A New Megaflora (Fossil Woods and Leaves) From the Miocene of Southwestern Patagonia

Abstract

A new megaflora composed of fossil woods and leaves is described. The bearing sediments overlie the Santa Cruz Formation (early Miocene), making it one of the youngest fossil megafloras described from southern Patagonia. The fossil woods is carbonized and found as clasts within a conglomerate. It includes a few specimens representing Araucariaceae (Agathoxylon sp.), Podocarpaceae (Phyllocladoxylon sp.), Cupressaceae (Cupressinoxylon sp.) and two indeterminable angiosperms with anatomical features consistent with Nothofagaceae. Most leaves are assigned to Nothofagaceae while a few specimens are related to Lauraceae, Typhaceae, Leguminosae, and a conifer. The recovered assemblage suggests a temperate climate similar to that of northern Patagonia today, inhabited by extant relatives of the fossils described herein.