Orontium mackii | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Alismatales |
Family: | Araceae |
Genus: | Orontium |
Species: | †O. mackii |
Binomial name | |
†Orontium mackii Bogner, Johnson, Kvaček & Upchurch | |
Orontium mackii is an extinct golden club species in the family Araceae described from a series of isolated fossil leaves. The species is known from Late Cretaceous sediments exposed in the state of New Mexico in the United States of America. It is one of several extinct species placed in the living golden-club genus Orontium . [1]
Orontium mackii has been identified from a series of three exposures in the Jose Creek member of the McRae Formation. These outcrops, near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, are all from the same horizon of a volcanic ash fall and are separated by a distance of 50–100 metres (160–330 ft), preserving a warm to subtropical environment in and along a river system. The Jose Creek member is dated as probable Maastrichtian, based on the conformable contact between the Jose Creek member and the overlying Hall Creek member. In addition the site hosts a grouping of conifer megafossils which is comparable to that found in other southern and central North American fossil sites of Maastrichtian age. [1] Of the three sites from which O. mackii is known, two preserve a typical wet environment which had standing water and wet soil conditions, as is seen in modern O. aquaticum habitats. The third site for O. mackii differs, being found in a paleo-flood plain, which was made up of well-drained soils and no obligate aquatic plants. If this is a correct interpretation, it has been suggested that, unlike the other two species in the genus, O. mackii was not dependent on wetland or aquatic conditions for survival. [1]
The species was described from a type specimen, the holotype TXSTATE-1001, and a group of five paratypes, all of which are currently preserved in the paleobotanical collections housed at the Texas State University, in San Marcos, Texas. [1] The specimens were studied by a group of paleobotanists led by Josef Bogner, with the team publishing their 2007 type description for O. mackii in the Journal Zitteliana. [1] The etymology of the chosen specific name mackii is in recognition of Gregory H. Mack, in honor of his longtime contributions to New Mexico geology, and for discovering the site which produced O. mackii. [1]
The leaves of O. mackii are an elliptical oblong shape overall, being over 275 millimetres (10.8 in) long, though the full length is unknown. The leaves range from 60–90 millimetres (2.4–3.5 in) in width, with a leaf petiole that is over 100 millimetres (3.9 in) long. [1] The leaf tips are not known, due to the incomplete nature of the fossils found. As such, it is not certain whether O. mackii had leaf tips which were hooded in shape as are the leaves of both O. wolfei and O. aquaticum. The lateral veins of the leaves are composed of only two orders and are connected by a single order of crossveins while the midrib of the leaves is most distinct towards the leaf base. In the fossils the midrib is noted for a tendency to accumulate iron oxides. [1]
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The Marsileaceae are a small family of heterosporous aquatic and semi-aquatic ferns, though at first sight they do not physically resemble other ferns. The group is commonly known as the "pepperwort family" or as the "water-clover family" because the leaves of the genus Marsilea superficially resemble the leaves of a four-leaf clover. In all, the family contains 3 genera and 50 to 80 species with most of those belonging to Marsilea.
Pistia is a genus of aquatic plant in the arum family, Araceae. The single species it comprises, Pistia stratiotes, is often called water cabbage, water lettuce, Nile cabbage, or shellflower. Its native distribution is uncertain, but probably pantropical; it was first discovered from the Nile near Lake Victoria in Africa. It is now present, either naturally or through human introduction, in nearly all tropical and subtropical fresh waterways and considered an invasive species as well as a mosquito breeding habitat. The genus name is derived from the Greek word πιστός (pistos), meaning "water," and refers to the aquatic nature of the plants.
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Ampelosaurus is a titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur hailing from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now France. Its type species is A. atacis, named by Le Loeuff in 1995. A possible unnamed species has given Ampelosaurus an age reaching to the latest Cretaceous, from about 70 to 66 million years ago.
Denversaurus is a genus of herbivorous nodosaurid ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of western North America. Although at one point treated as a junior synonym of Edmontonia by some taxonomists, current research indicates that it is a distinct nodosaurid genus.
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Orontium aquaticum, sometimes called golden-club, floating arum, never-wets or tawkin, is a species of flowering plants in the family Araceae. It is the single living species in the genus Orontium, which also contains several extinct species described from fossils. O. aquaticum is endemic to the eastern United States and is found growing in ponds, streams, and shallow lakes. It prefers an acidic environment. The leaves are pointed and oval with a water repellent surface. The inflorescence is most notable for having an extremely small almost indistinguishable sheath surrounding the spadix. Very early in the flowering this green sheath withers away leaving only the spadix.
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Orontioideae is a subfamily of flowering plants in the family Araceae. The subfamily consists of three genera namely, Lysichiton, Orontium, and Symplocarpus. Characteristics of Orontioideae include medium sized pollen grains and subterranean stems. Species in the subfamily have a base chromosome number of X=13.
Banksia novae-zelandiae is an extinct species of Banksia, known only from fossil leaves found in the South Island of New Zealand.
Peltandra primaeva is an extinct species of monocot in the family Araceae known from a Ypresian age Eocene fossil found in western North Dakota, USA.
Orontium, sometimes called golden-club, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. The single living species in the genus is Orontium aquaticum, while the two other described species, Orontium mackii and Orontium wolfei, are known from fossils.
Orontium wolfei is an extinct golden-club species in the family Araceae described from a series of isolated fossil leaves. The species is known from Eocene sediments exposed in the state of Washington in the United States of America and the province of British Columbia in Canada. It is one of several extinct species placed in the living golden-club genus Orontium.
Hymenaea mexicana is an extinct legume species in the family Fabaceae described from a series of isolated fossil petals, leaflets, and amber. The species is known from a group of Late Oligocene to Early Miocene locations in southern Mexico. It is one of two extinct Hymenaea species placed close to the living species Hymenaea verrucosa and along with Hymenaea allendis, is one of the two extinct species which have been found in Mexican amber.
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