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Lejalia sagenopteroides gen. nov. et comb. nov.: A new tropical member of Araceae from Late Cretaceous strata of northern Gondwana (Jebel Abyad, Sudan)
Author(s) -
Coiffard Clément,
Mohr Barbara A.R.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
taxon
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.819
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1996-8175
pISSN - 0040-0262
DOI - 10.12705/645.8
Subject(s) - araceae , gondwana , biology , taxon , mangrove , botany , cretaceous , fossil wood , gymnosperm , ecology , paleontology , structural basin
Fossil leaf material was collected during the 1980s in northern Sudan and described as Proteaephyllum sagenopteroides. The revision of the type material and other specimens from the same collection led to a new interpretation of this taxon. The morphology of these leaves, especially the venation pattern of several vein orders, has been compared with leaves of fossil and extant monocotyledonous angiosperms, especially Araceae, with the conclusion that the fossil's parallel‐pinnate venation as well as its higher‐order venation show most similarities to living Araceae, especially Aroideae. A new genus, Lejalia , is erected to accommodate these results. The ecology of fossil Lejalia sagenopteroides gen. nov. et comb. nov. as an inhabitant of mangrove swamps, most likely together with the mangrove palm Nypa, elucidates the old age and stability of the Nypa ‐mangrove environment and its associated elements, including the occurrence of large‐leaved Aroids.