Saportanthus, an Extinct Genus of Laurales from the Early Cretaceous of Portugal

Abstract

Premise of research. Numerous exquisitely preserved fossil floral structures recovered from Lower Cretaceous sediments in Portugal are invaluable for understanding the organization and structure of flowers at an early stage in angiosperm evolution. This study analyses three such flowers that add significantly to current knowledge of structural and systematic diversity among very early eumagnoliid angiosperms.Methodology. Fossil flowers were extracted from unconsolidated sedimentary rocks by sieving in water. Morphological and anatomical details were studied using scanning electron microscopy and synchrotron radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy. The phylogenetic position of the fossils was assessed using the available morphological data sets for extant taxa.Pivotal results. A new genus, Saportanthus, with three new species, S. brachystemon, S. dolichostemon, and S. parvus, is described from the Early Cretaceous of the Lusitanian Basin, western Portugal, based on coalified flowers. The flowers are small, ...