Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T08:55:32.603Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The first record of Cooksonia from South Americain Silurian rocks of Bolivia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

E. Morel
Affiliation:
Department of Palaeobotany, La Plata Museum, Paseo del Bosque s/m, 1900 La Plata, Argentina
D. Edwards
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Wales Cardiff, P.O. Box 914, Cardiff CF1 3YE, UK
M. Iñigez Rodriguez
Affiliation:
C.I.G. Calle 1 No. 644, 1900 La Plata, Argentina

Abstract

Plant megafossils resembling Cooksonia caledonica Lang aredescribed from the Kirusillas Formation in southern Bolivia.Faunal and lithological evidence together with field relation-ships advocate a late Silurian (Ludlow) age. Palaeocontinentalreconstructions suggest that the plants grew on the western edgeof Gondwana at 50–60° S and indicate that Cooksonia hadspread to higher latitudes soon after its appearance in the Wenlock.

Type
Rapid Communication
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahlfeld, F. & Branisa, L., 1960. Geología de Bolivia. La Paz: Instituto Boliviano del Petroleo. 245 pp.Google Scholar
Andreis, R. R., Bottcher, G. M., Frigerio, M. L., Hinterwimmer, G. A. & Samosiuk, N. B., 1982. Interpretación paleoambiental de la secuencia paleozoicaaflorante en el Rio Grande, Sierra de Zapla, Jujuy, Argentina, y consideraciones sobre su edad. QuintoCongreso Latinoamericano de Geologia, Argentina, 1982. Actas II, 457–79.Google Scholar
Benedetto, J.-L., Sanchez, T. M. & Brussa, E. D., 1992. Las Cuencas Silúricas de América Latina. In Paleozoico Inferior de Ibero-América (eds Gutiérrez-Marco, J. C., Saavedra, J. and Rábano, I.), pp. 119148. Universidad de Extremadura.Google Scholar
Berry, W. B. N. & Boucor, A. J., 1972. Correlation of the SouthAmerican Silurian rocks. Geological Society of America, Special Paper 133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bossi, G. E. & Viramonte, J. G., 1975. Contribución alconocimiento de la petrología de los yacimientos ferríferos sedimentarios de Zapla y Unchimé (provincias de Jujuy y Salta, Rep. Argentina). II Congreso Ibero-Americano deGeologia Económica 5.Google Scholar
Böttcher, G., Frigerio, M., Samosiuk, N. & Vistalli, M. C., 1984. Modelo paleoambiental para la sedimentación de lasunidades precarbónicas (Siluro-Devónicas) en al subsuelode la cuenca Paleozoica del noroeste. Noveno CongresoGeologico Argentino, S.C. de Bariloche, 1984. Actas V, 8792.Google Scholar
Branisa, L., Chamot, G., Berry, W. B. N. & Boucot, A. J., 1972. Silurian of Bolivia. In Correlation of the SouthAmerican Silurian Rocks (eds Berry, W. B. N. and Boucot, A. J.), pp. 2131. Geological Society of America, Special Paper no. 133.Google Scholar
Cai, Chong-Yang, Dou, Ya-Wei & Edwards, D., 1993. Newobservations on a Přídolí plant assemblage from north Xinjiang, northwest China, with comments on its evolutionary and palaeogeographical significance. Geological Magazine 130, 155–70.Google Scholar
Cocks, L. R. M. & Scotese, C. R., 1991. The global biogeogra-phy of the Silurian Period. In The Murchison Symposium. Proceedings of an international conference on the Silurian System (eds Bassett, M. G., Lane, P. D. and Edwards, D.), pp. 109122. Special Papers in Palaeontology no. 44.Google Scholar
Crowell, J. C., Súarez-Soruco, R. & Rocha-Campos, A. C., 1981. The Silurian Cancañiri (Zapla) Formation of Bolivia, Argentina and Peru. In Earth's pre-Pleistocene glacial record (eds Hambrey, M. J. and Harland, W. B.), pp. 902907. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Crowley, T. J., Mengel, J. G. & Short, D. A., 1987. Gondwanaland's seasonal cycle. Nature 329, 803807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuerda, A. J. & Antelo, B., 1973. El limite Silúrico-Devónicoen los Andes Centrales y Orientales de Bolivia. V Congreso Geológico Argentino, Córdoba, 1973. Adas III, 183–96.Google Scholar
Daber, R., 1971. Cooksonia — one of the most ancient psilophytes — widely distributed, but rare. Botanique (Nagpur) 2, 3540.Google Scholar
Davila, J. & Rodriguez, E., 1967. The Devonian System in Bolivia and the problem of its base. In International Symposium on the Devonian System, Calgary, 1967, Volume II (ed. Oswald, D. H.), pp. 921–35. Calgary: Alberta Society of Petroleum Geologists.Google Scholar
Denham, C. R. & Scotese, C. R., 1987. “Terra Mobilis”: a plate tectonics program for the Macintosh. Earth in MotionTechnologies, PO Box 49245, Austin, Texas 78765.Google Scholar
Edwards, D., 1970. Fertile Rhyniophytina from the Lower Devonian of Britain. Palaeontology 13, 451–61.Google Scholar
