Atriaecarpum venablesi

Atriaecarpum venablesi

(Chandler) Chandler, 1978

Fossil group Plants
Order Ranunculales
Family Menispermaceae
Genus Atriaecarpum
Taxonomic status Accepted
Geological age Ypresian

Summary

Atriaecarpum venablesi was an early Eocene member of the moonseed family known from the hard inner stone of its fruit. As in other Menispermaceae, the endocarp protected the seed and preserves far more reliably than the softer outer fruit tissues. The family today is dominated by climbing plants, so a climbing habit is plausible, but no attached London Clay stems or leaves demonstrate this directly.

The fruit stone is unusually straight and compressed for a menisperm, with no internal condyle or plate. Its ventral face carries a strong longitudinal ridge with a hollow on either side. The same species has also been recognised in other earliest Eocene European floras, showing that this distinctive fruit type was not confined to the London Basin.

Quick Identification

Look for: a straight, compressed, subelliptic moonseed fruit stone with no internal condyle or plate; the ventral face is concave and carries a strong longitudinal ridge with a hollow on each side.

Diagnostic Features

  • Endocarp is straight to only very slightly curved.
  • Fruit stone is bilaterally symmetrical and strongly compressed.
  • Overall outline is subelliptic.
  • Internal condyle and condylar plate are absent.
  • Ventral face is concave with a marked longitudinal ridge separating two longitudinal hollows.

Fossil Details

Fossil material
Fruit
Preservation
Compression is part of the normal form of the species, but breakage can remove the ventral ridge or one side of the outline. Fragments that do not preserve the characteristic ventral construction or enough of the subelliptic outline should remain at genus or family level.

Recorded Fossil Sites

No fossil-site occurrences have yet been recorded for this species.

References

  • Frédéric M. B. Jacques; Dario de Franceschi. (2005). Endocarps of Menispermaceae from Le Quesnoy outcrop (Sparnacian facies, Lower Eocene, Paris Basin). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 135(1–2), 61–70 View reference
  • Marjorie E. J. Chandler. (1978). Supplement to the Lower Tertiary Floras of Southern England. Part 5. Tertiary Research, 1–47 View reference
Last Reviewed
27 August 2026 Reviewed by Sam Harris