Pachytestopsis tayloriorum gen. et sp. nov., an anatomically preserved glossopterid seed from the Lopingian of Queensland, Australia

• A permineralized seed, Pachytestopsistayloriorum gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Changhsingian (upper Permian) Fort Cooper Coal Measures at the Homevale locality in the northern Bowen Basin, Queensland,Australia. This largest permineralized seed species yet recorded from Permian deposits of Gondwana conforms to a size accommodated by either Rigbyaceae or Lidgettoniaceae (glossopterid) fructifications recorded elsewhere in the Sydney-Bowen basin complex. The seeds are characterized by a thin endotesta of longitudinally orientated cells, thick mesotesta incorporating an inner band of very thick walled sclereids and an outer layer of thin-walled parenchymatous cells, and an exotesta that comprises a well-developed epidermis and several layers of thick-walled hypodermal cells. Vascular supply to the base of the seed passes through the integument and bifurcates into the nucellar pad. Taeniate bisaccate pollen of Protohaploxypinus-type occurs in the pollen chamber of the seed. A comparison of the characters of P. tayloriorum with other permineralized seeds from the Permian of Gondwana indicates that several of the characters used in previous phylogenetic analyses incorporating glossopterids are wrongly scored or ambiguous in their definition.

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NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

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