Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Revision of the Late Cretaceous conifer genus Moriconia

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Cretaceous conifer genus Moriconia has been revised in order to (1) establish its true morphology and emend its diagnosis accordingly, (2) decide whether there are indeed two species, (3) discuss the geological and geographical distribution of the genus and (4) discuss its botanical affinity. Based on assessment of all available material, Moriconia americana is characterised as more robust and with shorter branches than the type species M. cyclotoxon. A neotype is established for both species. The stratigraphical range of M. cyclotoxon is determined from the late Cenomanian to the early Maastrichtian, whereas M. americana ranges from the Coniacian to the early Maastrichtian. The botanical affinity of the genus remains questionable. The Cupressaceae are the most likely candidate, but no closely resembling genera could be identified, either fossil or extant.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Berry EW (1903) Flora of the Matawan formation (Crosswick Clays). Bull New York Bot Gard 3:45–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry EW (1906) Contributions to the Mesozoic Flora of the Atlantic Coastal Plain—I. Bull Torrey Bot Club 33:163–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry EW (1910a) Contributions to the Mesozoic Flora of the Atlantic Coastal Plain—IV. Maryland. Bull Torrey Bot Club 37:19–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry EW (1910b) Contributions to the Mesozoic Flora of the Atlantic Coastal Plain—V. North Carolina. Bull Torrey Bot Club 37:181–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry EW (1911) The flora of the Raritan formation. Geol Surv N J 3:1–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry EW (1914a) The Upper Cretaceous and Eocene floras of South Carolina and Georgia. US Govt Print Office, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry EW (1914b) Contributions to the Mesozoic Flora of the Atlantic Coastal Plain—X. Maryland. Bull Torrey Bot Club 41:295–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry EW (1925) The flora of the Ripley formation. Prof Pap US Geol Surv 136:1–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Blakey RC (2013) Rectangular global maps. Available at: http://www2.nau.edu/rcb7/rect_globe.html. Accessed 22 July 2013

  • Bosma HF, van Konijnenburg-van Cittert JHA, van der Ham RWJM, van Amerom HWJ, Hartkopf-Fröder C (2009) Conifers from the Santonian of Limburg, The Netherlands. Cret Res 30:483–495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyd A (1992) Revision of the late Cretaceous Pautût flora from West Greenland: Gymnospemopsida (Cycadales, Cycadeoidales, Caytoniales, Ginkgoales, Coniferales). Palaeontographica Abt B 225:105–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Debey MH, Ettingshausen C (1859) Die urweltlichen Acrobryen des Kreidegebirges von Aachen und Maestricht. Denkschr Kaiserlichen Akad Wiss Math–Naturwiss Kl 17:183–284

  • Farjon A (2005) A monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

    Google Scholar 

  • Golovneva LB (2000) The Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) climate in the Northern Hemisphere. Geol Soc London Spec Publ 181:43–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo S-X, Kvaček Z, Manchester SR, Zhou Z-K (2012) Ditaxocladus (extinct Cupressaceae, Cupressoideae) from the upper Cretaceous and Paleocene of the Northern Hemisphere. Palaeontographica Abt B 288:135–159

    Google Scholar 

  • He W, Sun B, Liu Y-S (2012) Fokienia shengxianensis sp. nov. (Cupressaceae) from the late Miocene of eastern China and its paleoecological implications. Rev Pal Pal 176–177:24–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heer O (1875) Flora fossilis arctica: Die fossile Flora der Polarländer, Band 3. J. Wurster & Co., Zurich

  • Heer O (1882) Flora fossilis Grönlandica; Die fossile Flora Grönlands, Theil 1. In: Heer O (ed) Flora fossilis arctica: Die fossile Flora der Polarländer, Band 6. FJ. Wurster & Co., Zurich

    Google Scholar 

  • Heer O (1883) Flora fossilis arctica: Die fossile Flora der Polarländer, Band 7. J. Wurster & Co., Zurich

