New taxa of winteraceous pollen from the Lower Cretaceous of Israel

• Well preserved pollen tetrads were recovered from the Lower Cretaceous of Israel.
• These tetrads are related to the primitive angiosperm family Winteraceae.
• Light and scanning electron microscopy is used to study winteraceous pollen.
• A new winteraceous pollen genus and species is described from the Albian of Israel.

This paper describes a rich assemblage of winteraceous pollen tetrads from the independently dated Albian Upper Hatira Formation at Makhtesh Qatan, northern Negev, Israel. Previously similar winteraceous tetrads have been reported from the upper Aptian-middle Albian of the Zohar 1 well north of Makhtesh Qatan. These pollen grains were widely recognized as early stem group representatives of the primitive angiosperm family Winteraceae, and a centre of origin in Northern Gondwana was postulated for a family, which is today mainly austral in distribution. On the basis of the new material from Makhtesh Qatan the new genus and species Qatanipollis valentini is proposed. In addition to its type this genus contains at present the two species Qatanipollis sp. A (formerly Walkeripollis sp. A) and Qatanipollis sp. B, both recovered from core samples of the Zohar 1 well.