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Late Santonian megaspore floras from the Gulf Coastal Plain (Georgia, USA)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Richard Lupia
Richard Lupia*
Affiliation:
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Avenue, Norman, Oklahoma 73072, USA,
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Abstract

Fossil megaspore floras from the Late Cretaceous of North America have been studied extensively, but primarily from the Western Interior Basin. Two new megaspore floras are described from eastern North America along the Gulf Coastal Plain. Cumulatively, 10 genera and 16 species of megaspores are recognized from Allon, Georgia and along Upatoi Creek, Georgia (both late Santonian in age, ~84 Ma). Megaspores identified have affinities to both heterosporous lycopsids, e.g., Erlansonisporites, Minerisporites, and Paxillitriletes, and to heterosporous ferns, e.g., Ariadnaesporites, and Molaspora. Lycopsid megaspores are more diverse than fern megaspores in the Allon and the Upatoi Creek floras. Two new species—Erlansonisporites confundus n. sp. and Erlansonisporites potens n. sp.—are proposed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 85 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 1 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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