Paleotropical pollen grains from the Neuquén Group, Patagonia, Argentina

Abstract

This paper discusses the presence of elater-bearing pollen grains and other characteristic paleotropical palynomorphs in the mid to Late Cretaceous Neuquén Group at the El Zampal locality, south of Mendoza Province, Argentina. The elaterates characterize the equatorial paleofloristic province in the Albian-Cenomanian. The species Elateroplicites africaensis is present in the pollen assemblage recovered from the lower section of the Huincul Formation, a basal unit of the studied Neuquén Group. It represents the first record of elaterbearing pollen grains in Argentina and marks their southernmost extension. Other conspicuous paleotropical elements recorded in different lithostratigraphic units of the Neuquén Group include gymnospermous polyplicate pollen grains and angiosperm pollen, including two species of the periporate pollen genus Cretacaeiporites and the triporate pollen species Confossia vulgaris. The paleobiogeographic and biostratigraphic significance of the paleotropical sporomorph record in the Cretaceous palynofloras of the Neuquén Group at El Zampal is herein discussed.

Cretaceous evolution of the Andean margin between 36°S and 40°S latitude through a multi‐proxy provenance analysis of Neuquén Basin strata (Argentina)

“…Although dinosaurs, charophytes, ostracodes, plant remains (Legarreta & Uliana, 1999) and palynomorphs (Vallati, 2002(Vallati, , 2010(Vallati, , 2013 are abundant in the continental sequences of Neuqu en Basin, the precise ages of the different formations remain loosely constrained. According to published palaeontological and geochronological data (Bonaparte, 1996;Hugo & Leanza, 2001;Leanza et al, 2004;S anchez et al, 2008;Garrido, 2010), in the present paper, we use the following ages (Figs 1 and 2): Aptian-Albian p.p.…”

Occurrences of Elaterate Pollen from the Lower Cretaceous of Ghana: Implications for Biostratigraphy and Palaeoclimatology

“…They appeared in the lower Albian sediments of the low latitude region, diversified, became numerically important in the upper Albian -Cenomanian and died out at the end of Cenomanian, which saw rapid diversification and rise to dominance of the angiosperms (Herngreen et al 1996;Vallati, 2013). The elater pollen have attracted the attention of palynologists and has contributed to their application in palynostratigraphy and paleobiogeography (Schrank, 2001).…”

“…The elater pollen have attracted the attention of palynologists and has contributed to their application in palynostratigraphy and paleobiogeography (Schrank, 2001). According to Vallati (2013), the morphological characteristics of these grains are unknown from extant pollen grains and up to now in situ specimens have not found. A probable ephedroid affinity for the elaterates has been proposed (Shrank, 2001; Dino et al1999;Crane, 1988).…”

New plant fossils from the Lower Cretaceous of the Parnaíba Basin, Northeastern Brazil: Southern Laurasia links

“…At that time, the province included a large part of the modern landmasses of South Hemisphere and southern Laurasia, characterized by assemblages containing elater-bearing pollen grains (Willis & McElwain 2002, Vallati 2013. Tropical, warm, and dry, conditions influenced the climate in this equatorial realm (Vakhrameev 1991).…”