NAME Diporicellaesporites ellipticus
AGE Oligocene.   AGE span: 33.9...23.03 mya
K&J CLASSIFICATION (2000) Fungi Imperfecti, Phragmosporae.
FIGURE(S)
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FIGURE REFERENCE Zhang Z. 1980. Lower Tertiary fungal spores from Lunpole Basin of Xizang, China (English summary); Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, v. 19, p. 296-301.
SPECIES, AUTHORITY D. ellipticus Zhang Zhongying 1980, p. 299, pl. 1, fig. 13.
LOCATION Niubao Formation, Lunpola Basin, northern Xizang Plateau, Xizang, China.
ORIG DESCRIPTION* Fungal spores that consist of four cells and have two germinal apertures [terminal pores], outline of the spores elliptical, with a length:breadth ratio of less than 2 and a size of 19.1 x 33.5 µm. The middle two cells are unusually large, accounting for most of the total volume of the spore. The apertures are situated at each end of the spore, and their margins are not dilated. External wall of the spore 0.5 µm thick and with a psilate surface. Three transverse septa are observed; these septa are distinct, either straight or slightly curved, and 0.5 µm wide. The spores are partially ruptured in the middle; this rupturing is an artifact of the fossil's preservation.
COMMENTS* Diporicellaesporites stacyi Elsik (1968, pl. 3, figs. 10-11) has an elongated elliptical outline in which the length:breadth ratio is greater than 2. Moreover. the two cells in the middle of those spores are not as strikingly enlarged as is the case in the new species described here. Diporicellaesporites liaoningensis Ke & Shi (1978, pl. 5, figs. 7-9) from Lower Tertiary sediments in coastal areas along the Bohai Sea are distinguished in that they are large with a fusiform outline and have both an external wall and transverse septa that are thickened to an exceptional degree [sic].
PUBLICATION REFERENCE Zhang Z. 1980. Lower Tertiary fungal spores from Lunpole Basin of Xizang, China (English summary); Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, v. 19, p. 296-301.
K&J REMARKS
TYPE
ALL NAMES (Including synonyms) Diporicellaesporites ellipticus
SERIAL NUMBER 365
PUBLIC COMMENTS
 *For source, see Publication Reference.