Neocalamites

{{Short description|Extinct genus of horsetails}} {{Italic title}}{{Taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Late Permian|Late Jurassic}} | name = ''Neocalamites'' | image = Neocalamites merianii.JPG | image_caption = ''Neocalamites merianii'' | regnum = [[Plantae]] | divisio = [[Pteridophyta]] | classis = [[Equisetopsida]] | ordo = [[Equisetales]] | familia = {{extinct}}[[Neocalamitaceae]] | genus = {{extinct}}'''''Neocalamites''''' | genus_authority = Halle, 1908 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * ''Neocalamites merianii'' * ''Neocalamites hoerensis'' }}

'''''Neocalamites''''' is an extinct genus of [[Equisetales|equisetalean]] plant. ''Neocalamites'' thrived during the [[Permian]] and [[Triassic]], and occurs worldwide.

==Description== [[File:Sgff a 1907442 f0011 c.jpg|left|thumb|Illustration of ''Neocalamites'' stems growing in an estuarine environment, with attached [[hybodont]] egg cases (''[[Palaeoxyris]]'') and hybodonts in the background ]]According to Elgorriaga et al. 2018, characteristics of ''Neocalamites'' include: "(1) aerial stems with continuous ribs across nodes, (2) [[Whorl (botany)|whorls]] of unfused leaves as in archaeocalamitacean plants, (3) compact [[Strobilus|strobili]] consisting of successive whorls of [[peltate]] [[sporangiophore]]s, and (4) bearing six or more [[sporangia]] per sporangiophore as in equisetacean strobili."<ref name="Elgorriaga 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Elgorriaga |first1=A. |last2=Escapa |first2=I.H. |last3=Rothwell |first3=G.W. |last4=Tomescu |first4=A.M.F. |last5=Cúneo |first5=N.R. |year=2018 |title=Origin of Equisetum: Evolution of horsetails (Equisetales) within the major euphyllophyte clade Sphenopsida |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=105 |issue=8 |pages=1286–1303 |doi=10.1002/ajb2.1125 |pmid=30025163 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The leaves are similar to those of ''[[Annularia]]'' while the stems closely resemble those of ''[[Calamites]]''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Villalva |first=Alejandra S. |last2=Gnaedinger |first2=Silvia |last3=Zavattieri |first3=Ana María |date=September 2023 |title=Systematic and organ relationships of Neocalamites (Halle) Vladimirovicz, and Nododendron (Artabe and Zamuner) emend. from the Triassic of Patagonia. Palaeobiogeographic, palaeoenvironments and palaeoecology considerations |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0034666723001082 |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |language=en |volume=316 |article-number=104939 |doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2023.104939|url-access=subscription |hdl=11336/226232 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> It is disputed as to whether members of the genus have [[secondary xylem]].<ref name="Elgorriaga 2018" /><ref name=":0" /> ''Neocalamites'' is suggested to have had a [[Herbaceous plant|herbaceous]] to [[shrub]] like habit. It is suggested to have grown in wet habitats, such as on the banks of rivers.<ref name=":0" />

== Taxonomy == Recent phylogenetic analysis has placed the genus as more closely related to modern [[Equisetaceae]] than to [[Calamitaceae]]. Cladogram after Elgorriaga et al, 2018<ref name="Elgorriaga 2018" />

{{clade|{{clade |label1=[[Archaeocalamitaceae]] |1={{clade |1=''[[Protocalamostachys]]'' |2=''[[Peltotheca]]'' }} |2={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=''[[Paracalamitina]]'' |2=''[[Cruciaetheca]]'' }} |2=[[Calamitaceae]] }} |2={{clade |1=''Neocalamites'' |label2=[[Equisetaceae]] |2={{clade |1=''[[Equisetites|Equisetites arenaceus]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Spaciinodum]]'' |2=''[[Equisetum]]'' }}}}}}}}}}|label1=[[Equisetales]]}}

== Chronology == According to Villalva et al. 2023 the chronological range of the genus spans from the [[Late Permian]] to the [[Late Jurassic]].<ref name=":0" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Horsetails]] [[Category:Prehistoric plant genera]] [[Category:Permian first appearances]] [[Category:Middle Jurassic extinctions]] [[Category:Fossils of Germany]] [[Category:Kupferschiefer]]