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A shoot with attached leaves of Desmiophyllum harrisii Barbacka et Pacyna from the Rhaetian of Bavaria, Germany

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Abstract

Desmiophyllum harrisii was described from the Hettangian of Poland based on specimens yielding dispersed leaf fragments only, albeit with cuticle. Here, we record a shoot with attached leaves assignable to Desmiophyllum harrisii from the Rhaetian of Bavaria, besides a few specimens with dispersed leaf fragments. The leaves yielded also a thin and fragmentary cuticle with stomata arranged in characteristic single, short longitudinal files. This record does not only expand the temporal range of the species but also necessitates emending the specific diagnosis accordingly. The affinity of Desmiophyllum among gymnosperms is still uncertain, and the epidermal anatomy resembles that of Czekanowskiales and of some fossil taxa that have been assigned to Ginkgoales and Coniferales. The thin cuticle points to a habitat in moist environments.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Fabian Ercan (University of Utrecht) with his help with the cuticle photos. Thanks are also due to Gea Zijlstra (University of Utrecht) for her help in nomenclatorial issues. Constructive comments from Majka Barbacka, Benjamin Bomfleur and Natalja Nosova helped to improve the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Naturalis Biodiversity Center, PO Box 9517, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Johanna H. A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert & Johan van der Burgh

  2. Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Princetonlaan 8A, 3584 CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Johanna H. A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert & Johan van der Burgh

  3. LWL-Museum für Naturkunde, Westfälisches Landesmuseum mit Planetarium, Sentruper Straße 285, 48161, Münster, Germany

    Christian Pott

  4. Museum of Nature South Tyrol, Bindergasse/Via Bottai 1, 39100, Bozen/Bolzano, Italy

    Evelyn Kustatscher

  5. Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften, Paläontologie und Geobiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80333, Munich, Germany

    Evelyn Kustatscher

  6. SNSB, Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie München, Richard-Wagner-Straße 10, 80333, Munich, Germany

    Evelyn Kustatscher

  7. Rosenkrantzstraße 17, 95326, Kulmbach, Germany

    Stefan Schmeißner

  8. Eichbergstraße 25a, 95369, Untersteinach, Germany

    Günter Dütsch

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  1. Johanna H. A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert
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Correspondence to Johanna H. A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert.

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Handling Editor: Benjamin Bomfleur.

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van Konijnenburg-van Cittert, J.H.A., Pott, C., Kustatscher, E. et al. A shoot with attached leaves of Desmiophyllum harrisii Barbacka et Pacyna from the Rhaetian of Bavaria, Germany. PalZ 93, 531–541 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-019-00474-x

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