Dispersed lycopsid cuticles from the Mississippian of Chemnitz (Saxony, Germany), and their implications for the affinity of the putative earliest conifer and for lycopsid palaeoecology

The leaf cuticles of lycopsids are generally thought to be very thin and have limited preservation potential. In addition the preservation of Mississippian cuticles is often hampered by thermal alteration.However, newly discovered, exceptionally well preserved dispersed cuticle fragments from the Mississippian of Germany show remarkable similarity to the cuticles of some fossil and extant lycopsids and are thus interpreted as lycopsid cuticles. The fragments represent two different cuticle types, which are both comparably robust and show different kinds of ornamentation. At least one cuticle type is suggested to derive from leaves.These discoveries indicate that Palaeozoic lycopsid cuticles had a greater preservation potential than previously thought. In addition, we suggest that plant mesofossils that have been described as the world's oldest conifer Swillingtonia Scott et Chaloner from the Duckmantian of England may represent lycopsid remains.

► Lycopsid cuticles from the Mississippian of Germany are described. ► Two cuticle types, both comparably thick with different kinds of ornamentation. ► The cuticles are similar to other fossil and extant lycopsid cuticles. ► The putative conifer Swillingtonia is suggested to be a lycopsid.