NAME Dictyosporites tirumalacharii
AGE Miocene.   AGE span: 23.03...5.332 mya
K&J CLASSIFICATION (2000) Fungi Imperfecti, Dictyosporae.
FIGURE(S)
Image of
Pl.15fig.34.jpg
FIGURE REFERENCE Ramanujam CGK, Ramachar P. 1980. Recognizable spores of rust fungi (Uredinales) from Neyveli lignite, Tamil Nadu; Records of the Geological Survey of India, v. 113(5), p. 80-85.
SPECIES, AUTHORITY D. tirumalacharii (Ramanujam & Ramachar) Kalgutkar & Jansonius 2000
LOCATION Neyveli lignite, Tamil Nadu, India.
ORIG DESCRIPTION* Teliospore heads rounded, chestnut-brown, often darkly so, 35-55 µm in diameter, usually 4-8 spores across in each head; configuration and size of spores in each head variable, individual spores 8-11.5 µm, wall up to 2.5 µm thick, smooth or finely flecked; germ pores one in each cell (spore) of telial head, 1.5 µm across, occasionally faint.
COMMENTS* Telial heads of this description occur fairly abundantly in almost all samples of the Neyveli lignite; they are remarkably similar to telial heads of Ravenelia Berkeley. No pedicellate telial heads were seen in the fossil material. Ravenelia is parasitic on leguminous plants; pollen grains of that family occur abundantly in the lignite.
PUBLICATION REFERENCE Ramanujam CGK, Ramachar P. 1980. Recognizable spores of rust fungi (Uredinales) from Neyveli lignite, Tamil Nadu; Records of the Geological Survey of India, v. 113(5), p. 80-85.
K&J REMARKS Kalgutkar and Jansonius (2000) could not identify any feature in the photo of the type that could be interpreted as a "germ pore." Ramanujam & Ramachar also illustrated, as their fig. 11, another specimen that is twice as large, and has many more, and smaller, cells than the type. Kalgutkar and Jansonius (2000) transfer the species to Dictyosporites, where it fits in with the other species there now residing. The original authors saw no pedicellate forms, which presumably would have strengthened a comparison with Ravenelia.
TYPE
ALL NAMES (Including synonyms) Ravenelites tirumalacharii Ramanujam & Ramachar 1980, p. 83, pl. 1, fig. 12.; Dictyosporites tirumalacharii
SERIAL NUMBER 307
PUBLIC COMMENTS
 *For source, see Publication Reference.