| Abstract Detail
Paleobotanical Section KAPGATE, DASHRATH [1], Manchester, Steven R. [2], Chitaley, Shyamala [3]. A permineralized fruit with winged seeds from the Deccan Intertrappean sediments of India. The Mohgaonkalan locality of Chhindwara Dist., Madhya Pradesh, India, of Late Cretaceous or Paleocene age, is known for a diversity of well preserved silicified flowers and fruits. We revisit the genus, Wingospermocarpon Sheikh & Kapgate, based upon three specimens exposed longitudinally in fractures of black silicified chert. Serial peel sections were made following etching by hydrofluoric acid to reveal internal structure. The fruit is an oval to oblong follicle, 5.4 to 9.5 mm in dorsivental dimension and 2.5 to 5.0 mm in breadth. It is broad dorsally and slightly tapers toward the ventral slit, along the plane of dehiscence. The unilocular fruit contains numerous winged seeds (7 to 20 transected in a single plane of section) which occupy the entire area of the locule. The pericarp is smooth and thin walled (70 to 95µm thick), multilayered, differentiated into three zones, including a uniseriate epidermis underlain by a 2- to 3-seriate hypodermis, and an inner sclerenchymatous zone 4-5 cells thick. The seeds are oval to elongate in shape, 0.5 to 1 mm thick and up to 4 mm wide, covered by a thin membranous wing with prominent sclerenchymatous tips at both ends. The seed coat is bitegmic with a thin, single-layered tegmen and an outer testa forming the membranous wing. We compare and contrast the morphology of this fruit with extant follicular fruits bearing winged seeds, e.g., Cercidiphyllaceae, and Ranunculaceae, and discuss whether these similarities indicate shared affinities or instances of convergence.
Log in to add this item to your schedule
1 - J. M. PATEL College, Post Graduate Department of Botany, Bhandara, Maharastra, 441904, India
2 - Florida Museum of Natural History, Dickinson Hall, P.O. Box 117800, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA
3 - Cleveland Museum of Natatural History, 1 Wade Oval, University Cir, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106-1767, USA
Keywords:
none specified
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for BSA Sections
Session: 69
Location: Superior A/Cliff Lodge - Level C
Date: Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
Time: 1:00 PM
Number: 69001
Abstract ID:839 |