Edwards, D., 1990 a. Silurian-Devonian paleobotany: problems, progress and potential. In Antarctic paleobiology. Its role in the reconstruction of Gondwana (eds Taylor, T. N. and Taylor, E. L.), pp. 89101. New York: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Edwards, D., 1990 b. Constraints on Silurian and Early Devonian phytogeographic analysis based on megafossils. In Palaeozoic palaeogeography and biogeography (eds McKerrow, W. S. and Scotese, C. R.), pp. 233242. The Geological Society of London, Memoir no. 12.Google Scholar
Edwards, D. & Edwards, D. S., 1986. A reconsideration of the Rhyniophytina, Banks. In Systematic and taxonomic approaches in palaeobotany (eds Spicer, R. A. and Thomas, B. A.), pp. 199220. The Systematics AssociationSpecial Volume no. 31. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Edwards, D. & Rogerson, E. C. W., 1979. New records offer-tile Rhyniophytina from the late Silurian of Wales. Geological Magazine 116, 9398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, D., Feehan, J. & Smith, D. G., 1983. A late Wenlock flora from Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 86, 1936.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fanning, U., Edwards, D. & Richardson, J. B., 1992. Adiverse assemblage of early land plants from the Lower Devonian of the Welsh Borderland. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 109, 161–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garratt, M. J., Tims, J. D., Rickards, R. B., Chambers, T. C. & Douglas, J. G., 1984. The appearance of Baragwanathia (Lycophytina) in the Silurian. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 89, 355–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gensel, P. G., 1976. Renalia hueberi, A New Plant from the Lower Devonian of Gaspé. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 22, 1937.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hambrey, M. J., 1985. The Late Ordovician—Early Silurianglacial period. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 51, 273–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lang, W. H., 1937. On the plant-remains from the Downtonian of England and Wales. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 227, 245–91.Google Scholar
Lobo, J., Súarez-Riglos, M. & Súarez-Soruco, R., 1976. Nuevas unidades cronoestratigráficas para el Paleozoicomedio de la Provincia Austral Sudamericana. V Convención Nacional de Geología Potosi, Bolivia.Google Scholar
Lopez, Pugliessi J. M. & Lopez, Murillo R. D., 1975. Estratigrafía de los Sistemas Silúrico y Devónico de Bolivia. Revista Técnica de YPFB (Yacimentos PetroliferosFiscales Bolivianos) 4, 233–64.Google Scholar
McGregor, D. C., 1984. Late Silurian and Devonian spores from Bolivia. Córdoba, Argentina, Academica Nacional de Ciencias, Miscelanea no. 69.Google Scholar
McKerrow, W. S. & Scotese, C. R., 1990. Palaeozoic palaeo-geography and biogeography. The Geological Society of London, Memoir no. 12.Google Scholar
Obrhel, J., 1962. Die Flora der Přídolí-Schichten (Budnany-Stufe) des mittelböhmischen Silurs. Geologie 11, 8397.Google Scholar
Parrish, J. T., 1990. Gondwanan paleogeography and paleoclimatology. In Antarctic paleobiology. Its role in the recon-struction of Gondwana (eds Taylor, T. N. and Taylor, E. L.), pp. 1526. New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petriella, B. & Súarez-Soruco, R., 1989. Presencia de plantasterrestres, probablemente vasculares, en las formaciones Kirusillas y Tarabuco (Lampayano-Silúrico Superior) de Bolivia. Revista Técnica de YPFB (Yacimentos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos) 10, 119–21.Google Scholar
Racheboeuf, P. R. & Branisa, L., 1985. New data on Silurian and Devonian chonetacean brachiopods from Bolivia. Journal of Paleontology 59, 1426–50.Google Scholar
Racheboeuf, P. R., Le Herisse, A., Paris, F., Babin, C., Guillocheau, F. & Truyols-Massoni, M., 1993. El Devónico de Bolivia: bio y chroneostratigrafípa. Bulletin Institut français études andines 22, 645–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richardson, J. B. & Edwards, D., 1989. Sporomorphs and plant megafossils. In A global standard for the Silurian system (eds Holland, C. H. and Bassett, M. G.), pp. 216–26. National Museum of Wales Geological Series no. 9, Cardiff.Google Scholar
Rodrigo, L. A., Castaños, A. & Carrasco, R., 1977. La Formación Cancañiri, sedimentología y paleogeografía. Revista de Geociencia, University Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia 1, 122.Google Scholar
Van Der Voo, R., 1988. Paleozoic paleogeography of NorthAmerica, Gondwana, and intervening displaced terranes:comparisons of paleomagnetism with paleoclimatologyand biogeographical patterns. Bulletin of the GeologicalSociety of America 100, 311–24.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yurina, A. L., 1969. Devonian floras of central Kazakhstan. Materiely po geologii Shentral 'nogo Kazakhstana 8, 1208.Google Scholar