INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type o f computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these vrill be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in tWs copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Aibor MI 48I06-I346 USA 3I3/76I-4700 800/521-0600 PALEOBIOLOGY OF GIGANTOPTERIDS FROM THE UPPER PERMIAN OF GUIZHOU PROVINCE, CHINA DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University by Hongqi Li, B.S., M.S. ***** The Ohio State University 1996 The Dissertation Committee: Approved by William A. Jensen, Advisor David W. Taylor Fred D. Sack Advisor Morris G. Cline Department of Plant Biology UMI Number: 9639283 UMI Microform 9639283 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. AH rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 To My Dear Wife, Yanling Fan 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was financially supported by several institutions and organizations. These include: Geological Society of America (Research Grant, 5195- 93), the Botanical Institute, Academy of China (Research Aid to Visiting Scholar), the Graduate School, The Ohio State University (Graduate Student Alumni Research Award), and the Department of Plant Biology, The Ohio State University (Graduate Teaching and Research Associateships). Their assistance is hereby gratefully acknowledged. Thanks go to numerous individuals for their various contributions to this investigation. Professor Baolin Tian, at the Beijing Graduate School, China University of Mining and Technology, has provided his advice, encouragement, and personal help. Professor Meitang Mei, Drs. Yingting Guo and Sherong Hu, as well as other colleagues of this university helped me a lot in collecting materials. Dr. Chengsen Li and the paleobotany group at the Beijing Botanical Institute, Academy of China financially supported my visit and field work. Mr. Lianwu Zhang, Mr. Jingren Ma, and other geology engineers at the coal mines of Shuicheng and Panxian, Guizhou, China were very helpful in my fossil-collecting. I am grateful to Dr. Paul Kenrick and the staff of the Swedish Museum of Natural History for loaning the specimens of Gigantopteris nicotianaefolia. I would like to thank Drs. Sergius H. Mamay and William A. DiMichele at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution for providing much assistance during my visit at the museum. I am appreciative of the following individuals for reading my papers: Drs. Benton M. Stidd, Tom L. Phillips, David L. Dilcher, and Sergius H. Mamay. iii I am deeply grateful to Dr. David Winship Taylor of the Indiana University Southeast. As an invited member of my Dissertation Committee, he spent tremendous time reading my manuscript, and provided a lot of help in both professional and personal aspects. I express sincere appreciation to Drs. Thomas N. Taylor, Edith L. Taylor, Morris G. Cline, Tod F. Stuessy, Fred D. Sack, and William A. Jensen, for their tremendous time serving on my Advisory, General Examination, and Dissertation Committees. Gratitude is expressed to Drs. Thomas N. Taylor and Edith L. Taylor, my previous advisors, for their guidance and insight before they moved to The University of Kansas. I am deeply grateful to Dr. William A. Jensen for his willingness to be the succeeding advisor. Dr. Ralph E. J. Boerner, the Chairman of the Department of Plant Biology, and Dr. Fred D. Sack, the Chairman of Committee of the Graduate Studies, should also be acknowledged for their support and encouragement. To my parents, Zhaocong Li and Xiuqing Liu, in the remote China, I express my sincere thanks for forgiving my absent obligation. For my daughter, Dianna Li, I thank you for understanding my frequent absences. To my wife, Yanling Fan, I offer you my special thanks for your unshakable faith in me and your support to my endeavors, without which this dissertation would not have been possible. For this reason, this dissertation is dedicated to you. IV VITA April 17, 1955 .................................................. Born - Weifang, Shangdong, P. R. China 10, 1978 - 7, 1982 ........................................... B.S. in Geology (Paleontology), Nanjing