A fossil genus of the Frullaniaceae (Porellales, Jungermanniopsida) from the mid-Cretaceous of Myanmar
2017
Abstract
Recent findings established the Albian-Cenomanian amber of Myanmar (Burmese amber) as an important source of Mesozoic cryptogams. Here, we describe an inclusion within Burmese amber as Proto-frullania cornigera gen. et sp. nov. in the extant family Frullaniaceae (Porellales, Jungermanniopsida).
Diagnostic characters include its incubous leaves consisting of a dorsal lobe and a ventral lobule forming a watersac, and strap-shaped, prominent underleaves producing a rhizoid bundle from the uppermost sector of the long, narrow disc. Bark fragments connected to some of the rhizoid bundles provide evidence that the fossil was an epiphyte.