1. Fossil Liverworts from the Lower Cretaceous Huolinhe Formation in Inner Mongolia, China
- Author
-
Lin Zhicheng, LI Ruiyun, Sun Bainian, Yan Defei, Jin Peihong, Wang Xuelian, and MA Fujun
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Taphonomy ,biology ,Marchantiales ,Geology ,Structural basin ,010502 geochemistry & geophysics ,biology.organism_classification ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Aytoniaceae ,Cretaceous ,Thallus ,Paleontology ,Genus ,Botany ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Ventral scales - Abstract
A new genus and species, Rebouliothallus huolinhensis sp. nov., and two uncertain species, Ricciopsis sp. and Hepaticites sp., are described. The fossils were collected from the Lower Cretaceous Huolinhe Formation of Huolinhe Basin, northeastern China. The new genus Rebouliothallus was established in the Aytoniaceae family of Marchantiales. Rebouliothallus huolinhensis appears to be quite similar to species of the extant genus Reboulia Raddi. The species is characterized by the relatively large ventral scales. Ventral scales are large, imbricate and arranged in two rows on the ventral surface. Rhizoids are either pegged or smooth. Ricciopsis sp. is characterized by the rosette forming thallus. Hepaticites sp. shows some similarities to liverworts. Of the forty-nine Early Cretaceous floras of China, only two floras, one from the Huolinhe basin, Inner Mongolia and the other from the Jixi Basin, Heilongjiang Province, contain fossil liverworts. The rare fossil liverwort records in the Early Cretaceous floras of China may be the result of taphonomic bias.
- Published
- 2016