Cosmochlaina
Extinct genus of Devonian plants
title: "Cosmochlaina" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["silurian-plants", "devonian-plants"] description: "Extinct genus of Devonian plants" topic_path: "general/silurian-plants" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmochlaina" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Extinct genus of Devonian plants ::
|color_as = incertae sedis |fossil_range = |image = Cosmochlaina.png |image_caption = Cuticle of Cosmochlaina, retrieved from the Burgsvik beds by acid maceration. Cells about 12 μm in diameter. |parent_authority = Strother 1993 |taxon = Cosmochlaina |authority = Edwards 1986 |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision =
- C. verruculosus :(May be a typo, in Taylor 1988)
- C. verrucosa (Type)
- C. maculata
- C. physema
- C. Versiformis :(All defined by )
Cosmochlaina (from Greek: kosmos=ornament; xlaina=wrapper/cloak) is a form genus of nematophyte – an early (Silurian – Devonian) plant known only from fossil cuticles,{{cite journal | author = Kenrick, P. |author2=Crane, P.R. | year = 1997 | title = The origin and early evolution of plants on land | journal = Nature | volume = 389 | pages = 33–39 | doi = 10.1038/37918 | issue=6646 | bibcode=1997Natur.389...33K |s2cid=3866183 | author = Gensel, P.G. |author2=Johnson, N.G. |author3=Strother, P.K. | year = 1990 | title = Early Land Plant Debris (Hooker's" Waifs and Strays"?) | journal = PALAIOS | volume = 5 | issue = 6 | pages = 520–547 | doi = 10.2307/3514860 | jstor=3514860 |bibcode=1990Palai...5..520G }} The form genus was put forwards by Dianne Edwards, and is diagnosed by inwards-pointing flanges and randomly oriented pseudo-cellular units.{{cite journal | author = Edwards, D. | year = 1986 | title = Dispersed cuticles of putative non-vascular plants from the Lower Devonian of Britain | journal = Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society | volume = 93 | issue = 3 | pages = 259–275 | doi = 10.1111/j.1095-8339.1982.tb01025.x
Where Nematothallus was sometimes used to relate only to tube-like structures, Cosmochlaina was used in reference to the cuticle fragments. Material discovered later revealed its internal anatomy, which comprises a lichen-like mat of 'hyphae'.
It has been suggested that the pores of* Cosmochlaina *represent broken-off rhizoids, on the basis that rotting and acid treatment of extant liverworts produces a similar perforated texture.{{cite journal | author = Graham, L.E. |author2=Wilcox, L.W. |author3=Cook, M.E. |author4=Gensel, P.G. | year = 2004 | title = Resistant tissues of modern marchantioid liverworts resemble enigmatic Early Paleozoic microfossils | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | pmid = 15263095 | volume = 101 | issue = 30 | pmc = 503736 | pages = 11025–11029 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0400484101 | bibcode=2004PNAS..10111025G |doi-access=free }} However, the status of this form genus in any one kingdom is not secure; members could, for example, represent arthropod cuticle.{{cite journal | author = Taylor, T.N. | year = 1988 | title = The Origin of Land Plants: Some Answers, More Questions | journal = Taxon | volume = 37 | issue = 4 | pages = 805–833 | doi = 10.2307/1222087 | jstor=1222087 | bibcode = 1988Taxon..37..805T
References
References
- (2013). "Contributions to the diversity in cryptogamic covers in the mid-Palaeozoic:Nematothallusrevisited". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.
- (2013). "Contributions to the diversity in cryptogamic covers in the mid-Palaeozoic:Nematothallusrevisited". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.
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