Abstract
Fossil plants belonging to the morphogenera Glossopteris, Pecopteris and Asterotheca were collected from the upper part of the Chutani Formation (Titicaca Group), near the town of San Pablo de Tiquina, on the southeastern shore of Lake Titicaca (northern Altiplano, Bolivia). Here we report the analysis of fern-type foliage found at this location. Three species of pecopterid fronds are identified: Pecopteris dolianitii Rohn and Rösler, P. cf. P. cadeadensis Rohn and Rösler, and P. cf. P. pedrasica Read. All these species are typically found in Permian deposits of the Paraná Basin in southern Brazil. Despite the poor preservation of the material, a fertile specimen could be studied and was determined as Asterotheca sp. The paleoenvironmental and paleoecological implications of this new find are briefly analyzed.
Highlights
The presence of coal beds and plant remains in the Upper Paleozoic beds of Bolivia has been known since the 19th century
The Paleozoic fossil record of Bolivia is known for its completeness and taxonomic diversity when compared to other South American countries
The studied samples were collected from the upper part of the Chutani Formation (Titicaca Group), near the town of San Pablo de Tiquina, by the southeastern shore of Lake Titicaca, in the northern Altiplano of Bolivia (Figure 1)
Summary
The presence of coal beds and plant remains in the Upper Paleozoic beds of Bolivia has been known since the 19th century. Branisa (1965), in his classical work on Bolivian guide fossils, related the Bolivian Late Paleozoic plants to the Gondwanan flora. This relationship was not proven by systematic studies of the floral elements but the location of Bolivia in western Gondwana makes this assumption likely. The local stratigraphy consists of mixed carbonate and siliciclastic rocks with volcanic and volcaniclastic interbeds, all belonging to the Lower Permian (Kungurian) to ?Lower Triassic Chutani Formation (Figure 2). These rocks form part of a wide fold within one of the thrust sheets
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