MORPHOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF SPHENOPHYLLUM BIARMICUM ZALESSKY, 1937 FROM THE LOWER PERMIAN OF THE CIS-URALS

Abstract

The morphology and systematic position of Sphenophyllum biarmicum Zalessky are discussed. "Gangamopteris" fimbriata Zalessky, "G." tenuinervis Zalessky, and Sphenophyllum comiense Tschirkova are considered to be synonyms of S. biarmicum. The paleoecology of the species is discussed, and its whole-plant-concept reconstruction is proposed.