User:Hfaith/sandbox

 Possible topics for project: 

Buxus obtusifolia - stub that needs additional information on Wikipedia, however little information available in credible sources

Ophiocaryon - stub that could be added to, more credible sources available

Calamopityaceae - several credible sources, interesting topic, needs more information in Wikipedia (very little available in this stub)

Hanging garden (plant community) - interesting topic, somewhat difficult to isolate credible sources that depict this exact stub (natural not artificial plant community)

Trimenia - hardly any information in the stub, some credible information available

 Chosen Topic: 

I am planning on researching and adding to the Calampoityaceae page for my final project. It is a stub article that only has a very short lead and lacks any further information and very few reliable references. This topic has several published book sources that share useful information, and I think that adding information on this family will benefit the general topic of Paleobotany. I plan on adding information on the history of this family (such as when it was discovered and how its classifications have changed since its discovery), adding information about the characteristics of the family, adding information on the genera of this family, and potentially adding information on its significance.

Sources :

These sources all follow the guidelines of the training module (independent, reliable sources known for neutrality).

Morphology
Calamopitylaceae is the largest family in Pteriodspermatophyta. This family is composed of gymnosperms, and because of their stem structure discovered through fossil rocks, they are considered to be in this divison. However, nothing is known of their reproductive organs, but they are classified as seed plants based on their similarities to the Lyginopteridaceae and Medullasaceae families within Pteriodspermatophyta. Calamopitylaceae resemble Lyginopteridaceae and Medullasaceae in the monoxylic wood structures in their stem; this structure suggests the stem (diameter less than 1.5 cm) was narrow during the Calamopitylaceae plant lifetime. Only some petiole tissue has been found; it is classified to be of the Kalymma genus and suggests the plant had large fronds. To identify a genera within this family, this petiole structure and monoxylic wood must be present, as well as a much larger cortex than vascular cylinder. No fossil evidence has been found to describe on their seed and pollen (reproductive) organs, and therefore the species within this family show more variance than other families.

Gymnosperms, including those that are extinct, can be classified by their wood: monoxylic vs pycnoxylic. Monoxylic wood is soft and spongy and has a large pith and cortex. Pycnoxylic wood, which is more dense with less pith and cortex, is more commercially used. The three genera of Calamopityaceae, Calamopitys, Stenomyelon, and Diichnia, show monoxylic wood stem patterns, and this is considered to be an essential classification of the family Calamopitylaceae (hence why Bilignea, Eristophyton, Endoxylon, and Shenoxylon were removed from this family).

Location/Time of Origin
Calamopitylaceae fossil rocks have been found in North America and Europe, and they have been dated back to the Paleozoic era, specifically the Upper Devonian and Lower Carboniferous or Mississippian periods. Being from this early period, Calamopitylaceae are significant as an example of some of the earliest seed plants and ancestors of angiosperms.

Examples of Specific Varieties and Discoveries

 * Stenomyelon tuedianum: Calciferous Sandstone Series of Britain, 1912
 * Diichnia kentuckiensis and Diichnia readii: New Albany Shale of Kentucky, 1937
 * Calamopitys embergeri: Mid-Tournaisian of France, 1970
 * Calamopitys americana: America, 1914

History
In 1856, the Austrian paleontologist, Franz Joseph Andreas Nicolaus Unger, was the first to find Calamopitys, a genus of Calamopityaceae. This genus, which later was the root for the family name, was found in the Thuringian Forest. Forty years later, the family was Calamopityaceae by the noble family, Solms-Laubach.

Though the original genera, Calamopitys, Stenomyelon, and Diichnia, still remain under this family classification, there have been historical additions to these groupings. Because the genera is defined loosely on stem structure with nothing known about the foliage and reproductive structure, different genera have been added and removed from this family. The four genera, Bilignea, Eristophyton, Endoxylon, and Sphenoxylon, were added to the family in 1936. These genera were classified by their pycnoxylic secondary wood pattern, and in 1953, they were removed from the family with the intention of keeping the family composed of genera with monoxylic secondary wood.

Genera
Three genera are currently classified as belonging to the family Calamopityaceae, and their differences are distinguished by their decreasing primary xylem from Stenomyelon, to Calamopitys, to Diichnia.

Calamopitys
Type species - Calamopitys saturnii

There are six species within this genus, therefore it has the most species of any Calamopityaceae genera. Although Eristophyton is sometimes considered to be a subgenus under this genus, the distinction between pycnoxylic and monoxylic secondary wood maintains these genera as separate. In terms of structure, these plants under this genera have narrow stems with diameter 2-3 cm (or larger in C. embergeri and C. schweitzeri).

Stenomyelon
Type species - Stenomyelon tuedianum

Originally known as "Tweed Mill fossil", this genus consists of fewer species than Calamopitys, but in addition to S. tuedianum, species include S. primaevum, S. heterangioides, and S. muratum.

Diichnia
Type species - Diichnia kentuckiensis

Species of this genus are classified based on the characteristics of the smallest primary xylem of Calamopityaceae and a five-angled pith, as seen in the stem cross-section. These characteristics separate this genus from the other genera.