PROCEEDINGS NEW SOUTH WALES VOLUME 131 • \ NATURAL HISTORY IN ALL ITS BRANCHES THE LINNEAN SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES ISSN 0370-047X Founded 1874 Incorporated 1 884 The Society exists to promote the cultivation and study of the science of natural history in all its branches. The Society awards research grants each year in the fields of Life Sciences (the Joyce Vickery fund) and Earth Sciences (the Betty Mayne fund), offers annually a Linnean Macleay Fellowship for research, contributes to the stipend of the Linnean Macleay Lecturer in Microbiology at the University of Sydney, and publishes the Proceedings. It holds field excursion and scienUfic meetings, including the biennial Sir William Macleay Memorial Lecture delivered by a person eminent in some branch of natural science. Membership enquiries should be addressed in the first instance to the Secretary. Candidates for elecfion to the Society must be recommended by two members. The present annual subscription is $A56.00. The current subscription rate to the Proceedings is set at A$l 10.00 per volume. In recent years a volume consists of a single annual issue. Back issues of all but a few volumes and parts of the Proceedings are available for purchase. Prices are listed on our home page and can also be obtained from the Secretary. OFFICERS AND COUNCIL 2010/2011 President: David Keith Vice-presidents: M. Cotton, D.R. Murray, M.L. Augee Treasurer: I.G. Percival Secretary: J-C. Herremans Council: M.L. Augee, J.P. Barkas, M. Cotton, M.R. Gray, J-Cl. Herremans, D. Keith, R.J. King, H.A. Martin, E. May, D.R. Murray, P.J. Myerscough, I.G. Percival, J. Pickett, S. Rose, H.M. Smith and K.L. Wilson Editor: M.L. Augee Assistant Editor: Elizabeth May Auditors: Phil Williams Carbonara The postal address of the Society is: PO. Box 82, Kingsford NSW 2032, Australia Telephone: (International) 61 2 9662 6196; (Aust) 02 9662 6196 E-mail: [email protected] Home page: http://linneansocietynsw.org.au Cover motif: Reconstruction of the placoderm fish Sherbonaspis hillsi Young and Gorter (1981), from Hunt and Young, this volume, page 76. PROCEEDINGS of the LINNEAN SOCIETY of NEW SOUTH WALES For information about the Linnean Society of New South Wales, its pubhcations and activities, see the Society's homepage http://hnneansocietynsw.org.au VOLUME 131 July 2010 IMPORTANT NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS AND MEMBERS Volume 132 will be the last issue of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society ofNew South Wales to be published in hardcopy, paper format. Starting with Volume 133, the Proceedings will be published electronically. Subscriptions and membership fees paid for 2010 will cover both Volumes 131 and 132. At the end of each year, beginning December 2011, papers published on the net during the year will be compiled as the next sequential volume and put onto a CD disc. That disc will be provided free of charge to all subscribers and members who were financial at the end of 2010. During the year, as manuscripts are received and processed, they will be put onto the net immediately when accepted. This is clearly the most dramatic change since the first volume was printed in 1 875. However, as can clearly be seen from the small size of this volume, authors are moving away from the slow, traditional means of publication to the more rapid and more widely distributed services offered by electronic journals. The Linnean Society of NSW will, starting with Volume 133, offer rapid publication of fully refereed papers. The net is of course full of unreliable clutter, and the Council of the Linnean Society of NSW feels that the Society can continue to make a valuable contribution to natural science in Australia by providing a source of peer-reviewed scientific publications. To this end, the Proceedings ofthe Linnean Society ofNew South Wales will be published on the escholarship site of the University of Sydney Library. Eventually the Council of the Society intends to scan all of our back issues and place them on the escholarship site with open access. At present the Society does not plan to charge users for access to any of our material. Full details will be published in Volume 132 and on the Society's web page. Michael L. Augee Editor 11 The Middle Triassic Megafossil Flora of the Basin Creek Formation, Nymboida Coal Measures, New South Wales, Australia. Part 8. The Genera Nilssonia, Taeniopteris^ Linguifolium, Gontriglossa and Scoresbya W.B. Keith Holmes', H.M. Anderson^ and J.A. Webb^ '46 Kurrajong Street, Dorrigo, NSW, 2453, Australia ([email protected]). Hon. Research Fellow, University of New England, Armidale, NSW. 2 46 Kurrajong Street, Dorrigo, NSW, 2453 Australia. Hon. Palaeobotanist, South African Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria 0001 South Africa. ^Environmental Geoscience Department, La Trobe University, 3086, Victoria. Holmes, W.B. K., Anderson H.M. and Webb, J.A. (2010). The Middle Triassic Megafossil Floraof the Basin Creek Formation, Nymboida Coal Measures, New South Wales, Australia. Part 8. The Genera Nilssonia, Taeniopteris, Linguifolium, Gontriglossa and Scoresbya. Proceedings