The first plant megafossil in the Early Jurassic of Greece: Brachyphyllum (Coniferales) from the Lower Posidonia Beds (Toarcian) in the Ionian zone (NW Greece) and its palaeogeographic implications
Abstract
General information on the geology of the Lower Jurasic in the Hellenides is presented, focused on the Chionistra section, where the first land plant macrofossil was recovered. Thsi speciment is interpreted as a new record of Brachyphyllum elegans (Saporta) Barale and compared with the type material form the Upper Jurrasic of France and some other mesozoic fossils of this kind from Eurasia.
Its stomatal complexes with papillate subsidiary cells and the co-occurence with abundant Classopholis pollen indicate an affinity to the Cheirolepidiaceae. The reconstructed environment usually assigned to the Brachyphyllum nepos type may suggest mangrove-like vegetation that thrived under tropical-subtropical climatic conditions.
Moreover, the finding of Brachyphyllum elegans (Saporta) Barale from the Lower Jurasic (Toarsian) of western Greece provides confirmation of the palaeo geographic evolution model of the Ionian zone during this period.