. I
"
t.hi~ year. et lis Institute f Geol
r~)T10NS
the ! n -: \'., ,! i e t
1 i revise
r;;}, H spent' and aiso vl~Jited
Calcutta. the Botanical Socie y of
u:cions to ~ozoic iio'"Jiedge uf- cjcadeoids" dation of e reproductivE
la Slnica~
\'Ilorklng 011 coal balls.
(J PA
141 the
Hsichlh Triassic
1<) 7(, to Fcbruury 1 9
\>Ja i flora
fsrribu'te",J '5 d:£~scrl Ions cd the inks tcrf~atjona! organIzations an re rts fronl
L U t ,
roups, 1 I s e r ~ btalned I d t 5 t
OR E !'.i
r h Co
e Hi
Jragrap rtlng on ?'cretary jPA~ fro!!'! address IS: Geologi3ch'~ 3400 GGrtlng n, FRS
PALEOZOiQUE (CiMP) e;J r 1 i e r
Owen , SiS 8TQ,
I NTERI'i!\f I fiNAL COMe;; ,OGY (! CF) The s I CP neVi::· i \'/as p',J i fl December 1978 and con ta i ns de aJ ls of th!" CarnbridqE-; con r S
tWt) photogrdph';,. Details dtlr
rizona Sta~ niverslty. TCll1pe~ Arizon
(. t:; fro m t!l lOP new 5 1 e t t ran d tIt, Depar menc of Bctar]
281. USA
AFRI i'i1MITHE ·i\LYNOLO p) This ly cons il r-ganizl has pub'ij~~ e its flr--::;t newsletter. At March 1979 there ]0 mR~e'5. though It I. hoped t at new ri:c,nber; w'il~ ~ttr<lct{Jd frdlri other r8,]10'"15. If you are inter'csted in African palynol leal problems write to the ncp: I)r J. Coetzee, In<;titute fell"" nvironmen 1 :)c;ences~ ;'liverslty of the O.F.S.~ Blo8jnfonteln t th Africa.
INDIAN A aC!AIIO HAPHERS (lAP) Indian paJynuloQi tf~is new ass0ciation, devoted to the augmentation and inatlon ,) palynologicaJ data as a tool for blostrat!graphlc studies. The association will support projects of gener 1 interest to palynos_tratlgraphers~ provide a platform for the presentation of resea,"ch studies before a competent and critical audience} and \t-Ji J j furnish avenue:::,; for the publication of research studies The iAP plans publish" journal 0 ail international standard binning In January 1980, Enquirl!'~::, should be maz18 to: Or H,K. tllaheshwari) i'rbal Sanni Institute f Palaenhot'dny, 53 University Road~jLucknow 226 OOl, jndia.
The managing council for 1979 is: President. D.c' Bharadvlaj; Vicepresident, S.C.D. Sah; Secretary. K.P Jain; Treasurer, R.S, Tiwari
Business Manager, H.P. Gupta; Editor, ILK., Maheshwari; Councillors,
12
Cardiolepi~ in the old collectlon of Kh. R. Dombrovskaya; this was transferred, macerated and studied by us jointly. The maceration of the compression near the al leged mouth revealed a tubular thick cuticle inside the capsule, which is indistinguishable from that of the stalk. Around this tubular cuticle multiple micropylar tubes were found to be closely adpressed. The stalk has proved to be entering the mouth, and the micropylar tubes are arranged around the stalk. It seems that the stalk Easily separated from the capsule. That is why Meyen could not find the stalk when the mouth was well seen. On the other hand, when the stalk was stili attached, It prevented seeing the mouth. Thus, the previous Interpretation of Cardlolepis as an inverted capsule (comparable with multiovulate epimathTlim) has proved to be erroneous. Presently we tentatively interprete the capsule as a semiclosed peltate structure, the margin of which is bent down and embraces the stalk. The capsule is comparable with Peltaspermum in basic organization. However the leaves of these plants are strikingly different from those of ai I known pteridosperms. These leaves (genus Phylladoderma) have one vein entering the base, parallel venation In the middle of the lamina, and convergency of veins I ~ the apex (as in Podozaml tes, Araucariodendrol ~_"-l!:'.i2). Thick resin ducts between veins or along veins (aild--------· simulating veins on imprints) 3S t>!c11 ~...,. ~:;!:-.:;~t~~~!~~~!'/ ~:;'2'~t2!~d stomata also prevent attribution of the plants to the pteridosperms. The leaves are externally of coniferalean habit. The combination of such leaves and capsules I. unique among 9jmnosperrns. Therefore these plant. deserve separation Into an independe~t family (Cardlolc~idac a~). Ho\.,ever the earlier placing of the family Into the conifers is now doubtful. Before finding petrified axes wi th preserved wood structure, ~nd male fructifications (the pollen found In [he micropyle of Cardiolepis are of Veslcaspora type) it is premature to judge on the plQce of the family among the gymnosperms. We do not know when Oil" Joint study of new materials O"_Cardi..::>]j(pls ill be completed for publication. In the meanlime, we would 11 e to
inform our colleagues by this informal note, that published data on the interpretation of Cardioleeis needs essential corrections. S.V. flEYEN AND H.G. SMOLLER, Mosco,;.
