Agathoxylon

{{Short description|Extinct genus of conifers of the family Araucariaceae}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Late Carboniferous-Maastrichtian {{fossil range|317|66}}

| image = Dadoxylon-chalala.jpg

| image_caption = Agathoxylon fossil trunks from the Bumi Hills area of Zimbabwe

| taxon = Agathoxylon

| authority = Hartig 1848

| type_species = {{extinct}}Agathoxylon cordaianum

| type_species_authority = Hartig 1848

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

| synonyms =

{{collapsible list|bullets = true

|title={{small|Agathoxylon synonymy}}

|Agathoxylon
{{small|P.Greguss 1952}}{{cite web|year=1996|title=Index Nominum Genericorum (ING). A compilation of generic names published for organisms covered by the ICN: International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants. [previously: organisms covered by the International Code for Botanical Nomenclature]|editor1=E.R. Farr |editor2=G. Zijlstra|url=http://botany.si.edu/ing/}}

|Araucariopsis
{{small|Caspary}}

|Araucarioxylon
{{small|Kraus}}{{cite book |last1=Torrey |first1=R. E. |year=1923 |chapter=The comparative anatomy and phylogeny of the Coniferales Part 3: Mesozoic and Tertiary coniferous woods |title=Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada |publisher=Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History |series=3 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=38–103}}

|Cordaioxylon
{{small|Felix}}

|Cordaixylon
{{small|Grand}}

|Cordaites

|Dadoxylon
{{small|Endlicher}}

|Dammaroxylon
{{small|J.Schultze-Motel}}

|Palaeoxylon
{{small|A.T.Brongniart}}

|Peuce
{{small|Lindley & W.Hutton}}

|Platyspiroxylon
{{small|P.Greguss}}

|Simplicioxylon
{{small|G.Andreánszky}}

}}

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,{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0034-6667(91)90014-T|title=Les espèces du genre Dadoxylon depuis 1962: Leur répartition et leur évolution du Permien à la fin du Mésozoïque|year=1991|last1=Giraud|first1=Bernadette|journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology|volume=67|issue=1–2|pages=13–39|bibcode=1991RPaPa..67...13G }} Agathoxylon is common from the Carboniferous to Triassic. Agathoxylon represents the wood of multiple conifer groups, including both Araucariaceae{{Cite journal |last1=Santos |first1=Ângela Cristine Scaramuzza |last2=Siegloch |first2=Anelise Marta |last3=Guerra-Sommer |first3=Margot |last4=Degani-Schmidt |first4=Isabela |last5=Carvalho |first5=Ismar |date=December 2021 |title=Agathoxylon santanensis sp. nov. from the Aptian Crato fossil Lagerstätte, Santana Formation, Araripe Basin, Brazil |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0895981121004788 |journal=Journal of South American Earth Sciences |language=en |volume=112 |pages=103633 |doi=10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103633|bibcode=2021JSAES.11203633S |s2cid=244110901 }} and Cheirolepidiaceae,{{Cite journal |last1=Thevenard |first1=Frédéric |last2=Chernomorets |first2=Oleksandra |last3=Moreau |first3=Jean-David |last4=Neraudeau |first4=Didier |last5=Philippe |first5=Marc |date=2022-08-30 |title=A review of the Hirmeriellaceae (Cheirolepidiaceae) wood |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/iawa/43/4/article-p428_5.xml |journal=IAWA Journal |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=428–447 |doi=10.1163/22941932-bja10099 |s2cid=252025365 |issn=0928-1541}} 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,{{cite book|author=D.H. Scott|year=1909|title=Studies in fossil botany. Vol. 2 Spermophyta|publisher=Adam and Charles Black, London.}} Glossopteridales and Podocarpaceae. Furthermore, it may be the same form genus as Araucarioxylon, hence the usage Dadoxylon (Araucarioxylon).{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2010.10.010|title=How many species of Araucarioxylon?|year=2011|last1=Philippe|first1=Marc|journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol|volume=10|issue=2–3|pages=201–208|bibcode=2011CRPal..10..201P }} The genus Agathoxylon, classified under the family Araucariaceae,{{cite journal|author=Frank H. Knowlton|year=1889|title=New species of fossil wood (Araucarioxylon arizonicum) from Arizona and New Mexico|journal=Proceedings of the United States National Museum|volume=11|issue=676|pages=1–5|url=http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/13045/1/USNMP-11_676_1888.pdf|doi=10.5479/si.00963801.11-676.1}} has nomenclatural priority over the genera Araucarioxylon and Dadoxylon.{{cite journal|journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology|year=2001|volume=113|pages=287–297|title=Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Gondwanan homoxylous woods: a nomenclatural revision of the genera with taxonomic notes|author=M. Bamford and M. Philippe|issue=4|doi=10.1016/S0034-6667(00)00065-8|pmid=11179718|bibcode=2001RPaPa.113..287B |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12150653}}{{cite journal|journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology|year=2008|volume=148|pages=184–207|title=A key to morphogenera used for Mesozoic conifer-like woods|author=M. Philippe and M. Bamford|issue=2–4|doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2007.09.004|bibcode=2008RPaPa.148..184P |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0034666707001108}}{{cite journal|journal=Taxon|year=2014|volume=63|pages=177–184|title=Which name(s) should be used for Araucaria-like fossil wood?—Results of a poll|author=R. Rößler, M. Philippe, J. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert, S. Mcloughlin, J. Sakala and G. Zijlstra|doi=10.12705/631.7|hdl=1874/306568|s2cid=42143019 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259272368|hdl-access=free}}

