Abstract
The Lower Cretaceous (113 million years old) lacustrine deposits of Las Hoyas(Iberian Ranges, Cuenca, Spain) yield an epiphytic assemblage formed by thecharophyte species Clavatoraxis diaz-romeraliiMartín-Closas & Diéguez overgrown by a muddy, laminatedstromatolite-like structure. Fossil charophyte thalli coated with biogeniclaminations were previously unknown from the fossil record. Within thisstromatolite-like structure, filaments are found which correspond to thalli ofanother charophyte, Palaeonitella vermicularisMartín-Closas & Diéguez, and to septate hyphae of fungi(Ascomycetes). The distribution pattern of the biogenic lamination and itsselective growth only on the strongest thalli ofClavatoraxis diaz-romeralii suggests that it occurredwhen these macrophytes were still alive, standing upright on the lake bottom.From this point of view the stromatolite-like structures are reminiscent ofextant overgrowths of charophyte thalli by epiphytic, filamentouscyanobacteria, eucaryotic algae and fungi. These assemblages appear to developafter eutrophication of nutrient-poor environments, which are more suitablefor charophyte growth.
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