Early land plant spore assemblages from the Late Silurian of Skåne, Sweden

Abstract

A palynological study based on sedimentary rocks (mainly calcareous siltstones and mudstones with minor carbonate beds) from the upper Silurian Öved-Ramsåsa Group in the Klinta 1 and Bjärsjölagård 2 drillcores, Skåne, Sweden, reveals a rich assemblage of well-preserved spores produced by early land plants. Thirty-four spore taxa belonging to 19 genera, including the new species Scylaspora klintaensis sp. nov., were identified. The palynoflora is characterized by cryptospores and trilete spores. The dominant spore species are the cryptospores Gneudnaspora plicata followed by Gneudnaspora divellomedia. Based on the presence of biostratigraphically important spore species such as Hispanaediscus lamontii, Artemopyra radiata, Emphanisporites neglectus, Synorisporites cf. libycus and Synorisporites tripapillatus, the age of the studied strata is interpreted to be of a Late Silurian age. Although the palynological assemblages are strongly dominated by miospores and other land plant fragments, marine microfossils are also present and the sedimentary succession is interpreted to have been deposited in a nearshore marine environment.

Keywords:

• Silurian
• trilete spores
• cryptospores
• palynology
• taxonomy
• flora

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences Research Fellow through the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and by Lund University Faculty for K.M. and V.V. K.M. further acknowledges Fysiografiska Sällskapet in Lund. We would like to thank C. Rubinstein for reviewing and improving the manuscript. We further thank J. Wigforss-Lange, S. McLoughlin and the Editor of GFF, M. Calner, for helpful discussions and comments on this manuscript.