Several Dadoxylon species, such as D. brandlingii and D. saxonicum have been identified as Araucarites.{{cite journal|doi=10.1127/0077-7749/2009/0252-0269|title=Silicified wood from the Czech part of the Intra Sudetic Basin (Late Pennsylvanian, Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic): Systematics, silicification and palaeoenvironment |year=2009|last1=Mencl|first1=Václav|last2=Matysová|first2=Petra|last3=Sakala|first3=Jakub|journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen|volume=252|issue=3|pages=269}} 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=

Agathoxylon arizonicum [=Araucarioxylon arizonicum] Chinle Formation, Arizona, New Mexico, United States Late Triassic
Agathoxylon africanum (Bamford 1999) [=Araucarioxylon africanum]: Daptocephalus Assemblage Zone, Middleton Formation and Normandien Formation to Cynognathus Assemblage Zone, Burgersdorp Formation and Driekoppen Formation, Beaufort Group, South Africa,{{cite journal|journal=South African Journal of Geology|year=2020|volume=123|doi=10.25131/sajg.123.0036|title=Silicified fossil woods from the Late Permian Middleton Formation, Beaufort Group, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa and their palaeoenvironmental significance|author=M.K. Bamford, Bruce Cairncross and H. Lombard|issue=4|pages=465–478|bibcode=2020SAJG..123..465B |s2cid=228943477|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346431230}} and Lebung Group, Botswana{{cite journal|journal=Palaeontologica Africana|year=2018|volume=52|pages=194–200|title=Fossil trees from the basal Triassic Lebung Group at the Makgaba site, west of Mokubilo, Botswana|author=M. de Wit, M. Bamford & C. van Waarden|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324248609}}
Agathoxylon agathioides (Kräusel & Jain): La Matilde Formation, Argentina
Agathoxylon antarcticus (Poole & Cantrill 2001) Pujana et al. 2014 [=A. matildense, Araucarioxylon antarcticus]: Santa Marta Formation and La Meseta Formation, Antarctica{{cite journal|journal=Cretaceous Research|year=2017|volume=77|pages=28–38|title=Conifer fossil woods from the Santa Marta Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Brandy Bay, James Ross Island, Antarctica|author=Roberto R. Pujana, Maria Eugenia Raffi and Eduardo B. Olivero|doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2017.04.016|bibcode=2017CrRes..77...28P |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316579046}}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
Agathoxylon arberi (Seward 1919) [=Dadoxylon arberi]
Agathoxylon australe[=Dadoxylon australe]
Agathoxylon bougheyi Williams [=Dadoxylon bougheyi]: Madumabisa Mudstone Formation, Zambia and Somabula Beds, Zimbabwe{{cite journal|journal=Palaeontologica Africana|year=2016|volume=50|pages=18–30|title=Permo-Triassic palynology and palaeobotany of Zambia: A review|author=Natasha Barbolini, Marion Bamford and Steve Tolan|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298739083}}
Agathoxylon cordaianum Hartig 1848
Agathoxylon desnoyersii (Phillipe 2011) [=Araucarioxylon desnoyersii]
Agathoxylon duplicatum (Vogellehner 1965) [=Dadoxylon duplicatum]: Germany{{cite journal|journal=Erlanger Geologische Abhandlungen|year=1965|volume=59|pages=1–76|title=Untersuchungen zur Anatomie und Systematik der Verkieselten Holzer aus dem Frankischen und Sunthuringischen Keuper|author=D. Vogellehner}}