NEWS OF PALAEOBOTANISTS
S. CHITAlEY is visiting the United States this year and is Interested in giving lectures to university groups on the Intertrappean flora on which she has worked for the last 30 years. Write to her at: 7695 York Road, Parma, Ohio 44130 or call her at (216) 8438638.
A.K. GHOSH celebrates his 75th birthday on 22 September 1979. A special commemoration committee has arranged a Symposium on evolutionary biology and biostratigraphy, and the papers contributed will be published as a commemoration volume to be presented to Professor Ghosh.
l V. VLII.DIMIROVITCH, Moscow 113127, Sadovnicheskaya nab. 71, Institute of Mineralogy, is preparing an illustrated book entitled HGeology in badges and emblems ll , He is anXifJUS to rec~ive
examples of badges and e~lblems of p3laeobotanica! nleetings and organizations.
T M. HARRIS of the University of Reading is the first rec!plent of !lthe palaeobotanical 50c:ety iqternctional medal l ! which has been institu ed thfs year by the Palaeobotanical Society at the B rbal Sahnl Institute, Luckil0W.
A.L. TAKHTA,JAN~ Leningrad, v sited the Bi~-bal Sdhni institute f r two
9
A proposal to amend Art.n of ICBN, by (" ... deletlng such and such words ... ",--or whatever). Art. n., or Art. n., para. n., or whatever, would then read: (give the new wording of the paragraph).
Write an explanation of why this Is important, complete with literature references. I prefer the actual proposed amendment to be at the very beginning, or (In my opinion, less satisfactory) at the very end of the text of the paper. Submit the completed ms to Taxon (editor: Dr F.A. Stafleu, 19.02, Tweede Transitorium, Ulthof, Utrecht, The Netherlands). It 15 actually not compulsory to publish the proposals first in Taxon but they must be brought to the attentIon of the Bureau of Nomenclature to reach eventually the floor of the Nomenclature Section, and sending the proposal, directly to Taxon, IAPT's journal, accomplishes this. If your proposal affects mostlyfossll plants. the IAPT Committee on Fossi Plants "i 11 consIder it. A referee or two \oil II be selected. The secretar ,;ill then circulate to the Committee on Fossil Plants the (anonymous) opinions obtained, and ask for a mall vote of the committee for or against each fossil plant proposal (Including proposals to conserve names). Propos"ls of all sorts received by the IAPT editor (ordinarily by publication in Taxon) by a required date will appear in a special publication of IAPTTlStlng all proposals, giving each a number, teporting opinions of specialist committees such as our5~ and calling for a general mall vote as mentioned earlier. This publication and a ballot are sent to the people eligible to vote In the mail vote. The Committee for Fossil Plants meets in person at the Congress before or during the Nomenclature Section's meeting, to draw up Its final rep 0 r t, 'vJ h ! chi 5 nor mal 1 y pre 5 en ted by the ella i r 11\ a I! U r 5 ~ ere tar y, W fl t:! n called on by the chairman of the Nomenclature Section, usually at the very end of the several-day session. This report deals with all the proposals referred to the comml ttee and may p:0uuce 2 ne"..; ("'ompromise proposal or proposals, in reaction to other overlapping or conflictin':j proposals, or even to last minute proposals not publ ished in Taxon (th Is was done at leningrad for organ-genera). Everyone In th_e_-··Nomenclature Section is very tired by this time, and many have left to get ready for other activities at the Congress. Furthermore, plant systematists in general are not too concerned about fossil plants - It Is actually depressing that the palaeobotanical representatives have relatively little influence. Modern plant systematics is in the driver', seat of JAPT. As a rule therefore, the recommendations of the Committee on Fossil Plants are ordinarily accepted with little, token, or no opposition. So if you have a proposal, Including a conservation proposal, remember: 1, that it must (by publication In Taxon, in effect) be brought to the
agenda of the Bureau of Nomencla~in tiMe; -2 that the longer Oi ITl0re complicated it is, the less likely a propOS3
is to be adopted, because al I of us react negatIvely to complicated matters that may in unforeseen ways affect other things. It is more likely that you will get your pet Idei'ls adopted piecemeal, over a period of years, if you can persu3de us of their desirability, than you wi 11 get six pages of changes at once,
3, that the more clearly you ex lain your reasons for desiring change, and the more carefully you arrange the language so as to avoid ambIguity or mistakeSl' the more lIkely the amendment is to go throug~
In the0ry~ a person could go directly before a plenary session of ttle Congress and move the adoption of an amendment to the Code and get a favourable vote -cl,mmittees, that a goal e \v
thereby bypass ing the Nomenc lature the whole thing. This Is about a. score in ice hockey.
Section, the : ikely to happen B'
10
One uU'" good p! it; to dis ~~i ith the sec:>:-r y (me) b fcr.-3hand. !, seCrf"'t'?f
in t"'t1n time - ~L ~L~m5hAw 1" Mamay,a;l Traver e so I' ecretary t)n top 0 r 1 ous p,")',})::, ions of h-~'
C:Jde. You vli11 Jet free ;:;;d lee f\ TRA\;ERSE~ 5e retary~ If.\PT Commltree f'.Jf Fossil Plan 5
DGlke Bullding 1 Pennsylvania State Un!vefs!tY1 Un!v r it P~5k nnsylvania 16802, USA
MEM ERS OF IAPT COMMITTEE FOR ~OS Il PLANTS At '1'"]Y 1979 the membership t1>9 commi1.u, I'ias as foIl 5: Chalrnlan: \J.G. Chaloi~er, Land; cretary: t~ Traverse, (:nnsylva"!!"'l~ Members: S. ArchangelskYI Buenos A!res; H. Banks, New York; T.Delevoryas f
Texas; W.R, Evi t, Califc<rnia; K~ Faegrl, Bergen; .Jansonjus~ f-l.lberta; F.P .. Jonk2r, The Netherlc.lnds; V. Krassilov, Vladivostok; D.B !linger, Wa',hington DC; H.K. Maheshwarl Lucknow; N.D. Mchedlishvili, le ingrad; S.V. rleyen, Mosco'cJ; J. Mul1er~ The Nether; ds~ N.S. Sqigirevskay.3; Len If, rad
TROUBLE WITH PARENTHESES As well as having to refle,:t on reasons for amend!ng the !CBN, palaeobotanlsts also have to ask if they are following the rules of the Code as they exlst now. It seems to lne that the use of pare'ltheses is f)ften incorrect, strictly cording to the Code~ al~d ilt an unfor unate habit of Isuse h2 become fashi0n0ble. For instance,on "ge G2 of R. to Ie (19 6) read:
"lycDDcdiacidites ("OUP. 195 ) n. POT. 19 T his me a n s t h a t'-to~p-er-r! 9 5::~. r;} h) w ~ t h p f i v <;;~" )' I ~ 1"(1", r'''' i" h n
and that R. Poton e (195 , ) ~as cha ged tIle diag!10si But n this case the use of parent eses does Ilot agree with the JeBN Article h7; "An alteration of the diagnostic ,:t:ar3cl:er.;; n, n the clrcumscriptiot! of a taxrn witho~t the exclus:on of the tire 0cJes ~ot rr~"t i"he c:it~tlon of the name cf an aut.hDr ther t;,ai1 ttle one w'le lrst pub 1 l:;!: its 11 (1 1";"1 e . 11 But: ! I W hen the alt era t Ion h a·:; bee ,1 con s ; ~j 1":':: b 1 e t i.:. h ~~ Ilatute f change may oe lndl "ed by addi.-'9 su h words as eme'";,,,,'\. (en·rcnd.) followed by the author responsibl for' he change" (Recommendation 47a). The e:<ample of the Code i quite clear t.oo: "Phyllanthus l. emend. Mul Consequently, Potonle 1966 should read:
".!:L<:2.IO..0 d i_ a c I d i t esC 0 UP. 1 9 5 3 em end. R. POT. 1 9 5 6 " At thf': P! rst glance the differEnce between thEse two v"2.rs I {)r;s seem':; very slight, but there are two rernarkable points: 1. !n using parentheses in our empie, alwdys Olost aut1lor; must b
c ; ted 0 I nth e cor r e c t for OJ i t 1 s not 0 l1 1 1 gat 0 r y to d () I n ash 0 r t
citation it is permitted to write only the firs:, author: .!:.L,:,:?po?_~~cldi5e'3 Couper 1953. 2. It is strictly prescribed to use parentheses in connection wi\h the names of species (iCBN Article 1;9), but in nother sense' "Ihen one species is transferl"ed to anot er genus t or when a ta~~ll lower r~ll than genus is altered in rank. If we would consequently ~ parentheses also at an emendation of specfes, it would Gring much nfllsion.
recommend that palaeobotanlsts only use parentheses In the prescribed way, F. SCKAARSCHMI OT, Frankfurt.
ORGAN-GENERA AND FORH-GENERA IN HISTORiCAL PERSPECTIVE Although there were five "versions" of the Code lished betlo/eel"' 1867 and 1947, and although serious study of fossil p ant. dates back even before 1820, [here was very little legislation 1'01" fossil ta)wnomists before the Second World War, and no attempt to provide special taxa
·i eta C h D d i.' H~ D bot a t1 i ," ,
were Vias the
genera as it ShCl"N"S
~\t parts i,e re (or,
compri t h d t t f" I";:
and tj"i~
j':Jf.:,l,~ms reqt'l;~";-
:;ssed at 51yth
lr, i935.Du:.- t"c ~'e
~on cf N0mBflc tllre at t (smalt1s s;; ri'vaLely
and c.ir'.: 13ted y Ham!:; hair:
~n for r~l fobotany,~lllcll
q he names 0f fossil 'Jnt ~et out a~ d special append:x tlngulsh o(~at'-gener t!~ form
i also illlpor':ant In tn.;t
tIt t based on 'flurphologlcai as rea son i n 9 . ugh } tis n ow ace etc d by filQ S t
v.lt In':3 sinqle iIllng or fo sll genus he vu(lability ve r y 9 r 7 11 t ~ t L e ~ m s t e :' j a :n de fin 1 t ; \1'.' ere m u c h
a E.~~".~L~l::"f_"." ~ 5 S 1 9 nat Ion t 0 a n ~ t: n~' C] B nus I i:1 t ail t h f~ f () S 5 ! 1 p! U !I t! U \ 'J: a II::J \ II) r:I i' Y ~!, Y <..111 Y t" i i" ,J;
eve. tually t {.In;:; complete lant. The AlTIste proposals were rt! u arly contr0ve~'slal be~ause they defined t,"lxa as 5 clrnens tat i;!i"' than as absi.:r,)c~: liJyonop~!c ui1its~ ~ht;y prevent d edur:dte ferences !:JY i any it in t~e lJ "(,ct':-:;; of fns":;;' p ": ail i:. t a xo n D '1: Y ; n m tJ c h ;_ L e .:; ~H:H:~! W BY·' t ;1 res e n t r r, h;) 9 j" a phi c '1 :::. ' 1:~ 01 5
;asslf!~J In paly lo~y p."eV0nt sJidef1Ce 1)1" all larlee f eing d (; m:,!l:; t rat e d \,5, t. h e L r 1 t r aId e f I j': j ~ ; 'n sot
e would type s c e~. and tt'at 1:~H~ taxa not B u lit 'v/ as tor 9 a n - q e n e f' e t {) beg (0 U P e d! f ,J Iii 1 1 i e s .a n d that f lin'" f UnknCh!n L2'o:onomic I YIO!1'::ihip, fhruugh m1 in !r! he taX(l () fose: 11 i <Jl""lts frc.;fi' t I',E'; Ter t i at y Dr .r,. tafleu recent!t sent nit (, ~ (Opy .i\. Spral:Jue 9 19i~8. Ir!tc.:rnation~l ,des of Nomc~( ature~ Sup~Je nt, e~lbojy;!lg t .3 1 t era t j (; t": I"n a de a t te dam In 1 I hav r'.,rer,tiy ha l.hr, p<.!rt: of thl 13eobotaj"",1 ,...) j4etyped .e,f'! upllcate i I r u are "'"it a fl' py plea t: t mE' kn ,;,)'
end ne 80UlTEH,
JorJf",,,I" 1977, "L,nhoc 3 one of (S.V.M,) des Ca(dlo~eldaceae on the basis at new interpretation of t1elJbur"g from tIle Upper" Permian of ttle Pechora bLl':;-! n, Su se.q th i s i nterpreta t. i on was repeated I n Heyen 15
pap e r i n y \ ve r v tJ 1 U III e \iii hie his 1;1 p r f: S s. N e u bur- 9 req tded as pO:; E' 5 l ng con j Fe l'a lean 58'3 sea 1 es wi h Pi] ired 1 nverted seed", t 1-:)(11 nq and c at ion of til s SVM hi31 come to the. th<~t Car~d is a nea:" siJle
! th multiple seeds inside, and micr ubes come tal"
to a mouth ltuated near the attachment Of the cap ule stalk. noted that In none of the specimens tudled were the mouth and observed together. The specimen with the best preserved mouth is broken just near the opening. Inside the mouth there are no other detai ls visible, except for m\11tiple m;cropylar tu~es wtlose tips are arranged along the mouth opening In th pecimen where the stalk is well preserved, a 11 the D rea 1 n the vii ty of the s tal k at tdchr:1Bnt is covered with a mass of solid res n, squeezed oul from the capsule. Recently Hallna G. Smoller found a weI i pi'eserved specimen of
