New record of Cretaceous Protocircoporoxylon wood from the Guyang Basin, northern China and its palaeoclimatic implications

Abstract

Abundant and diversified Mesozoic fossil wood records have been reported in China. However, fossil woods have never been reported in the Guyang Basin, northern China. Here, a new calcified fossil wood specimen was discovered from the Lower Cretaceous Guyang Formation in the Guyang Basin. The present fossil are characterized by araucarian radial tracheid pitting and circopore cross-field pitting, typical of the genus Protocircoporoxylon. The specimen described here are mostly distinguishable from other fossil species of Protocircoporoxylon by the araucarian radial tracheid pitting and the number of pits per cross-field. Therefore, the present wood fossil is established as a new species, Protocircoporoxylon guyangensis Xu X.H. et Zhao Y.M. sp. nov. Up to now, the fossil detail records of Protocircoporoxylon have predominantly been found in the Triassic and Jurassic periods thus far. However, this discovery in Inner Mongolia, northern China indicates that the genus Protocircoporoxylon still into the Early Cretaceous period. The quantitative growth rings analysis of P. guyangensis sp. nov. indicates that it is an evergreen gymnosperm with a leaf retention time of 5–7 years. The fossil wood living in an environment with complacent water supply and weak seasonal fluctuations.