Anomozamites(Bennettitales) from Middle Jurassic Haifanggou Formation,western Liaoning,China

The Middle Jurassic Hangfanggou Formation is well exposed in Shangsanjiao and Xiasanjiao villages area,Baimashi town of Huludao,western Liaoning,China.Recently,abundant fossil plants were collected from the Hangfanggou Formation.One new species,Anomozamites sanjiaocunensis sp.nov.(Bennettitales),is described in this study.This is the first report of the genus Anomozamites from the Haifanggou Formation based upon the leaf morphology and epidermal structures.The discovery of the new species extends significantly the stratigraphic and geographic distribution of Anomozamites in the Middle Jurassic.It also shows that Anomozamites was a common member of Bennettitales once lived in the Middle Jurassic warm temperate region.The new species also improves the knowledge on understanding the leaf morphology,epidermal features and the diversity of Anomozamites during the Middle Jurassic.The epidermal characters of the new species and its associated plants reveal that the plants grew in a warm and moderately humid environment in the warm temperate zone.The presence of some deciduous plants,such as ginkgoaleans,czekanowskialeans and conifers,indicate the climate with seasonal fluctuations in temperature.

Jurassic Flora in Southern Mexico: <i>Anomozamites</i>Schimper, 1870 Emend. Pott et McLoughlin, 2009 from Mixteco Terrane, Phytogeographical Implications of Williamsoniaceae Family (Bennettitales)

Anomozamites is a fossil-genus of leaf attributed to the Bennettitales, with a distribution mainly in the Kingdom of Laurasia and a stratigraphic range of the Upper Triassic to the Lower Cretaceous. In Mexico there were only reports of some specimens until the 1980s and later of four fossil-species at the beginning of the 21st century, all of them from the Jurassic in the Mixteco Terrane. In this review, three fossil-species of Anomozamites are identified: A. angustifolium is the first of them, which is a fossil-taxon with a range of the Rhaetian to Bajocian and Euramerican distribution;the second one is A. cf. triangularis, of which the geographic and stratigraphic extension of fossil-taxon is proposed;finally, we propose the existence of the A. sp.1, informally named, but with morphological characters that do not match the descriptions of Triassic/Jurassic fossil-taxa. These identifications were made based on macromorphology of the foliar organs and on the review of the diagnostic characters of both the fossil-genus and the fossil-species of taxonomic validity. Then, with this study, the taxonomic and phytogeographic knowledge of Anomozamites during the Jurassic period is increased and this allows reconsidering the amplitude of the Wielandiella distribution, a fossil-genus related to Anomozamites due to the existence of two fossil-taxa in organic connection.

Review of the bennettitalean genus Weltrichia

The bennettitalean male reproductive structure Weltrichia Braun 1849 emend.Harris 1969(Family Williamsoniaceae) is discussed from several points of view,including anatomy and morphology,species diversity and validity,phytogeographical and stratigraphical distribution,and reproduction strategy.A very rare fossil,genus Weltrichia includes 25 valid species distributed in both hemispheres during Triassic and Jurassic times.This contribution critically reviews the systematics of the entire genus,together with its stratigraphical and palaeophytogeographical significance.