Taungurungia gen. nov., from the Lower Devonian of Yea, central Victoria, Australia

Fearghus R. McSweeney, Jeff Shimeta and John St. James Stewart Buckeridge

Memoirs of Museum Victoria Vol 81 pp. 43-53 (2022)

DOI
https://doi.org/10.24199/j.mmv.2022.81.03

Abstract

This paper records a new genus Taungurungia, which is the first new taxon with emergences to be described from the Lower Devonian of Victoria. The fossil is preserved primarily as a compression and impression, and lacks internal anatomy. The fossil extends our knowledge of known variations within early land plants, with most characteristics, such as emergences and H- or K-branching, redolent of affinities with the zosterophylls. However, having a large ovate terminal sporangium, the fossil adds to taxa that in some cases have been provisonally allied to the zosterophylls with elongate sporangia; this further demonstrates the need for reassessment of the Zosterophyllopsida.

Citation

McSweeney, F.R., Shimeta, J. and Buckeridge, J.S. 2022. Taungurungia gen. nov., from the Lower Devonian of Yea, central Victoria, Australia. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 81: 43–53.

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