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Givetian (Middle Devonian) cladoxylopsid 'ferns' from Orkney, Northern Scotland

Berry, Christopher Mark ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9521-5618 and Hilton, Jason 2006. Givetian (Middle Devonian) cladoxylopsid 'ferns' from Orkney, Northern Scotland. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences 97 (1) , pp. 65-73. 10.1017/S0263593300001401

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Abstract

Two large fossil plants are described from the Givetian (Middle Devonian) Eday Flags, South Ronaldsay, Orkney Isles, northern Scotland. Fossils with branches joined to stems of this age are rare. Each specimen comprises a robust and tapering main trunk from which numerous closely spaced branches arise distally. Although poorly preserved such that generic identifications are not possible, both specimens display the characteristic architecture of the plant order Pseudosporochnales (Cladoxylopsida). The newly discovered specimens demonstrate a variation in size and form that adds further data to the understanding of the ontogeny of these enigmatic plants, complementing recent morphological and anatomical findings. These specimens, in combination with many more fragmentary fossils of the same kind from the Orcadian sedimentary basin, add to our knowledge of the Givetian floras of Britain, and show that large plants with upright stems were present in the Middle Devonian landscape of Scotland.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Subjects: Q Science > QE Geology
Uncontrolled Keywords: Cladoxylopsida, Eday Beds, Eday Flags, Middle Old Red Sandstone, Orcadian basin, Pseudosporochnales
Additional Information: Pdf uploaded in accordance with publisher's policy at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/1755-6910/ (accessed 25/02/2014).
Publisher: CUP
ISSN: 1755-6929
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 30 March 2016
Last Modified: 06 May 2023 10:10
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/10037

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