NAME Sporocarpon tubulatum
AGE Carboniferous.   AGE span: 359.2...299 mya
K&J CLASSIFICATION (2000) Ascomycetes, Eurotiales.
FIGURE(S)
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Pl.29fig.10a.jpg
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Pl.29fig.10b.jpg
FIGURE REFERENCE Williamson WC. 1878. On the organization of fossil plants of the Coal Measures. Part IX; Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, v. 169, p. 319-364.
SPECIES, AUTHORITY S. tubulatum Williamson 1878, p. 349, pl. 24, fig. 78, 78A.
LOCATION England.
ORIG DESCRIPTION* "Fig. 78 represents a second form of the same type of conceptacle which I found in a slide sent to me by Mr. Earnshaw. It differs from the specimen last described [Sporocarpon compactum] only in the greater number and narrower transverse diameter of its peripheral cells, a, a feature which results in producing a more definitely regular peripheral outline. The cells are also longer than in Fig. 76A, causing the thickness of the bounding wall to be greater in proportion to the diameter of the enclosed cavity. The maximum diameter of the entire organism is about .009, being enlarged in the plate 214 times. The specimen, Fig. 76A, has about the same dimensions. Fig. 78A, represents a single cell of Fig. 78; its peripheral extremity, a, is broader than its narrower opposite or inner one; its exposed face exhibits two flattened or slightly concave surfaces, resultants of the pressure of two contiguous cells. Each cell of this specimen has a length of about .0023 to .0029 and a maximum breadth of .0005 to .0006. I have formed no opinion as to the relations of these objects."

(Hutchinson 1955, p. 433): Spherical or oval structures approx. 270 µm in diameter, containing spherical or oval cavities 130 µm in diameter. The wall is made up of a single layer of club-shaped cells arranged perpendicularly to the surface of the organism, the inner ends of which are flattened and in close contact so as to bound a very regular cavity. These cells are approx. 55-75 µm in length, approx. 4-5 µm in diameter at their inner ends, and approx. 8-13 µm at their peripheral ends. No structures have been seen in the cavity.

This description is based upon a re-examination of Williamson's slide, which is the only specimen so far recorded. It agrees generally with his original account; however, the wall cells are smooth club-shaped structures, the "flattened faces" which he described being apparently his misinterpretation of the appearance of the shadows of underlying cells on one in correct focus.
COMMENTS*
PUBLICATION REFERENCE Williamson WC. 1878. On the organization of fossil plants of the Coal Measures. Part IX; Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, v. 169, p. 319-364.

Hutchinson SA. 1955. A review of the Genus Sporocarpon Williamson; Annals of Botany, v. 19, p. 425-435.
K&J REMARKS Sporocarpon tubulatum was reassigned as Dubiocarpon tubulatum (Williamson) Hutchinson 1955; however, this generic name is illegitimate and to be rejected as nomenclaturally superfluous, because Hutchinson included in the genus, as originally defined, the type of the genus Sporocarpon, S. compactum (see remarks from Kalgutkar & Jansonius (2000) under Sporocarpon compactum.)

Hutchinson (l.c.) erroneously gave the specific epithet as "tabulatum."
TYPE S. tubulatum Williamson 1878, p. 349, pl. 24, fig. 78, 78A. Holotype: Slide 1509, Williamson Collection, British Museum of Natural History. [Hutchinson, 1955.]
ALL NAMES (Including synonyms) Dubiocarpon tubulatum (Williamsom 1878) Hutchinson 1955, p. 433.; Sporocarpon tubulatum
SERIAL NUMBER 1617
PUBLIC COMMENTS
 *For source, see Publication Reference.