Paleotropical pollen grains from the Neuquén Group, Patagonia, Argentina

This paper discusses the presence of elater-bearing pollen grains and other characteristic paleotropical palynomorphs in the mid to Late Cretaceous Neuquen Group at the El Zampal locality, south of Mendoza Province, Argentina. The elaterates characterize the equatorial paleofloristic province in the Albian-Cenomanian. The species Elateroplicites africaensis is present in the pollen assemblage recovered from the lower section of the Huincul Formation, a basal unit of the studied Neuquen Group. It represents the first record of elater-bearing pollen grains in Argentina and marks their southernmost extension. Other conspicuous paleotropical elements recorded in different lithostratigraphic units of the Neuquen Group include gymnospermous polyplicate pollen grains and angiosperm pollen, including two species of the periporate pollen genus Cretacaeiporites and the triporate pollen species Confossia vulgaris. The paleobiogeographic and biostratigraphic significance of the paleotropical sporomorph record in the Cretaceous palynofloras of the Neuquen Group at El Zampal is herein discussed.