Agathoxylon Explained

Agathoxylon (also known by the synonyms Dadoxylon and Araucarioxylon) is a form genus of fossil wood, including massive tree trunks. Although identified from the late Palaeozoic to the end of the Mesozoic,[1] Agathoxylon is common from the Carboniferous to Triassic. Agathoxylon represents the wood of multiple conifer groups, including both Araucariaceae[2] and Cheirolepidiaceae,[3] with late Paleozoic and Triassic forms possibly representing other conifers or other seed plant groups like "pteridosperms".

Description

Agathoxylon were large trees that bore long strap-like leaves and trunks with small, narrow rays. Often the original cellular structure is preserved as a result of silica in solution in the ground water becoming deposited within the wood cells. This mode of fossilization is termed permineralization.

Systematics

As a genus, Dadoxylon was poorly defined, and apart from Araucariaceae, has been associated with fossil wood as diverse as Cordaitales,[4] Glossopteridales and Podocarpaceae. Furthermore, it may be the same form genus as Araucarioxylon, hence the usage Dadoxylon (Araucarioxylon).[5] The genus Agathoxylon, classified under the family Araucariaceae,[6] has nomenclatural priority over the genera Araucarioxylon and Dadoxylon.[7] [8] [9]

Several Dadoxylon species, such as D. brandlingii and D. saxonicum have been identified as Araucarites.[10] D. arberi and D. sp.1 were synonymised with the glossopterid species Australoxylon teixterae and A. natalense, respectively; while D. sp. 2 was transferred to Protophyllocladoxylon.

Species

Distribution

Agathoxylon is common in many parts of the world, found in sites of both Gondwana and Laurasia and reported from southern Africa,[23] Asia,[24] the Middle East,[25] Europe,[10] South America,[26] [27] and North America.[28]

In southern Africa, Agathoxylon is widespread in the Karoo Supergroup.[29] In Zimbabwe, it is especially encountered in the Pebbly Arkose Formation,[30] and also reported frequently from the Angwa Sandstone Formation.[31] [32]

