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Elsevier, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, (209), p. 1-10, 2014

DOI: 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2014.05.008

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Bryophytes of the Burmese amber forest: Amending and expanding the circumscription of the Cretaceous moss genus Vetiplanaxis

Journal article published in 2014 by Lars Hedenäs ORCID, Jochen Heinrichs, Alexander R. Schmidt
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Abstract

Several sterile gametophyte fragments of pleurocarpous mosses preserved in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar are described. All inclusions share the presence of long and relatively thin-walled cells in the middle portion of the leaf lamina, a relatively narrow costa with dorsal teeth, slightly differentiated marginal cells, and almost exclusively unicellular teeth in the leaf margin, indicating affinities to hypnodendralean pleurocarpous mosses. Re-investigation of the holotype of Vetiplanaxis pyrrhobryoides from the same amber deposit allows for a revision of the current taxonomic treatment as a putative member of Rhizogoniales, and tentatively supports the original interpretation as a member of Hypnodendrales. Three further fossils are described as new species Vetiplanaxis espinosus, V. longiacuminatus, and V. oblongus. These new finds indicate that a diverse pleurocarpous moss flora was present in the Cretaceous amber forest of Myanmar, and mark this deposit as one of the most promising localities for reconstructing Cretaceous bryophyte floras.