Mesozoic Biotas of Scandinavia and its Arctic Territories

Scandinavia and its Arctic territories of Svalbard and Greenland represent geographical regions with a long history of Mesozoic palaeontology. However, the last few decades have witnessed a surge of new discoveries. Especially famous are the Triassic and Late Jurassic Lagerstätten of East Greenland and Spitsbergen in the Svalbard Archipelago, together with the Late Cretaceous strata of southern Sweden and the UNESCO World Heritage locality at Stevns Klint in Denmark. The latter records one of the most complete terminal Mesozoic rock successions known globally. Collectively, these deposits encompass the spectrum of Mesozoic biotic evolution, including the explosive radiation of marine faunas after the Permian–Triassic extinction, seminal specialization of amniotes for life in the sea, Late Triassic–Jurassic domination of the land by dinosaurs and the Cretaceous development of modern terrestrial floras and marine ecosystems. This volume, authored by leading experts in the field, encapsulates key aspects of the latest research and will provide a benchmark for future investigations into the Scandinavian Mesozoic world.
Late Cretaceous (Campanian) leaf and palynoflora from southern Skåne, Sweden
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Published:January 01, 2016
Abstract
A Late Cretaceous (Campanian) leaf megaflora from the Vomb Trough in southern Skåne, Sweden, has been investigated on the basis of collections held at the Swedish Museum of Natural History. The main plant-bearing locality is Köpinge, but single specimens originate from Högestad, Ingelstorp, Rödmölla, Svenstorps mölla and Tosterup. The fossil flora is dominated by the angiosperm (eudicot) Debeya (Dewalquea) haldemiana (Debey ex de Saporta & Marion) Halamski. Other dicots are cf. Dryophyllum sp., Ettingshausenia sp., Rarytkinia? sp., Dicotylophyllum friesii (Nilsson) comb. nov. and Salicites wahlbergii (Nilsson) Hisinger. Conifers are represented by cf. Aachenia sp. (cone scales), Pagiophyllum sp. and Cyparissidium sp. (leaves). Single poorly preserved specimens of ferns and monocots have also been identified. The terrestrial palynomorphs (the focus herein) clearly link to the megaflora, although with different relative abundances. The fern spore Cyathidites dominates along with the conifer pollen Perinopollenites elatoides and Classopollis. Angiosperm pollen comprise up to 15% of the assemblage, represented by monocolpate, tricolpate and periporate pollen and the extinct Normapolles group. The spores in the kerogen residue show a thermal alteration index (TAI) of 2+.
The flora probably represents mainly a coastal lowland Debeya/conifer forest, and is similar to approximately coeval assemblages from analogous palaeo-communities described from eastern Poland, western Ukraine and Westphalia.
- algae
- Angiospermae
- assemblages
- biogeography
- Bryophyta
- Campanian
- Coniferae
- Coniferales
- Cretaceous
- Dicotyledoneae
- Europe
- facies
- floral studies
- Gymnospermae
- leaves
- Lycopsida
- Mesozoic
- microfossils
- miospores
- Monocotyledoneae
- morphology
- paleoecology
- palynomorphs
- Plantae
- pollen
- pollen analysis
- Pteridophyta
- Scandinavia
- Skane Sweden
- species diversity
- Spermatophyta
- spores
- Sweden
- taphonomy
- taxonomy
- Upper Cretaceous
- Western Europe
- Pinales
- Tracheophyta
- Fagales
- Cormophyta
- Vomb Trough
- Euphyllophytina
- Radiatopses
- Moniliformopses
- Leptosporangiatae
- Viburnifolia
- Platanofolia