of the Linnean Society ofNew South Wales 131, 1-26. Ten taxa of simple leaves in the genera Nilssonia, Taeniopteris, Linguifolium and Gontriglossa and a lobed leaf in the genus ScoresbySi are described from two quarries in the Middle Triassic Nymboida Coal Measures of the Nymboida sub-Basin in north-eastern New South Wales. The new species Nilssonia dissita and Taeniopteris adunca are based on previously unpublished material from Queensland together with conspecific material from Nymboida. An additional four new species from Nymboida are described; Taeniopteris nymboidensis, Linguifolium parvum, Gontriglossa ligulata and Scoresbya carsburgii. Manuscript received 1 March 2010, accepted for publication 29 May 2010. KEYWORDS: Middle Triassic flora, Nymboida Coal Measures, palaeobotany, simple fossil leaves. INTRODUCTION together with a summary of the geology of the Basin Creek Formation, the Nymboida Coal Measures and This is the eighth paper of a series describing the Nymboida Sub-Basin were provided in Holmes the early-middle Triassic Nymboida flora. Part 1 of (2000). this series (Holmes 2000) described the Bryophyta and Sphenophyta, Part 2 (Holmes 2001) the filicophyta. Part 3 (Holmes 2003) fern-like foliage. METHODS Part 4 (Holmes and Anderson 2005a) the genus Dicroidhim and its fertile organs Umkomasia and The material described in this paper is based Pteruchiis, Part 5 (Holmes and Anderson 2005b) mainly on collections made by the senior author and the genera Lepidopteris, Kurtziana, Rochipteris and his family from two then-active Nymboida quarries Walkomiopteris, Part 6 (Holmes and Anderson 2007) (Coal Mine Quarry and Reserve Quarry) over a period the Ginkgophyta and Part 7 (Holmes and Anderson of forty years. The specimens noted in Flint and Gould 2008) the Cycadophyta. In this paper the simple leaves (1975), Retallack (1977), Retallack et al (1977) and in the genera Nillsonia, Taeniopteris, Linguifolium Webb 1980 were examined in the collections of the and Gontriglossa together with the enigmatic lobed Australian Museum, Sydney, the Department of leaf Scoresbya carsburgii are described. Geology and Geophysics of the University of New A description of the Coal Mine and Reserve England, Armidale and the Queensland Museum, Quarries, the source localities ofour described material Brisbane.. TRIASSIC GYMNOSPERMAE FROM NYMBOIDA - SEDIS INCERTAE The University of Queensland I*hl) thesis on 1994). Therefore our identification of taxa is based "Aspects of Pahieontoiogy of Triassic Continental only on characters of gross morphology. Sediments in South-Fiast Queensland" by J.A.Webb The exact stratigraphic horizon or detailed source (1980) included the descriptive taxonomy of fossils ol' much of our Nymboida specimens is uncertain as of simple leaves, similar to those that form the subject most were collected from fallen blocks during quarry of this paper. In addition to his own extensive field excavations. The Coal Mine Qua tv has not been collections Webb also examined all available and active for some twenty years but the high working relevant material in State and private collections. face, although now rather weathered, provides an Descriptive taxonomy in the past has so often been excellent exposure ofbeds that demonstrate the palaeo- based on very limited and often fragmentary material. environmental conditions at the time of deposition From Webb's extensive range of material it was and was described by Retallack (1977). In 2006 the possible to gain a better understanding of species Reserve Quarry was bulldozed into a featureless boundaries through the natural range of variation bowl - "for restoration and safety purposes" and the occurring within the fossil populations. On the basis fossiliferous horizons are now hidden. offloral similarities, the Esk Fomiation (Toogoolawah The Nymboida material described in this paper Group) of south-east Queensland and the Nymboida has been allocated AMF numbers and is housed in the Coal Measures of north-east New South Wales were palaeontology collections of the Australian Museum, deposited contemporaneously in the Anisian-Ladinian Sydney. (Flint and Gould 1977,Rigby 1977). Regrettably most of Webb's research was never published. Because of its relevance to this paper, two new species presented DESCRIPTIVE TAXONOMY below are based on his original descriptions and types with Webb acknowledged as the author. Without supporting cuticular evidence and lack Taxonomically comparable Nymboida specimens are of affiliation with any fertile structures for a definite illustrated and listed as "Additional Material". systematic placement, the leaves described below are Since the completion of the research by Webb regarded as form genera in Gymnospermae - sedis (1980) new studies have been published on similar incertae. On the basis of preserved cuticle Nilssonia taxonomic groups from other Gondwana Triassic leaves with haplocheilic stomata have been placed in floras that are relevant to this paper. Retallack ( 1 980) the Cycadales and leaves of taeniopterid morphology reviewed the Middle Triassic Tank Gully flora of may belong in several groups from ferns to cycads.