A Jurassic moss from Northeast China with preserved sporophytes

• We report compression fossils of mosses from the jurassica of China.
• The fossils are assigned to the new genus Ningchengia.
• Ningchengia is one of the few Mesozoic mosses with preserved sporophytes.

Three compression specimens of a fossil moss from the Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Inner Mongolia, China, are described as Ningchengia jurassica, sp. nov. Ningchengia forms dense tufts, is characterized by erect to erect-spreading leaves that gradually narrow into a slender to stout point and have a strong, simple percurrent to excurrent costa. Several sporophytes are preserved in place, showing elongate setae and oblong cylindrical capsules. These morphological character states indicate affinities of the fossils to the Bryophytina. Ningchengia jurassica is one of only a few compression moss taxa with sporophytes preserved in situ.