Pteruchus is a form genus for pollen organs of the seed fern (Pteridospermatophyta family Umkomasiaceae. It was first described by Hamshaw Thomas[1] from the Umkomaas locality of South Africa. It is associated with the seed bearing organs Umkomasia and Dicroidium leaves.
| Pteruchus Temporal range:
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| Pteruchus africanus fossil pollen organ, Late Triassic, Molteno Formation, Umkomaas, South Africa. | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Order: | †Corystospermales |
| Family: | †Corystospermaceae |
| Genus: | †Pteruchus Thomas (1933)[1] |
Description
editThe pollen organ Pteruchus differs from other seed fern pollen organs in having numerous pendant pollen sacs from a blade-like head, in an arrangement similar to an epaulette.
Whole plant reconstructions
edit- Pteruchus africanus may have been produced by the same plant as Umkomasia macleanii (ovulate organs) and Dicroidium odontopteroides (leaves), based on cuticular similarities between these leaves and reproductive structures at the Umkomaas locality of South Africa.[1]
- Pteruchus barrealensis may have been produced by the same plant as Umkomasia feistmantelii (ovulate organs) and Dicroidium zuberi (leaves), based on cuticular similarities between these leaves and reproductive structures near Sydney Australia.[3]
- Pteruchus septentrionalis from the Lower Jurassic of Germany has been placed in the separate genus Muelkirchium.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b c Thomas, H.H. (1933). "On some pteridospermous plants from the Mesozoic rocks of South Africa". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 222 (483–493): 193–265. doi:10.1098/rstb.1932.0016.
- ^ Retallack, G.J. & Dilcher, D.L (1988). "Reconstructions of selected seed ferns". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 75 (3): 1010–1057. doi:10.2307/2399379. JSTOR 2399379.
- ^ Retallack, G.J. (1977). "Reconstructing Triassic vegetation of Australasia: a new approach for the biostratigraphy of Gondwanaland". Alcheringa. 1: 247–278. doi:10.1080/03115517708527763.
- ^ Anderson, Heidi M.; Barbacka, Maria; Bamford, Marion K.; Holmes, W. B. Keith; Anderson, John M. (2019-10-02). "Pteruchus (microsporophyll): part 2 of a reassessment of Gondwana Triassic plant genera and a reclassification of some previously attributed". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 43 (4): 511–533. doi:10.1080/03115518.2019.1617348. ISSN 0311-5518. S2CID 198398356.
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