Agathoxylon jamudhiense (Maheshwari 1963) [=Dadoxylon jamudhiense]: India{{cite journal|journal=The Palaeobotanist|year=1963|volume=14|pages=267–269|title=Studies on the Glossopteris flora of India - 16. Dadoxylon jamudhiense, a new species of fossil wood from the Raniganj stage of Jharia Coalfield, Bihar|author=H.K. Maheshwari|url=http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/380}}
Agathoxylon karooensis (Bamford 1999) [=Araucarioxylon karooensis]: Daptocephalus AZ, Middleton and Normandien Formations, South Africa
Agathoxylon kellerense (Lucas and Lacey 1984) [=Araucarioxylon kellerense, Dadoxylon kellerense]: Santa Marta Formation, Antarctica
Agathoxylon lemonii Tidwell & Thayn 1986: Dakota Formation, Utah
Agathoxylon maharashtraensis (Prasad 1982) [=Dadoxylon maharashtraensis]: India{{cite journal|journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology|year=1982|volume=38|pages=119–156|title=An annotated synopsis of Indian Palaeozoic gymnospermous woods|author=M.N.V. Prasad|issue=1–2|doi=10.1016/0034-6667(82)90053-7|bibcode=1982RPaPa..38..119P |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0034666782900537}}
Agathoxylon parenchymatosum (Vogellehner 1965) [=Araucarioxylon parenchymatosum, Dadoxylon parenchymatosum]: Forest Sandstone Formation, Botswana{{cite journal|journal=Botswana Notes and Records|year=1997|volume=29|pages=1–8|title=Fossil wood from the Boteti River and Tshaitshe, Botswana|author=Marion Bamford|jstor=40980182|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40980182}}
Agathoxylon pseudoparenchymatosum (Gothan 1908) Pujana et al. 2014 [=Araucarioxylon chilense, A. kerguelense, A. novaezeelandii, A. pseudoparenchymatosum, Dadoxylon kaiparaense, D. kergulense, D. pseudoparenchymatosum]: Santa Marta Formation, Antarctica
Agathoxylon santacruzense Kloster and Gnaedinger 2018: La Matilde Formation, Argentina
Agathoxylon santalense (Sah & Jain): La Matilde Formation, Argentina
Agathoxylon sclerosum (Walton) Kräusel 1956 [=Dadoxylon sclerosum, Kaokoxylon sclerosum]: Malay Peninsula,{{cite journal|journal=Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society|year=1933|volume=11|pages=236–241|title=Triassic wood from the Malay States|author=W.N. Edwards|issue=2 (117)|jstor=41559820|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41559820}} Dwyka Group to Molteno Formation, Stormberg Group, South Africa, and Ntawere Formation, Zambia{{cite journal|journal=Fossil Evolutionary Botany and Biostratigraphy|year=1984|volume=A.K. Ghosh Commemorative Volume|pages=451–461|title=Plants from the Luangwa and Luano Valleys of Zambia and their bearing on age determination|author=W.S. Lacey and R.C. Lucas|url=https://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US201301440930}}
Agathoxylon termieri (Attims) Gnaedinger & Herbst: La Matilde Formation, Argentina
Agathoxylon ulmitus Iamandei & Iamandei 2004: Romania{{cite journal|journal=Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae|year=2004|volume=4|pages=137–150|title=New conifers in the Late Cretaceous lignoflora from the South Apuseni|author=E. Iamandei and S. Iamandei|url=https://www.academia.edu/25967003}}
Agathoxylon woodworthii (Knowlton 1899) [=Dadoxylon woodworthii]: United States

