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Aquatic ferns from the Upper Cretaceous Loncoche Formation, Mendoza, central-western, Argentina

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Abstract

Herein, we report new fossil remains with marsileaceous affinity associated with dispersed microspores corresponding to Crybelosporites, different types of massulae of Salvianiaceae (Paleoazolla patagonica and Azolla circinata), and a single megaspore assigned to the fossil genus Grapnelispora. These fossils were recovered from the Late Cretaceous Loncoche Formation, at the Calmu-Co section, Malargüe Group, Northern Neuquén Basin, Mendoza, Argentina. The macrofossils include scattered leaflets, rhizomes, roots, and a sporocarp-like structure. They share characters with members of the aquatic fern family Marsileaceae; however, based on the characters preserved, they could not be placed within any extant or fossil species; therefore, the fossils are better included within a new fossil-taxon, Mendozaphyllum loncochense. Dispersed spores of Crybelosporites pannuceus, also belonging to Marsileaceae, were recovered from the entire section. Additionally, abundant isolated massulae with affinity to the aquatic fern family Salviniaceae, and a single megaspore assigned to Grapnelispora loncochensis, were identified from the plant bearing layer. The presence of Marsileaceae fossils in the Campanian–Maastrichtian Loncoche Formation, Mendoza, extends towards the north the paleogeographical distribution of the family Marsileaceae in Argentina, since previous records are from Patagonia. A fluvial to deltaic environment with lacustrine episodes is suggested by the sedimentology of the lower and middle parts of the Calmu-Co section and supported by the abundant fresh water algae recovered from the palynological association. This was probably the optimum habitat for the growth of aquatic ferns related to Marsileaceae and Salviniaceae and explains its abundance in the studied sediments.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are in debt with G. Rothwell and R. Lupia for their comments on an early version of this contribution. They are grateful to E. Hermsen for discussions on the Calmu-Co material during the visit of G. G. Puebla to Cornell University, E. Hermsen and R. Cúneo for permission to use images of the fossil leaves from the La Colonia Formation (Cañadón del Irupé locality), and to K.C. Nixon for access to the L.H. Bailey Hortorium Herbarium (BH). The authors would like to thank B. Gonzalez Riga who assisted one of the authors in collecting the palynological samples and to R. Bottero for his help in preparing the figures. Funding for this research was provided by the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) PIP 0713/09, (Agencia de Promoción Cientifica) PICT 2010-1805 and National Science Foundation grant DEB-0918932 to MAG.

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  1. Unidad de Paleopalinología, Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales, Centro Científico Tecnológico, CONICET, C.C.131, 5500, Mendoza, Argentina

    Gabriela G. Puebla & Mercedes B. Prámparo

  2. L. H. Bailey Hortorium, Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    María A. Gandolfo

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  1. Gabriela G. Puebla
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  2. Mercedes B. Prámparo
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Correspondence to Gabriela G. Puebla.

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Puebla, G.G., Prámparo, M.B. & Gandolfo, M.A. Aquatic ferns from the Upper Cretaceous Loncoche Formation, Mendoza, central-western, Argentina. Plant Syst Evol 301, 577–588 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-014-1096-7

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