Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
4750228 Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 2014 10 Pages PDF
Abstract

•We describe several pleurocarpous mosses from Myanmar Cretaceous amber.•These, including Vetiplanaxis pyrrhobryoides, show affinities to the Hypnodendrales.•We describe three fossils as new species of Vetiplanaxis.•A diverse pleurocarp moss flora was present in the Myanmar Cretaceous amber forest.

Several sterile gametophyte fragments of pleurocarpous mosses preserved in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar are described. All inclusions share the presence of long and relatively thin-walled cells in the middle portion of the leaf lamina, a relatively narrow costa with dorsal teeth, slightly differentiated marginal cells, and almost exclusively unicellular teeth in the leaf margin, indicating affinities to hypnodendralean pleurocarpous mosses. Re-investigation of the holotype of Vetiplanaxis pyrrhobryoides from the same amber deposit allows for a revision of the current taxonomic treatment as a putative member of Rhizogoniales, and tentatively supports the original interpretation as a member of Hypnodendrales. Three further fossils are described as new species Vetiplanaxis espinosus, Vetiplanaxis longiacuminatus, and Vetiplanaxis oblongus. These new finds indicate that a diverse pleurocarpous moss flora was present in the Cretaceous amber forest of Myanmar, and mark this deposit as one of the most promising localities for reconstructing Cretaceous bryophyte floras.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Palaeontology
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