A new species of Stutzeliastrobus (Cupressaceae) from the Early Cretaceous of the Guyang Basin, northern China, and its paleoenvironmental implications

A cupressaceous conifer, Stutzeliastrobus araucarioides comb. nov. is described from the Lower Cretaceous Guyang Formation in the Guyang Basin, central Inner Mongolia, northern China. Stutzeliastrobus araucarioides is known based on well-preserved leafy shoots with attached ovuliferous cones, and is characterized by elongate ovuliferous cones with numerous helically arranged, flat cone-scale complexes. Each complex is composed of a fused bract and ovuliferous scale and bears two seeds on the proximal to middle region. Stutzeliastrobus araucarioides is most similar in gross morphology to extant Taiwania cryptomerioides, but differs by having many more bract-scale complexes per cone. The features of S. araucarioides confirm that Stutzeliastrobus is closely relared to Taiwania. The new material enriches the fossil record of Stutzeliastrobus and adds to knowledge of the diversity of early Cupressaceae from the Early Cretaceous. Associated fossils and sedimentary facies indicate that S. araucarioides occupied lacustrine-paludal environments that hosted a diverse range of conifers and ginkgoaleans.