Abstract
The present paper embodies a description of a new species of the vertebrarian axis Vertebraria Royle (1834) from the Triassic Nidpur beds, M.P., India. Structurally preserved axes of the new species Vertebraria nidpurensis occur as horizontal or longitudinal compressions exhibiting excellent features of secondary xylem tissue. The description is based on a single hand specimen, displaying four axes lying in different positions but all exposed in their lateral views. Total length of axes is unknown but the largest specimen is about 7.2 cm long. Width of axes ranges between 0.2 cm–2.8 cm depending on the number of vertical series of elongated rectangular areas present in the axis. Each vertical file of rectangles is separated from adjacent series by a narrow longitudinal groove. The rectangular area of longitudinal file is separated from the rectangle above and below by a thick or thin transverse bar that extends from one longitudinal groove to the other. Three axes out of four exhibit well preserved secondary tissues that showed features which were quite different from species of Vertebraria reported upto date. The new species differs from all other previously described structurally preserved species in having tracheids that bear pits on both tangential and radial walls and in having wood rays that are 2–35 celled high. Vertebrarian axes of above type are being reported for the first time from Triassic of Nidpur, Madhya Pradesh.
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Bhowmik, N., Parveen, S. On Vertebraria Royle from Triassic of Nidpur, Madhya Pradesh. J Geol Soc India 79, 618–626 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-012-0100-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-012-0100-5