Notes and References

  1. 10.1016/0034-6667(91)90014-T. Les espèces du genre Dadoxylon depuis 1962: Leur répartition et leur évolution du Permien à la fin du Mésozoïque. 1991. Giraud. Bernadette. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 67. 1–2. 13–39. 1991RPaPa..67...13G .
  2. Santos . Ângela Cristine Scaramuzza . Siegloch . Anelise Marta . Guerra-Sommer . Margot . Degani-Schmidt . Isabela . Carvalho . Ismar . December 2021 . Agathoxylon santanensis sp. nov. from the Aptian Crato fossil Lagerstätte, Santana Formation, Araripe Basin, Brazil . Journal of South American Earth Sciences . en . 112 . 103633 . 10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103633. 2021JSAES.11203633S . 244110901 .
  3. Thevenard . Frédéric . Chernomorets . Oleksandra . Moreau . Jean-David . Neraudeau . Didier . Philippe . Marc . 2022-08-30 . A review of the Hirmeriellaceae (Cheirolepidiaceae) wood . IAWA Journal . 43 . 4 . 428–447 . 10.1163/22941932-bja10099 . 252025365 . 0928-1541.
  4. Book: D.H. Scott. 1909. Studies in fossil botany. Vol. 2 Spermophyta. Adam and Charles Black, London..
  5. 10.1016/j.crpv.2010.10.010. How many species of Araucarioxylon?. 2011. Philippe. Marc. Comptes Rendus Palevol. 10. 2–3. 201–208. 2011CRPal..10..201P .
  6. Frank H. Knowlton. 1889. New species of fossil wood (Araucarioxylon arizonicum) from Arizona and New Mexico. Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 11. 676. 1 - 5. 10.5479/si.00963801.11-676.1.
  7. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 2001. 113. 287–297. Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Gondwanan homoxylous woods: a nomenclatural revision of the genera with taxonomic notes. M. Bamford and M. Philippe. 4. 10.1016/S0034-6667(00)00065-8. 11179718. 2001RPaPa.113..287B .
  8. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 2008. 148. 184–207. A key to morphogenera used for Mesozoic conifer-like woods. M. Philippe and M. Bamford. 2–4. 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2007.09.004. 2008RPaPa.148..184P .
  9. Taxon. 2014. 63. 177–184. Which name(s) should be used for Araucaria-like fossil wood?—Results of a poll. R. Rößler, M. Philippe, J. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert, S. Mcloughlin, J. Sakala and G. Zijlstra. 10.12705/631.7. 1874/306568. 42143019 . free.
  10. 10.1127/0077-7749/2009/0252-0269. Silicified wood from the Czech part of the Intra Sudetic Basin (Late Pennsylvanian, Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic): Systematics, silicification and palaeoenvironment . 2009. Mencl. Václav. Matysová. Petra. Sakala. Jakub. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 252. 3. 269.
  11. South African Journal of Geology. 2020. 123. 10.25131/sajg.123.0036. Silicified fossil woods from the Late Permian Middleton Formation, Beaufort Group, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa and their palaeoenvironmental significance. M.K. Bamford, Bruce Cairncross and H. Lombard. 4. 465–478. 2020SAJG..123..465B . 228943477.
  12. Palaeontologica Africana. 2018. 52. 194–200. Fossil trees from the basal Triassic Lebung Group at the Makgaba site, west of Mokubilo, Botswana. M. de Wit, M. Bamford & C. van Waarden.
  13. Cretaceous Research. 2017. 77. 28–38. Conifer fossil woods from the Santa Marta Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Brandy Bay, James Ross Island, Antarctica. Roberto R. Pujana, Maria Eugenia Raffi and Eduardo B. Olivero. 10.1016/j.cretres.2017.04.016. 2017CrRes..77...28P .
  14. Pujana, R. R., Wilf, P., & Gandolfo, M. A. (2020). Conifer wood assemblage dominated by Podocarpaceae, early Eocene of Laguna del Hunco, central Argentinean Patagonia. PhytoKeys, 156, 81–102. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.156.54175
  15. Palaeontologica Africana. 2016. 50. 18–30. Permo-Triassic palynology and palaeobotany of Zambia: A review. Natasha Barbolini, Marion Bamford and Steve Tolan.
  16. Erlanger Geologische Abhandlungen. 1965. 59. 1–76. Untersuchungen zur Anatomie und Systematik der Verkieselten Holzer aus dem Frankischen und Sunthuringischen Keuper. D. Vogellehner.
  17. The Palaeobotanist. 1963. 14. 267–269. Studies on the Glossopteris flora of India - 16. Dadoxylon jamudhiense, a new species of fossil wood from the Raniganj stage of Jharia Coalfield, Bihar. H.K. Maheshwari.
  18. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 1982. 38. 119–156. An annotated synopsis of Indian Palaeozoic gymnospermous woods. M.N.V. Prasad. 1–2. 10.1016/0034-6667(82)90053-7. 1982RPaPa..38..119P .
  19. Botswana Notes and Records. 1997. 29. 1–8. Fossil wood from the Boteti River and Tshaitshe, Botswana. Marion Bamford. 40980182.
  20. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 1933. 11. 236–241. Triassic wood from the Malay States. W.N. Edwards. 2 (117). 41559820.
  21. Fossil Evolutionary Botany and Biostratigraphy. 1984. A.K. Ghosh Commemorative Volume. 451–461. Plants from the Luangwa and Luano Valleys of Zambia and their bearing on age determination. W.S. Lacey and R.C. Lucas.
  22. Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae. 2004. 4. 137–150. New conifers in the Late Cretaceous lignoflora from the South Apuseni. E. Iamandei and S. Iamandei.
  23. Book: Colin MacRae. 1999. Life etched in stone: Fossils of South Africa. The Geological Society of South Africa, Johannesburg.
  24. 10.1134/S0031030110040131. Possible traces of feeding by beetles in coniferophyte wood from the Kazanian of the Kama River basin. 2010. Naugolnykh. S. V.. Ponomarenko. A. G.. Paleontological Journal. 44. 4. 468. 2010PalJ...44..468N . 129151531.
  25. IAWA Journal. 2012. 33. 319–326. fIrst Report of Araucariaceae wood (Agathoxylon sp.) from the Late Cretaceous of Turkey. Hatice Kutluk, Osman Kır and Ünal Akkemik. 3. 10.1163/22941932-90000097. free.
  26. Pesquisas em Geociências. 36. 223–232. O complexo Dadoxylon-Araucarioxylon, Carbonífero e Permiano do Gondwana: estudo taxonômico do gênero Dadoxylon. Francine Kurzawe and Sheila Merlotti. 2012-03-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20120406121626/http://www.pesquisasemgeociencias.ufrgs.br/3602/06-3602.pdf. 2012-04-06. dead.
  27. Journal of Paleontology. 2018. 92. 2. 1–22. Coniferous wood of Agathoxylon from the La Matilde Formation, (Middle Jurassic), Santa Cruz, Argentina. Adriana Kloster and Silvia Gnaedinger. 10.1017/jpa.2017.145. 2018JPal...92..546K . 11336/91290. 134153671. free.
  28. 10.1111/j.1365-2451.2011.00803.x. Fossil wood. 2011. Falcon-Lang. Howard J.. Geology Today. 27. 4. 154–158. 2011GeolT..27..154F . 247666981 .
  29. Palaeontologica Africana. 1999. 35. 25–40. Permo-Triassic fossil woods from the South African Karoo Basin. Marion Bamford.
  30. 10.1016/0031-0182(90)90204-K. The Zambezi River: Tectonism, climatic change and drainage evolution. 1990. Nugent. Chris. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 78. 1–2. 55–69. 1990PPP....78...55N.
  31. P.M. Oesterlen. 1990. The geology of the Dande West area (western Cabora Bassa Basin) - a preliminary report. 14. Annals of the Zimbabwe Geological Survey. 12–20.
  32. D. Love. 1997. The geology of the Chirundu area, Zambezi Valley. Annals of the Zimbabwe Geological Survey. 18. 18–26.

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