An anatomically preserved moss gametophyte has been discovered in a marine carbonate concretion from the Baculites Hill locality, James Ross Island, Antarctica. The concretion is derived from the Late Cretaceous Beta Member of the Santa Marta Formation, dated as early to middle Campanian (ca. 80 Ma). The moss has actinomorphic stems with alternate branching, spiral, patent leaf arrangement and large numbers of attached rhizoids. The largest stem is 210 µm in diameter with the largest branch measuring up to 3.7 mm long and 90–100 µm wide. Most stems appear to contain a distinct conducting strand. Cross sections show that the leaves are strongly plicate with a simple D-shaped costal anatomy and unistratose laminae typically with bistratose margins. Leaves range from 650–700 µm wide and at least 700 µm long. The costa appears percurrent, 90 µm wide and 55 µm thick. Laminar cells are elongate, rhomboidal, L/W = 5:1. No ornamentation or papillae have been observed on the upper medial cells of the leaf. These fossils show leaf morphology and costal anatomy similar to several orders of acrocarpous mosses, in the Dicranidae including species of the family Rhabdoweisiaceae. While the combination of characters does not fit into any known genus, it suggests that this moss represents a fossil member of the Dicranales s.l. To date, this represents the most completely preserved moss gametophyte from Gondwana.
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26 August 2024
A fossil dicranid moss from the Late Cretaceous of Antarctica
Zane Walker,
Ruth A. Stockey,
Gar W. Rothwell,
Brian A. Atkinson,
Selena Y. Smith,
Ari Iglesias
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The Bryologist
Vol. 127 • No. 3
Fall 2024
Vol. 127 • No. 3
Fall 2024
Anatomy
Dicranidae
Rhabdoweisiaceae