46 



PALEOZOIC FOSSIL SPORES 



Trilctcs karcacwskii Zerndt, 1934, 

 Acad, polonaise sci. Trav. Geol. no. 1, p. 

 27, pi. 31, fig. 3. 

 Note. — Agrees well with Endosporites though 

 larger than most species. 



4. Endosporites ornatus Wilson and Coe, 

 1940, Am. Midland Naturalist, vol. 23, no. 

 1, p. 184, fig. 2. 



Spore 6, Wilson and Brokaw, 1937, 

 Iowa Acad. Sci., vol. 44, pp. 129-130, fig. 6. 



5. Endosporites pellucidus Wilson and Coe, 

 1940, Am. Midland Naturalist, vol. 23, no. 1, 

 p. 184, fig. 3. 



Spore 1, Wilson and Brokaw, 1937, 

 Iowa Acad. Sci., vol. 44, pp. 128-129, fig. 1. 



6. Endosporites rotundus (Ibrahim) S. W. 

 and B., comb. nov. 



Zonales-sporites rottmdus Ibrahim, 



1933, Sporenformen des Aegirhorizonts, p. 

 31, pi. 8, fig. 73. 



7. Endosporites rugatus (Ibrahim) S. W. 

 and B., comb. nov. 



Zonales-sporites rugatus Ibrahim, 1933, 

 idem, p. 31, pi. 8, fig. 70. 



8. Endosporites volans (Loose) S. W. and 

 B., comb. nov. 



Sporonites volans Loose, 1932, Neues 

 Jahrb., Beilage-Band 67, Abt. B, p. 451, 

 pi. 18, fig. 46. 



Reticulati-sporites volans (Loose) Ib- 

 rahim, 1933, Sporenformen des Aegirhori- 

 zonts, p. 36. 



Zonales-sporites volans (Loose) Loose, 



1934, Inst. Palaobot. Arb., vol. 4, no. 3, 

 p. 149. 



Note. — Trilete rays are shorter than is com- 

 mon in this genus. 



Genus Triquitrites Wilson and Coe, 

 1940 



Plate 3, figures 20-20b 



Symmetry. — Spores trilete ; radial. 



Form. — Oval to elliptical in vertical 

 plane, distal side sometimes slightly more 

 inflated than the proximal ; in the equato- 

 rial plane triangular in outline, corners 

 rounded or truncate subangular and some- 

 times extended, sides slightly convex to 

 strongly concave in profile. Folds are 

 seldom induced by compression due to 

 good preferential orientation coinciding 

 with the horizontal plane of the spores ; 

 forms more inflate distally are indicated 

 through a tendency of the corners to be 

 directed slightly upwards exaggerating the 

 natural thickening of the spore coat on the 

 angles. 



Sise. — Spores of various species com- 

 monly range from 35 to 70 microns in 

 mean diameter. 



Ornamentation. — Surfaces levigate to 

 granulose and mildly verrucose, angular 

 areas sometimes more highly ornamented. 

 Emphytic ornamentation of proximal and 

 distal surfaces is about the same. 



Haptotypic structures. — Trilete rays ex- 

 tended nearly to the margin of the body 

 cavity; lips sometimes rather thick and 

 prominent, but usually not particularly 

 demarcated. Arcuate ridges lacking ; like- 

 wise, no flange in the usual sense is de- 

 veloped though extreme extensions of the 

 spore coat at the angles may simulate a 

 partial flange. 



Spore coat. — Characterized by gross in- 

 equalities in exospore thickness ; spore 

 coat is thickest on the angles opposite ends 

 of the rays and thinnest in the central 

 distal and possibly to a somewhat lesser 

 extent on the interradial areas. Actual 

 thickness of difl^erent parts of the wall 

 in various species varies greatly although 

 the relations of thicker and thinner areas 

 of the spore coat is rather constant. 



Affinity. ■ — - Triquitrites cannot be as- 

 signed to any major plant group at the 

 present time although the character of the 

 spore coat seems so individualistic that 

 the genus is considered to correspond with 

 natural plant relationship. The features, in 

 general, seem to agree best with spores of 

 filicineans. 



Type 10 of Millott (1939) belongs to 

 Triquitrites and probably type D^o of Rai- 

 strick (1938). Type D, (Raistrick, 1934, 

 1935, 1938) shows more extreme thicken- 

 ing of the radial angles of the spore coat 

 so that it is evidently closely related to 

 this genus, though it is a question whether 

 it should be classified as Triquitrites or 

 distinguished from it. Knox' Type 4K 

 (1942) is clearly congeneric. Spores of 

 the same sort but even more extreme have 

 been illustrated by Reinsch (1884) in his 

 plate 3, figures 34-42, corresponding to 

 his type dia.s^noses, nos. 345, 347, 349, 353, 

 354, 362, 363, 365, 373. Reinsch also 

 illustrated other forms which are doubt- 

 less congeneric with Triquitrites in his 

 tvpes 58, 200, 341, 342, 348, 355. etc. 

 Type 58 shown on his plate 15, figure 

 18A, from Zwickau, Saxony, is remi- 

 niscent of some, possibly overmacerated, 

 specimens of the genotype species. 



Remarks. — Five named species are as- 

 signed to Triquitrites ; three represent new 

 name combinations. Other species are 



