Encrusting bryozoan attached to terrestrial plant leaves from brackish deposits of the Lefipán Formation (Patagonia, Argentina), close to the K/Pg boundary
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Cretaceous bryozoans from South America have received limited attention despite their sporadic documentation. The K/Pg boundary has been identified in numerous fossil-rich basins in Patagonia, where bryozoans are frequent components of the faunas. Material recovered from upper Maastrichtian outcrops of the Lefipán Formation in the Cañadón Asfalto Basin (Patagonia, Argentina) includes a unique species of cheilostome bryozoan, Conopeum foliorum n. sp., attached to leaf remains of terrestrial plants and associated with scarce euryhaline bivalves. It likely thrived in a warm climate, shallow, well-lit brackish environment influenced by tides, located along the northwest margin of the Paso del Sapo embayment. Conopeum foliorum n. sp. is currently among the earliest known bryozoans from brackish water environments, and the second oldest documented instance of a bryozoan encrusting leaves of terrestrial plants, representing the first of such finding in South America. Based on our findings and available sedimentological and paleoecological data from previous studies, we interpreted Conopeum foliorum n. sp. as a fast-growing opportunistic taxon displaying euryhaline habits and prone to colonize terrestrial plant leaves deposited in a brackish-water nearshore environment.
期刊介绍:
Cretaceous Research provides a forum for the rapid publication of research on all aspects of the Cretaceous Period, including its boundaries with the Jurassic and Palaeogene. Authoritative papers reporting detailed investigations of Cretaceous stratigraphy and palaeontology, studies of regional geology, and reviews of recently published books are complemented by short communications of significant new findings.
Papers submitted to Cretaceous Research should place the research in a broad context, with emphasis placed towards our better understanding of the Cretaceous, that are therefore of interest to the diverse, international readership of the journal. Full length papers that focus solely on a local theme or area will not be accepted for publication; authors of short communications are encouraged to discuss how their findings are of relevance to the Cretaceous on a broad scale.
Research Areas include:
• Regional geology
• Stratigraphy and palaeontology
• Palaeobiology
• Palaeobiogeography
• Palaeoceanography
• Palaeoclimatology
• Evolutionary Palaeoecology
• Geochronology
• Global events.