University, Nanjing, P. R. China 8, 1982 - 7, 1985 ............................................. M.S. in Coal Geology (Paleobotany), Beijing Graduate School, China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing, P. R. China 8, 1985 - 8, 1987 ..............................................Instructor, Beijing Graduate School, China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing, P. R. China 1986 - 1990 ...................................................... Secretary, Coal Geology Department, Beijing Graduate School, China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing, P. R. China 9, 1987 - 9, 1990 ..............................................Assistant Professor, Beijing Graduate School, China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing, P. R. China 10, 1990 - 8, 1996 ........................................... Graduate Teaching/Research Associate, the Department of Plant biology. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 8, 1996 - ........................................................... Postdoctoral Researcher, Biology Instructor, Department of Biology, Division of Natural Sciences, Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, Indiana PUBLICATIONS 1996, Li, Hongqi, Edith L. Taylor, and Thomas N. Taylor: Permian Vessel Elements. Science, 271: 188-189. 1994, Li, Hongqi, Baolin Tian, Edith L. Taylor, and Thomas N. Taylor: Foliar Anatomy of Gigantonoclea guizhouensis (Gigantopteridales) from the Upper Permian of Guizhou Province, China. Amer. Jour. Bat., 81(6): 678-689. 1994, Li, Hongqi, Edith L. Taylor, and Thomas N. Taylor: Disjunct distribution of gigantopterids between Cathaysia and western North America. Amer. Jour. Bot. 81:6 (Supplement-Abstract): 95-96. 1994, Li, Hongqi, Edith L. Taylor, and Thomas N. Taylor: The paleophytogeographic classification of Cathaysia and Gigantopteris Kingdoms. Amer. Jour. Bot. 81:6 (Supplement-Abstract): 96. 1993, Li, Hongqi, Edith L. Taylor, and Thomas N. Taylor: The Axial Anatomy of Gigantopterids from the Upper Permian of Guizhou Province, China. Amer. Jour. Bot. 80:6 (Supplement-Abstract): 90-91. 1992, Tian, Baolin and Hongqi Li: A New special Petrified Stem, Guizhouoxylon dahebianense gen. et sp. nov., from Upper Permian in Shuicheng District, Guizhou, China. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, 31(3): 336-345 (in Chinese and English). 1992, Li, Hongqi, Edith L. Taylor, and Thomas N. Taylor: The Anatomy of Gigantopterid Stems from the Upper Permian of China. Abstracts of the IVth lOP, p. 99 (Paris, French). 1990, Li, Hongqi and Baolin Tian: Anatomic Study of the Foliage leaf of Gigantonoclea gidzhouensis Gu et Zhi. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica. 29(2): 216- 227, Pis., I-III. (in Chinese with English summary). 1988, Tian, Baolin, Yingting Guo, Shijun Wang, Hongqi Li, and Shimin Ma: Systematic and Taxonomic Study on some Groups in Cathaysia Flora. In Collections of Teaching and Researching Papers. Beijing Graduate School, China University of Mining and Technology (I): 212-220; Pis., I-Ill, CUMT Press (in Chinese). 1988, Li, Hongqi: The First Anatomy Study on Fossil Gigantopterids. In Collections of Teaching and Research Papers. Beijing Graduate School, China University of Mining and Technology (I), p. 344, CUMT Press (in Chinese) VI 1988, Tian, Baolin, Hongqi Li, and Yingting Guo: Discussion on the systematic position of Gigantopterids. Publication No. 1 o f the 3rd lOP (Melbourne, Australia). 1987, Tian, Baolin, Yingting Guo, Shijun Wang, and Hongqi Li: Study on the Paleozoic Coal Balls and Floras in China. The Abstracts o f Papers o f the 11th International Carboniferous Conference (I): 126. (Beijing, China) 1987, Tian, Baolin, Yingting Guo, Shijun Wang, and Hongqi Li: A Preliminary Study on the Taxonomy of Cathaysia Flora. The Abstracts o f Papers of the 11th International Carboniferous Conference (I): 127. 1986, Baolin Tian, Yingting Guo, Shijun Wang, and Hongqi Li: Study on some Systematic and Taxonomic Problems of Cathaysia Flora. Paper Collections of the National Conference of Carboniferous Coal-Beating Strata and GeoloQ/. p. 84-85 (in Chinese. Changsha, China). 1986,