70
2 Systematic Descriptions
the species. The ‘trapezoidal’ look is likely to be a result of the angle of preservation of the pollen grain. Backhouse (1991) recorded Potoniesporites from Collie
Basin under P. balmei (Hart) and P. novicus (Bharadwaj). P. balmei appears close
in shape and form to Potoniesporites neglectus specimen in Fig. 2.48a; while
P. novicus appears very close in shape and form to P. neglectus specimen in
Fig. 2.48b.
Sub Turma: Disaccites (Cookson 1947; Potonie and Klaus 1954).
Genus Sulcatisporites (Leschik 1955; Bharadwaj 1962).
Diagnosis: Disaccate, with occasional laterally connecting ektexinal strip. Amb
circular to oval. Nexine thin. Rendering the corpus outline not easily detected.
Sacci distally offset. Cappula narrow.
Known distribution: Artinskian to Mesozoic of the Northern and Southern
hemispheres.
Discussion: Bharadwaj on emending Sulcatisporites gave a detailed description
of the genus and noted the absence of a sulcus in the true sense. The narrow
distal gaps between the sacci correspond to a cappula. The sacci overlap most of
the distal face of the pollen grain, leaving a very narrow cappula. Hart (1965a,
b) treated Sulcatisporites as synonym of Vesicaspora. Vesicaspora possesses a
significantly thicker nexine than Sulcatisporites.
Several other monosaccate pollen grains such as Alisporites, Pavisporites and
Rimasporites are regarded as synonyms of Sulcatisporites in the present study.
Protoconiferus (Bolchovitina 1956) is described in detail and proves to be congeneric with Sulcatisporites. Bolchovitina uses the term ‘furrow’ for cappula.
However, Sulcatisporites is senior to Protoconiferus, although its description is
not as detailed; nevertheless, it has priority over Protoconiferus.
Sulcatisporites potoniei (Lakhanpal, Sah and Dube 1958) (Fig. 2.49).
Occurrence: Artinskian to Upper Permian. More abundant in Artinskian of Collie
Basin.
Description: Disaccate. Amb circular, sub-circular or oval. Diploxylonoid. Sacci
occasionally connected equatorially by a narrow exinal strip. Nexine very thin
responsible for the vague outline of corpus. Corpus varied in size; ratio of corpus
to sacci varies. Sacci overlap corpus distally almost entirely, leaving a narrow
cappula, usually not exceeding 2 µ in width.
Structure intra-punctate on attached ektexine and intra-reticulate on sacci.
Dimensions: Total width 75–115 µ. Corpus width: 30–60 µ (20 specimens
measured).
Remarks and comparison: Sulcatisporites reticulatus (Madler 1964) from the
Triassic of Germany closely resembles S. potoniei. S. kraeiseli also from the
Triassic of Germany is slightly smaller in size than S. potoniei and has a wider
cappula.
Sulcatisporites ovatus (Balme and Hennelly 1962) (Fig. 2.50).
Occurrence: Common in Upper Permian samples of Collie–Muja Basin and
Alexandra Bridge Bore.
2 Systematic Descriptions
the species. The ‘trapezoidal’ look is likely to be a result of the angle of preservation of the pollen grain. Backhouse (1991) recorded Potoniesporites from Collie
Basin under P. balmei (Hart) and P. novicus (Bharadwaj). P. balmei appears close
in shape and form to Potoniesporites neglectus specimen in Fig. 2.48a; while
P. novicus appears very close in shape and form to P. neglectus specimen in
Fig. 2.48b.
Sub Turma: Disaccites (Cookson 1947; Potonie and Klaus 1954).
Genus Sulcatisporites (Leschik 1955; Bharadwaj 1962).
Diagnosis: Disaccate, with occasional laterally connecting ektexinal strip. Amb
circular to oval. Nexine thin. Rendering the corpus outline not easily detected.
Sacci distally offset. Cappula narrow.
Known distribution: Artinskian to Mesozoic of the Northern and Southern
hemispheres.
Discussion: Bharadwaj on emending Sulcatisporites gave a detailed description
of the genus and noted the absence of a sulcus in the true sense. The narrow
distal gaps between the sacci correspond to a cappula. The sacci overlap most of
the distal face of the pollen grain, leaving a very narrow cappula. Hart (1965a,
b) treated Sulcatisporites as synonym of Vesicaspora. Vesicaspora possesses a
significantly thicker nexine than Sulcatisporites.
Several other monosaccate pollen grains such as Alisporites, Pavisporites and
Rimasporites are regarded as synonyms of Sulcatisporites in the present study.
Protoconiferus (Bolchovitina 1956) is described in detail and proves to be congeneric with Sulcatisporites. Bolchovitina uses the term ‘furrow’ for cappula.
However, Sulcatisporites is senior to Protoconiferus, although its description is
not as detailed; nevertheless, it has priority over Protoconiferus.
Sulcatisporites potoniei (Lakhanpal, Sah and Dube 1958) (Fig. 2.49).
Occurrence: Artinskian to Upper Permian. More abundant in Artinskian of Collie
Basin.
Description: Disaccate. Amb circular, sub-circular or oval. Diploxylonoid. Sacci
occasionally connected equatorially by a narrow exinal strip. Nexine very thin
responsible for the vague outline of corpus. Corpus varied in size; ratio of corpus
to sacci varies. Sacci overlap corpus distally almost entirely, leaving a narrow
cappula, usually not exceeding 2 µ in width.
Structure intra-punctate on attached ektexine and intra-reticulate on sacci.
Dimensions: Total width 75–115 µ. Corpus width: 30–60 µ (20 specimens
measured).
Remarks and comparison: Sulcatisporites reticulatus (Madler 1964) from the
Triassic of Germany closely resembles S. potoniei. S. kraeiseli also from the
Triassic of Germany is slightly smaller in size than S. potoniei and has a wider
cappula.
Sulcatisporites ovatus (Balme and Hennelly 1962) (Fig. 2.50).
Occurrence: Common in Upper Permian samples of Collie–Muja Basin and
Alexandra Bridge Bore.