Seed plants underwent first major evolutionary radiation in the Late Devonian (Famennian), as evidenced by the numerous ovules described to date. However, the early pollen organs are underrepresented, so that their structure and evolution remain poorly known. Here we report a new taxon of pollen organ Placotheca minuta from the Late Devonian. The synangium consists of many basally and more or l...

The first virtual cranial endocast of a lungfish from the Early Devonian, Dipnorhynchus sussmilchi, is described. Dipnorhynchus, only the fourth Devonian lungfish for which a near complete cranial endocast is known, is a key taxon for clarifying primitive character states within the group. A ventrally-expanded telencephalic cavity is present in the endocast of Dipnorhynchus demonstrating that t...

The Silurian–Devonian plant radiation was an event triggered by the progressive colonization of subaerial habitats. Nevertheless, it is still unclear whether this globally uniform or alternative diversification scenarios emerged depending on geographical context. Here, we report early land diversity patterns across different previously defined palaeogeographical units (i.e., Laurussia, Siberia,...

Acanthostega is one of the earliest and most primitive limbed vertebrates. Its numerous fish-like features indicate a primarily aquatic lifestyle, yet cranial suture morphology suggests that its skull is more similar to those of terrestrial taxa. Here, we apply geometric morphometrics and two-dimensional finite-element analysis to the lower jaws of Acanthostega and 22 other tetrapodomorph taxa ...

The Late Devonian (Frasnian-Famennian) interval includes one of the most dramatic intervals of biotic turnover in the Phanerozoic. Statistical evaluation of diversity change reveals that the primary cause of biodiversity decline was reduced speciation during the crisis interval, not elevated extinction rates. Although various hypotheses have been proposed to explain extinction increase during t...

Abstract. The present study of field, petrological, exploration well, and seismic data describes backward-dipping duplexes comprised phyllitic coal bedding-parallel décollements thrusts localized along lithological transitions in tectonically thickened Lower Devonian to lowermost Upper Devonian; uppermost Devonian–Mississippian; Pennsylvanian–lowermost Permian sedimentary strata the Wood Bay an...