Diversity of palmately lobed leaves in the early–middle Albian of eastern Russia

Abstract

Diversity of palmately lobed leaves of angiosperms of the early–middle Albian floras of the Kolyma River Basin, the Omsukchan Coal Basin, Khabarovsk and Primorye Regions was studied. Leaf fossils, previously compared with those of genera Aralia, Sassafras and Lindera, now reassigned to the fossil genus Araliaephyllum. Four new combinations and one new species are published: A. kolymense (Kryshtofovich) Golovneva, comb. nov., A. luciferum (Kryshtofovich) Golovneva, comb. nov., A. ussuriense (Krassilov) Golovneva, comb. nov., A. ievlevii (Samylina) Golovneva, comb. nov., and A. popovii Golovneva, sp. nov. The type material has been restudied in detail, and lectotypes have been selected to all newly typified species. These species share many lauralean morphological and venation features. They represent the most likely early members of this group. This relationship is based on detailed study of the leaf architecture and comparison with other fossils with studied epidermal features. This study expands our knowledge of radiation and biogeography patterns of early angiosperms in northeastern Asia.