Permian plants from the Chutani Formation (Titicaca Group, Northern Altiplano of Bolivia): II. The morphogenus Glossopteris

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). This paper presents the first description of specimens of the morphogenus Glossopteris from Bolivia. The Bolivian specimens of Glossopteris consist of poorly-preserved impressions, although they present the diagnostic features of this morphogenus. They are fragments of leaves with secondary veins of taeniopterid-type, typical of glossopterids from Late Permian deposits of Gondwana. The only species of Pecopteris confirmed in the first part of this study, i.e. P. dolianitii Rösler and Rohn (see Vieira et al. 2004), was previously reported from the Late Permian beds of the Rio do Rasto and Estrada Nova formations in the Paraná Basin (southern Brazil). Therefore, a Late Permian age is proposed for the fossil plant-bearing beds of the Chutani Formation based on the analyzed assemblage. The phytogeographic implications of this new find are briefly analyzed.