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollick A (1906) The Cretaceous Flora of southern New York and New England. Monogr US Geol Surv 50:1–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Kräusel R (1922) Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Kreideflora. I. Über einige Kreidepflanzen von Swalmen (Niederlande). Med Rijks Geol Dienst A 2:1–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Kvaček Z, Manchester SR, Schorn HW (2000) Cones, seeds, and foliage of Tetraclinis salicornioides (Cupressaceae) from the Oligocene and Miocene of western North America: a geographic extension of the European Tertiary species. Int J Plant Sci 161:331–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LePage BA (2003) A new species of Thuja (Cupressaceae) from the Late Cretaceous of Alaska: implications of being evergreen in a polar environment. Am J Bot 90:167–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McIver EE (1994) An early Chamaecyparis (Cupressaceae) from the Late Cretaceous of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Can J Bot 72:1787–1796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McIver EE, Aulenback KR (1994) Morphology and relationships of Mesocyparis umbonata sp. nv.: fossil Cupressaceae from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. Can J Bot 72:273–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McIver EE, Basinger JF (1987) Mesocyparis borealis gen. et. sp. nov.: fossil Cupressaceae from the early Tertiary of Saskatchewan, Canada. Cab J Bot 65:2338–2351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McIver EE, Basinger JF (1989) The morphology and relationships of Thujapolaris sp. nov. (Cupressaceae) from the early Tertiary, Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada. Can J Bot 67:1903–1915

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newberry JS (1886) The flora of the Amboy Clays. Bull Torrey Bot Club 13:33–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newberry JS (1895) The flora of the Amboy Clays. US Govt Printing Office, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker LR (1976) The paleoecology of the fluvial coal-forming swamps and associated floodplain environments in the Blackhawk Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of central Utah. Brigham Young Univ Stud 22:99–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Raubeson LA, Gensel PG (1991) Upper Cretaceous conifer leaf fossils from the Black Creek Formation with an assessment of affinities using principal components analysis. Bot Gaz 152:380–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saporta G (1868) Prodrome d’une flora fossile des travertins anciens de Sezanne. Mem Soc Geol France 2(8):289–436

    Google Scholar 

  • Seward AC (1919) Fossil plants; a text-book for students of botany and geology, vol. 4. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Shi G, Zhou Z, Xie Z (2012) A new Oligocene Calocedrus from South China and its implications for transpacific floristic exchanges. Am J Bot 99:108–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sohl NF, Owens JP (1991) Cretaceous stratigraphy of the Carolina coastal plain. In: Horton JWJ Jr, Zullo VA (eds) The geology of the Carolinas. The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, pp 191–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Stockey RA, Kvaček J, Hill RS, Rothwell GW, Kvaček Z (2005) The fossil record of Cupressaceae s. lat. In: Farjon A (ed) A monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, pp 54–68

  • van Boskirk MC (1998) The flora of the Eagle formation and its significance for Late Cretaceous floristic evolution. PhD dissertation. Yale University, New Haven

  • van Waveren IM, van Konijnenburg-van Cittert JHA, van der Burgh J, Dilcher DL (2002) Macrofloral remains from the Lower Cretaceous of the Leiva region (Colombia). Scripta Geol 123:1–39

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm (Sweden; Thomas Denk, Ove Johanssen and Else-Marie Friis), the Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels (Belgium; Cyrille Prestianni), the Statens Naturhistoriske Museum, Copenhagen (Denmark; Arden Bashforth), the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (USA; the late Leo Hickey), and the Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (USA; Bill DiMichele) for making their collections available. Without access to these collections, their literature and photographs of key specimens this revision could not have been made.

Lutz Kunzmann (Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden), Lars van den HoekOstende (Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden) and Jiří Kvaček (National Museum Prague) are thanked for their useful comments and helpful suggestions to improve the manuscript.

We thank Eelco Kruidenier (Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden) for the photographs of the specimens.

The visit of HB to the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet in Stockholm (Sweden) was supported by SYNTHESYS (SE-TAF-750), which is financed by the European Community—Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 “Capacities” specific Programme.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Naturalis Biodiversity Center, PO Box 9517, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Hylke F. Bosma & Johanna H. A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert

  2. Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Johanna H. A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert

Authors
  1. Hylke F. Bosma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Johanna H. A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hylke F. Bosma.

Additional information

This article is a contribution to the special issue “Green planet—400 million years of terrestrial floras. Papers in honour of JHA van Konijnenburg-van Cittert”

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bosma, H.F., van Konijnenburg-van Cittert, J.H.A. Revision of the Late Cretaceous conifer genus Moriconia . Palaeobio Palaeoenv 94, 383–392 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-014-0158-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-014-0158-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation