Among all fossiliferous
cherts worldwide, the chert from Rhynie has provided the most
spectacular contributions
to palaeobotany and also a few remarkable ones to palaeozoology. Soon
after its discovery by W. Mackie in
1912 the marvellous preservation
of detail in the silicified strata became a subject of wonder and
scientific interest.
The early publications by Kidston
and Lang
seemed
to be so thoroughly done that for decades, others were apparently
rather discouraged than incited to do more research. The "higher"
plants Rhynia
(then two species), Asteroxylon,
and Horneophyton
became prominent items of every palaeobotany monograph. Moreover, there
were algae, microbes, and abundant
hyphae and sclerotia of various fungi. One specimen of one of the
enigmatic nematophytes
had been found as two tiny fragments: Nematophyton.
The
good preservation has allowed the complex build of various small
creatures to be reconstructed,
as there were mites,
spider-like trigonotarbids, and crustaceans with their numerous legs
and appendices. Creatures and plants provided ample
information
on the whole biotope with its interrelations of species [1]. That
website [1] reflects the accumulated knowledge up to 2004.
In the last decades of the century it became obvious that the cherts
had more in store: one specimen of another nematophyte (Nematoplexus 1961),
new "higher" plants:
Nothia
(1964), Trichopherophyton
(1991), Ventarura (1994,
published in 2000). The latter was discovered by N. Trewin
and
C. Rice
in 1988 in a chert-bearing stratum lying well above those previously
known.
The age difference between this Windyfield chert and the other strata
is not known and probably very small.
As a result of deeper investigations it became apparent that the plants
found in the Rhynie chert represent diverging lines of development near
decisive branching points and thus could be
crucial for the completion of the still much disputed phylogenetic tree
of plants. (In connection with such dispute, Rhynia major had
been arguably
renamed Aglaophyton
in 1986.)
Of great significance for the understanding of plant evolution is the
discovery of a
gametophyte generation, and hence the alternation of generations, of
several Rhynie plants at Münster University, which
began in 1980 and is still going on there. This has revived the old
dispute
about the question of where to place the mosses and liverworts in the
phylogenetic tree. (Note that for those,
the gametophyte constitutes the main part of the plant whereas it is
much reduced in the "Higher Plants".)
Geological research at Aberdeen University combined with chemical
analysis has shown that chert formation was related to hot spring
activity.
A judgement given by N. Trewin
in 1996 does still apply: “I feel we have only scratched the surface of
the Rhynie story, and this premier Scottish locality will continue to
yield exciting stories in a variety of disciplines for decades to come.”
Every issue of Rhynie
Chert News on this website may contribute to
fulfilling
this prophesy.
