Cordaites and pteridosperm-like foliage from the Kungurian (early Permian) flora of Tregiovo (Trento, NE Italy)

Abstract

The Tregiovo flora is one of the best documented and well-dated Kungurian floras of Euramerica. It yielded a rich and diverse plant fossil assemblage including voltzian and walchian conifers, peltasperm seed ferns, sphenopterids, putative ginkgophytes, ferns and horsetails. Here two taxa are described and discussed, Tregiovia furcata gen. et sp. nov. and Cordaites sp. The former, characterized by a bifurcating lamina with a distinct midrib, is of difficult botanical affinity, with the closest resemblance to Auritifolia anomala. If this similarity is confirmed, it would represent the first comioid record in the Southern Alps and Europe. The two new taxa underline the bias of the fossil record for elements adapted to seasonally dry environments. A comparison with similar taxa of gymnosperm affinity show that the Cisuralian fossil record is still very scares in certain areas of Pangea such as the low and middle latitudes of Gondwana, eastern Gondwana and the high latitudes of Euramerica.