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Spirophyton
Classification
Phylum:
Trace Fossils and Problematica
Class:
Trace Fossils
Formal Genus Name and Reference:
Spirophyton HALL, 1863, p. 78
Type Species:
[·S. typum HALL, 1863, p. 80; OD (SCHIMPER in SCHIMPER & SCHENK, 1879, p. 55, incorrectly designated S. cauda-galli (HALL, 1863, p. 79) as type species; see Art. 68 (b) ICZN)
Images
(Click to enlarge in a new window)
Fig. 67,1a-c. S. eifeliense KAYSER; 1a, schem. (Antun, 1950); 1b, Dev. (Ems.), Luxembourg; tang. sec., X0.7 (Antun, 1950); 1c, L.Dev.(EifeL), Ger.(Priim); a sinistral specimen viewed from above, X0.47 (Plicka, 1968, after Kayser, 1872, pI. 28, fig. 1c). -- Fig. 67,1d. Zoophycos crassus (HALL) ["Spirophyton crassum" HALL], U.Dev., USA; X2.7 (Hall, 1863)
Synonyms
Zoophycos
Geographic Distribution
Sil., N.Afr.; Dev., Carb., Eu.-Afr.-N.Am
Age Range
Beginning Stage in Treatise Usage:
Sil., Dev.
Beginning International Stage:
Rhuddanian
Fraction Up In Beginning Stage:
0
Beginning Date:
443.07
Ending Stage in Treatise Usage:
Carb.
Ending International Stage:
Gzhelian
Fraction Up In Ending Stage:
100
Ending Date:
298.89
Description
Similar to spirally coiled forms of Zoophycos but differing by smaller size and by circular outline of laminae (spreite) which are also composed of lamellae; laminae (=whorls) not tending to lobate forms, 1 to 4 mm. thick, sloping outward from axis, then flattening and bent upward to margin in dextrogyrate or sinistral spirals, curving ridges on laminae convex in the sense of the rotation; diameter of last whorl up to about 10 em., central axis J-shaped. [For older and newer interpretations (plants, inorganic, feeding burrows) see Zoophycos; it is difficult to decide which forms described as Spirophyton belong to Zoophycos and vice versa (S. caudagalli HALL, 1863, to be ascribed to Zoophycos); SIMPSON (1970) is correct in regarding Spirophyton as a separate ichnogenus, with the name Spirophyton s. str. maintained for forms such as S. eifeliense KAYSER, 1872 (Dev., Ger.); this "species" placed in the Recent polychaete genus Spirographic VIVIANI, 1805, by PLICKA (1968, p. 843); for discussion of Spirophyton see ANTUN (1950) and SIMPSON (1970).J
References
Museum or Author Information
Classification
Phylum:
Trace Fossils and Problematica
Class:
Trace Fossils
Formal Genus Name and Reference:
Spirophyton HALL, 1863, p. 78
Type Species:
[·S. typum HALL, 1863, p. 80; OD (SCHIMPER in SCHIMPER & SCHENK, 1879, p. 55, incorrectly designated S. cauda-galli (HALL, 1863, p. 79) as type species; see Art. 68 (b) ICZN)
Images
(Click to enlarge in a new window)
Fig. 67,1a-c. S. eifeliense KAYSER; 1a, schem. (Antun, 1950); 1b, Dev. (Ems.), Luxembourg; tang. sec., X0.7 (Antun, 1950); 1c, L.Dev.(EifeL), Ger.(Priim); a sinistral specimen viewed from above, X0.47 (Plicka, 1968, after Kayser, 1872, pI. 28, fig. 1c). -- Fig. 67,1d. Zoophycos crassus (HALL) ["Spirophyton crassum" HALL], U.Dev., USA; X2.7 (Hall, 1863)
Synonyms
Zoophycos
Geographic Distribution
Sil., N.Afr.; Dev., Carb., Eu.-Afr.-N.Am
Age Range
Beginning Stage in Treatise Usage:
Sil., Dev.
Beginning International Stage:
Rhuddanian
Fraction Up In Beginning Stage:
0
Beginning Date:
443.07
Ending Stage in Treatise Usage:
Carb.
Ending International Stage:
Gzhelian
Fraction Up In Ending Stage:
100
Ending Date:
298.89
Description
Similar to spirally coiled forms of Zoophycos but differing by smaller size and by circular outline of laminae (spreite) which are also composed of lamellae; laminae (=whorls) not tending to lobate forms, 1 to 4 mm. thick, sloping outward from axis, then flattening and bent upward to margin in dextrogyrate or sinistral spirals, curving ridges on laminae convex in the sense of the rotation; diameter of last whorl up to about 10 em., central axis J-shaped. [For older and newer interpretations (plants, inorganic, feeding burrows) see Zoophycos; it is difficult to decide which forms described as Spirophyton belong to Zoophycos and vice versa (S. caudagalli HALL, 1863, to be ascribed to Zoophycos); SIMPSON (1970) is correct in regarding Spirophyton as a separate ichnogenus, with the name Spirophyton s. str. maintained for forms such as S. eifeliense KAYSER, 1872 (Dev., Ger.); this "species" placed in the Recent polychaete genus Spirographic VIVIANI, 1805, by PLICKA (1968, p. 843); for discussion of Spirophyton see ANTUN (1950) and SIMPSON (1970).J