Early Cretaceous Equisetites from Slovakia

Abstract

A new find of terrestrial plant Equisetites cf. lyellii is reported from the Early Cretaceous of Slovakia. It comes from the Mráznica Formation of the Rajec Basin in Fatricum, Zbyňov locality, Rajecké Teplice (Žilina district). The presence of a 53 mm long horsetail axis provides good evidence of terrestrial environments during sedimentation of the studied strata. According to our interpretation, such a plant strongly indicates a moist to wet habitat (even swampy environments) on the presumed dryland from where it was transported. This dryland could represent an isolated unknown small island(s) in the vicinity, or the Vindelician-Bohemian Massif that was active as a dryland for the entire period of time from the Triassic through the Late Cretaceous. However, the exact palaeogeographic position of the Fatricum during the Mesozoic in relation to the Vindelician Landmass is not entirely clear, and such an interpretation needs a bit of caution.