18 



PALEOZOIC FOSSIL SPORES 



they correspond to Tasmanites. In fact, 

 these microscopic fossil bodies represent 

 about as great a realm for speculation 

 now as they ever did as to their actual 

 nature and affinity, but this can hardly be 

 represented as a valid excuse for their 

 continued neglect. By strict application 

 of systematic principles we shall approach 

 much nearer a useful understanding of 

 them. 



The following list includes names which 

 have been used and will have to be con- 

 sidered in subsequent treatment of species 

 of Tasmanites; forms identified as Spor- 

 angites jacksoni White (1905) and 5^. 

 radiatus Duden (1897) have nothing to 

 do with Tasmanites and are omitted on 

 this account. 



1. Tasmanites chicagoensis (Reinsch) S. 

 W. and B., comb, nov.^ 



Discieae, Subtribus I, Subdividio 1., 



18. ( addita est nomen Specificum 



"Chicagoense") Reinsch, 1884. Micro-Pale- 

 ophytologia, vol. 2, p. 6, pi. 72A, fig. 76. 

 Named from material supplied by Thomas, 

 the specific name must be credited to Reinsch 

 and the type is the specimen he figured. Daw- 

 son (1888b) and Jongmans (1930) errone- 

 ously cite Thomas as its author.*' 



2. Tasmanites huronensis (Dawson) S. 

 W. and B., comb, no v. 



Sporangites huronensis Dawson, 1871, 

 Am. Jour. Sci., 3rd Sen, vol. 1, no. 4, p! 

 257, figs. 1-3. 



The following description is from the most 

 complete account given by Dawson (1886) in 

 which he corrected some of the earlier inac- 

 curacies. It has also been changed slightly 

 in accordance with the present conception of his 

 material. Definite descriptive data is essen- 

 tially unaltered. This is presented with the 

 hope that it may be useful until Dawson's 

 type material or authentic topotype material 

 can be reexamined. 



Flattened disc- like bodies with smooth rounded edges 

 usually ranging from 2 50 to 350 microns in diameter,' 

 showmg slight external evidence of punctation but by 

 transmitted light at higher magnification exhibiting nu- 

 merous pores which penetrate the wall. Sometimes marked 

 by characteristic rounded folds or split open by compres- 

 sion. By transmitted light they appear amber colored or 

 sometimes have a reddish hue; in section the walls show 

 taint indications of concentric lamination. The walls are 

 moderately thick 1/10 to 1/20 of the total diameter. 

 They never exhibit the triradiate marking seen in spores 

 ot lycopods. The interior is usually vacant but in some 

 cases more or less filled with mineral matter (verv fine 

 pyritic crystals, calcite, etc.). 



^The initials S. W. and B. used here and elsewhere 

 throughout this paper refer to the present authors, Schopf, 

 Wilson, and Bentall. 



,^ A copy of theMicro-Paleophytologia originally owned 

 by Thomas now in the John Crerar Library in Chicago 

 has the inscription ''Chicagoensii of B. W. Thomas" writ- 

 ten on two of the figures, one of which is not Reinsch's 

 ; lifJr^-ff ™.^^ u ^ ^^^. ^^'^^ interpreted his material 

 a little differently than Reinsch did and may have mis- 

 understood the taxonomic principles involved. The pri- 

 mary purpose of author citation is to indicate type material 

 upon which the description is based 



3. Tasmanites punctatus Newton, 1875, 

 Geol. Mag., ser. 2, vol. 2, no. 8, p. 341, pi. 

 10, figs. 2, 8. 



The type species of Tasmanites. (See de- 

 scription as previously quoted from Newton.) 



4. Tasmanites spp. Reinsch, nos. 12, (p. 3) ; 

 17, (pp. 3-4) ; 26, (p. 5) ; 32, (p. 6) and 

 65 ( ?), (p. 9) ; 1884, Micro-Pal eophytologia. 



Reinsch's diagnoses and illustrations sug- 

 gest the numbers listed above, based on Amer- 

 ican, Australian, and Tasmanian material, are 

 probably referable to Tasmanites. Although 

 others he assigned to the Discieae also lack 

 haptotypic spore features, they are probably 

 generically dissimilar. 



Note. — There is a possibility that the iso- 

 lated bodies associated with Protosalvinia hra- 

 siliensis Dawson and P. hilohata Dawson are 

 referable to Tasmanites, and if so, they should 

 receive separate taxonomic consideration and 

 not be assigned to Protosalvinia. Proto- 

 salvinia clarkei Dawson, which was originally 

 identified with Tasmanites huronensis (Daw- 

 son) by Clarke (1885) probably is entirely 

 different and deserves restudy. One would 

 judge that Tasmanites also occurs associated 

 with this material. Probably many of the 

 "Sporangites" occurrences given by Williams 

 (1887) and various other authors are referable 

 to Tasmanites but a critical reexamination of 

 all of this material is needed. 



The forms designated as Sporangites alasken- 

 sis and Sporangites arctica by David White 

 (1929) were studied only from thin sections. 

 The former shows wall peculiarities which may 

 be comparable to that of Tasmanites ; the latter 

 appears very similar to sectioned spores of 

 higher plants. Whether the breaks in the walls 

 are accidental (as they would be in Tasmanites) 

 or are due to the section transecting a definitely 

 organized suture of a spore coat is difficult if 

 not impossible to determine from sections alone. 

 This material was considered possibly Lower 

 Cretaceous in age and a definite identification 

 of Tasmanites would be of considerable interest. 



Genus Triletes (Reinsch, 1884) ; 

 Schopf emend., 1938. 



Plate 1, figures 2, 2a, 3, 3a 



Megaspores radially symmetrical ; prox- 

 imal side marked by triradiate sutures, 

 often with arcuate ridges connecting the 

 ends of the rays; distal surfaces smooth 

 or variously ornamented. Ornamentation 

 generally less well developed on proximal 

 than on distal surfaces. Spores are rel- 

 atively very large up to more than 3 mm. 

 Affinity with the free-sporing lycopsids. 

 Type species, by designation, Triletes 

 reinschi (Ibrahim) Schopf (1938). 



This genus is a large and important 

 one in classification of fossil spores, par- 

 ticularly in the Carboniferous period 

 when the free-sporing lycopsids were 



