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Premise of research. The Triassic is considered a pivotal time for the radiation of modern conifer families. In this article, we describe the conifers from the Fossillagerstatte Kuhwiesenkopf/Monte...

Premise of research. Late Permian Voltziales are interpreted to have given rise to most extant conifer families, although their origin and evolutionary relationships are still poorly understood. Th...

The Late Cisuralian is known as a time of increasing aridity, compared to the Late Pennsylvanian–Early Cisuralian. Although several studies highlighted this trend at low latitudes of Western Pangaea, little is known from Central Pangaea environments. The discovery of new fossiliferous horizons in the Late Cisuralian Tregiovo Formation (Northern Italy), allowed a new palaeoenvironmental study based on facies analysis, ichnology, palaeobotany, plant–insect interaction and palynology. Three facies associations were identified (A–C), and correspond to floodplain lake, ephemeral lacustrine and distal alluvial fan environments, respectively. The tetrapod ichnoassociation is more diverse than previously known, including abundant diapsid and non-diapsid reptile tracks and rarer temnospondyl amphibian tracks. Plant fossils are characterized by a predominance of hinterland taxa (conifers), hygrophytic plants are present as well. The sporomorph association is dominated by miospores of Cordaitales, Voltziales, and Peltaspermales while trilete lycopsid and fern miospores are rare which corresponds well with the macroflora. Invertebrate trace fossils and feeding traces on plant fossils are described for the first time from the Tregiovo Basin suggesting transitional, low energy environments, and a relatively low level of herbivory, respectively. This study evidences the development in the Tregiovo Basin of a wet-and-dry (probably seasonal) climate, which became drier between facies associations A–B. This environment constitutes an important reference since few data are known to infer the Late Cisuralian climatic conditions of Central Pangaea.

The Anisian amber from the “Voltzia beds” of the Recoaro area, produced by Voltzia recubariensis, represents the most ancient Triassic amber known so far. The discovery of amber in the Anisian localities of Kühwiesenkopf/Monte Prà della Vacca and Piz da Peres, in the Dolomites area, fills a gap in the amber fossil record and gives an important contribution to the knowledge of Triassic amber. The finding of amber droplets, both dispersed in the sediment and anatomically connected to shoot fragments of V. recubariensis, demonstrates that during the Anisian this species was a major resin-producer and that the favorable conditions for the preservation of resin and plant remains were present at regional scale. The contribution of Voltziales to Middle Triassic resin production in Northern Italy is also testified by the Ladinian amber from the “Wengener Schichten” of Wengen/La Valle, produced by Voltzia ladinica, whereas the Late Triassic amber was mainly produced by cheirolepidiaceous conifers. The finding of organic body trapped in the amber of Kühwiesenkopf/Monte Prà dalla Vacca is noteworthy, although difficult to interpret, and shows once again its capability to entrap and preserve witnesses of past life. Moreover, the correspondence between the Triassic amber occurrences and regional/global scale humid shifts, suggests a cause-and-effect relationship, in which the rise of amber production/preservation potential is related to climate/environmental changes, particularly in marginal marine/costal environments.