NAME Diplodites yezoensis
AGE Late Cretaceous - Middle Turonian.   AGE span: 93.6...88.6 mya
K&J CLASSIFICATION (2000) Fungi Imperfecti, Sphaeropsidales.
FIGURE(S)
Image of
Pl.35fig.19.jpg
FIGURE REFERENCE Watanabe K, Nishida H, Kobayashi T. 1999. Cretaceous Deuteromycetes on a cycadeoidalean bisexual cone; International Journal of Plant Sciences, v. 160, p. 435-443.
SPECIES, AUTHORITY D. yezoensis (Watanabe, Nishida & Kobayashi) Kalgutkar & Jansonius 2000
LOCATION On bisexual cone of Cycadeoidella japonica Ogura, recovered from shales in the Middle Yezo Group, Kami-kinenbetsu River, Hokkaido, Japan.
ORIG DESCRIPTION* Species diagnosis: Fossil pycnidia and acervuli; semi-immersed, globose, composed of thick-walled cells, textura angularis and producing numerous conidia; pycnidia dark, globose, 300-750 µm in diameter; acervuli dark brown, 500 µm wide, composed of thick-walled cells, textura angularis; conidia ellipsoidal, ca. 17 µm long, 8.2 µm in diameter, with dark medial thick-walled septum and truncate base; conidial wall ornamented with angularly reticulate ridges.

Description: This fossil morph has two kinds of conidioma; pycnidial (figs. 5.17, 5.18) and acervular (figs. 5. 19. 5.20). The conidia are ca. 17 µm long and ca. 8.2 µm wide (fig. 5.21), ellipsoidal with angularly reticulate ridges (fig. 5.22, arrowhead) and truncate base (fig. 5.21, arrow).
COMMENTS* Pycnidia of Palaeodiplodites resemble those of the extant genus Diplodia, characterized by thick-walled pycnidia, blastic conidiogenous cells, and smooth brown conidia with thick septa and truncate base (Sutton, 1980, pp. 74-78). Fossils of Diplodia from the Eocene of India (Mahabale, 1968; Singhai, 1974) are reported to have pycnidia and septate conidia that are spherical or oval in shape. However, Palaeodiplodia also produces acervuli, which are not reported for extant Diplodia as far as we know.

Etymology: From ancient Japanese name for Hokkaido (Yezo).
PUBLICATION REFERENCE Watanabe K, Nishida H, Kobayashi T. 1999. Cretaceous Deuteromycetes on a cycadeoidalean bisexual cone; International Journal of Plant Sciences, v. 160, p. 435-443.
K&J REMARKS Kalgutkar et al. (1993) reported a well preserved mycelium and a number of fruiting bodies resembling modern Diplodia and Botryodiplodia in fungus-infested fruits of Viracarpon, from the Deccan Intertrappean beds of India. They assigned these to Diplodites. The nomen nudum Diplodites Teterevnikova-Babaian & Taslakhchian 1970 was validly published by Kalgutkar, Nambudiri & Tidwell 1993, with D. sweetii as type, as a form-taxon to encompass fossil taxa that are morphologically similar to Diplodia and related genera. Three new combinations, namely Diplodites rodei (Mahabalé, 1968), D. sahnii (Singhai, 1974), and D. mohgaoensis (Barlinge & Paradkar, 1979) were assigned to the genus. Kalgutkar and Jansonius (2000) treat Palaeodiplodites as a junior synonym of Diplodites, and its type species P. yezoensis is reassigned to Diplodites as Diplodites yezoensis (Watanabe, Nishida & Kobayashi) comb. nov.

As the publication by Watanabe et al. reached them only in the last days before going to press, Kalgutkar and Jansonius (2000) were not able to provide a line drawing of its type (of which six different aspects, all from the same gathering, are illustrated), other than an isolated conidium.
TYPE
ALL NAMES (Including synonyms) Palaeodiplodites yezoensis Watanabe, Nishida & Kobayashi 1999, p. 440, figs. 5.17-5.22.; Diplodites yezoensis
SERIAL NUMBER 347
PUBLIC COMMENTS host: Cycadeoidella japonica bisexual cone
habitat: Cycadeoidella japonica bisexual cone. Pycnidia (?) erumpant on host.
structures: pycnidia (?), perithecia (?), pseudothecia (?); conidia (?) ascospores (?)
 *For source, see Publication Reference.