Distribution

Agathoxylon is common in many parts of the world, found in sites of both Gondwana and Laurasia and reported from southern Africa,{{cite book|author=Colin MacRae|year=1999|title=Life etched in stone: Fossils of South Africa|publisher=The Geological Society of South Africa, Johannesburg}} Asia,{{cite journal|doi=10.1134/S0031030110040131|title=Possible traces of feeding by beetles in coniferophyte wood from the Kazanian of the Kama River basin|year=2010|last1=Naugolnykh|first1=S. V.|last2=Ponomarenko|first2=A. G.|journal=Paleontological Journal|volume=44|issue=4|pages=468|bibcode=2010PalJ...44..468N |s2cid=129151531}} the Middle East,{{cite journal|journal=IAWA Journal|year=2012|volume=33|pages=319–326|title=fIrst Report of Araucariaceae wood (Agathoxylon sp.) from the Late Cretaceous of Turkey|author=Hatice Kutluk, Osman Kır and Ünal Akkemik|issue=3|doi=10.1163/22941932-90000097|doi-access=free}} Europe, South America,{{cite journal|journal=Pesquisas em Geociências|volume=36|pages=223–232|title=O complexo Dadoxylon-Araucarioxylon, Carbonífero e Permiano do Gondwana: estudo taxonômico do gênero Dadoxylon|author=Francine Kurzawe and Sheila Merlotti|url=http://www.pesquisasemgeociencias.ufrgs.br/3602/06-3602.pdf|access-date=2012-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406121626/http://www.pesquisasemgeociencias.ufrgs.br/3602/06-3602.pdf|archive-date=2012-04-06|url-status=dead}}{{cite journal|journal=Journal of Paleontology|year=2018|volume=92|number=2|pages=1–22|title=Coniferous wood of Agathoxylon from the La Matilde Formation, (Middle Jurassic), Santa Cruz, Argentina|author=Adriana Kloster and Silvia Gnaedinger|doi=10.1017/jpa.2017.145|bibcode=2018JPal...92..546K |hdl=11336/91290|s2cid=134153671|hdl-access=free}} and North America.{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2451.2011.00803.x|title=Fossil wood|year=2011|last1=Falcon-Lang|first1=Howard J.|journal=Geology Today|volume=27|issue=4|pages=154–158|bibcode=2011GeolT..27..154F |s2cid=247666981 }}

In southern Africa, Agathoxylon is widespread in the Karoo Supergroup.{{cite journal|journal=Palaeontologica Africana|year=1999|volume=35|pages=25–40|title=Permo-Triassic fossil woods from the South African Karoo Basin|author=Marion Bamford|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279564390}} In Zimbabwe, it is especially encountered in the Pebbly Arkose Formation,{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0031-0182(90)90204-K|title=The Zambezi River: Tectonism, climatic change and drainage evolution|year=1990|last1=Nugent|first1=Chris|journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology|volume=78|issue=1–2|pages=55–69|bibcode=1990PPP....78...55N}} and also reported frequently from the Angwa Sandstone Formation.{{cite journal|author =P.M. Oesterlen|year=1990|title=The geology of the Dande West area (western Cabora Bassa Basin) - a preliminary report|volume=14|journal=Annals of the Zimbabwe Geological Survey|pages=12–20}}{{cite journal|author=D. Love|year=1997|title=The geology of the Chirundu area, Zambezi Valley|journal=Annals of the Zimbabwe Geological Survey|volume=18|pages=18–26}}

Agathoxylon

Description

Systematics

=Species=

Distribution

References