Doweld • (2243) Conserve Psaronius
TAXON 62 (6) • December 2013: 1342
(2243) Proposal to conserve the name Psaronius against Scitaminites (fossil Pteridophyta: Marattiopsida) Alexander B. Doweld National Institute of Carpology (Gaertnerian Institution), 21 Konenkowa Street, 127560, Moscow, Russian Federation;
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12705/626.31 (2243)
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Psaronius Cotta, Dendrolithen: 27. 3–10 Mar 1832, nom. cons. prop. Typus (vide Miller, N. Amer. Geol. Palaeontol.: 135. 26 Dec 1889): P. helmintholithus (Spreng.) Cotta (Endogenites helmintholithus Spreng.) Scitaminites Sternb., Vers. Fl. Vorwelt 1(Tent.): xxxvi. Sep 1825, nom. rej. prop. Typus: S. musiformis Sternb. (‘musaeformis’).
Psaronius Cotta is one of most widespread and well known fossil generic names established for permineralised stems showing anatomical structure (Göppert in Nov. Actorum Acad. Caes. Leop.-Carol. Nat. Cur. 17(Suppl.): 456. 1836; Brongniart, Hist. Vég. Foss. 2: 56. 1837 & in d’Orbigny, Dict. Univ. Hist. Nat. 13: 94. 1849; Schimper, Traité Paléontol. Vég. 1: 716. 1869; Scott, Stud. Foss. Bot., ed. 2, 1: 296. 1908; Seward, Foss. Pl. 2: 412. 1910; Gothan in Potonié, Lehrb. Paläobot., ed. 2: 109. 1919; Hirmer, Handb. Paläobot. 1: 545. 1927; Posthumus, Cat. Foss. Fern Stems: 146. 1931; Darrah, Textb. Palaeobot.: 141. 1939 & Princ. Paleobot.: 96. 1939; Reed in Bot. Gaz. (Crawfordsville) 110: 506. 1948; Stidd in Palaeontographica, Abt. B, Paläophytol. 134: 87. 1971; Mickle in Illinois State Mus. Sci. Pap. 19: 1. 1984; Herbst in Ameghiniana 21: 243. 1985; Rößler in Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 108: 55. 2000; Hilton & al. in Geol. Mag. 141: 661. 2004; Taylor & al., Paleobotany: 418. 2009). In addition, the generic name provides the type of a distinct fossil fern family Psaroniaceae F. Unger (in Endlicher, Gen. Pl. Suppl. 2: 4. 1842 (‘Psaronieae’)), order Psaroniales Barthel (in Abh. Staatl. Mus. Miner. Geol. Dresden 24: 37. 1976) and suborder Psaroniineae O. Feistm. (in Palaeontographica 23: 151. 1874 (‘Psaronieae’)) [vide Doweld, Prosyllabus: vii. 2001]. In 1845, after careful studies of original Sternberg’s fossil material, Corda (Fl. Protogaea: 94. 1845) came to conclusion that Scitaminites Sternb. should be synonymized with Psaronius Cotta due to their essential similarity in anatomical structure. Although the priority of
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Sternberg’s name was obvious even in these earlier times, a consensus was reached to keep the junior name Psaronius Cotta in current use, while recognizing Scitaminites Sternb. as a rejected synonym (Presl in Abh. Böhm. Ges. Wiss., ser. 5, 4: 288. 1847; Göppert in Bronn, Index Palaeontol.: 1050. 1848; Brongniart in d’Orbigny, Dict. Univ. Hist. Nat. 13: 94. 1849; Unger, Gen. Sp. Foss.: 216. 1850; Renault, Cours Bot. Foss. 3: 142. 1883; Kidston in Trans. Geol. Soc. Glasgow 9: 39. 1889; Potonié, Lehrb. Paläobot.: 70. 1899 & in Engler & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. Abt. 1, 4: 509. 1900). Scitaminites Sternb. was used only three more times in its history (Göppert, l.c. 1836; Brongniart, l.c. 1837; Presl in Sternberg, l.c. 2: 173. 1838) and disappeared completely from the botanical literature from 1845. Therefore, in order to legitimize the established use of Psaronius in current systematic botany, it is proposed to conserve this generic name against Scitaminites Sternb. As an addition to the Taxonomic Literature II database, the exact publication date of the book of Cotta (l.c.) was established via weekly bibliographical lists of all newly published books in German states, Bibliographie von Deutschland oder Wöchentliches Verzeichnis aller in Deutschland herauskommenden neuen Bücher, Musikalien und Kunstsachen (Leipzig), no. 5, 10 Mar 1832, p. 35 (# 298), the range of dates reflecting the interval between the issuance of consecutive weekly numbers (3–10 Mar 1832). Acknowledgements It is a pleasure to thank bibliographers of the State Library of Prussian Heritage, Old Books Division, Berlin (Sabine Tolksdorf and Jutta Schöffel), in establishing the exact dates of bibliographic registration of Cotta’s work in 1832, and Science Division of the Library of Congress (Constance Carter) for verification of Miller’s book copyright and publication records. The research is a contribution to the Palaeoflora Europaea Project and Palaeoflora of Russia (Palaeoflora Rossica) Project (NOM-10-385).
Version of Record (identical to print version).
