Abstract :
[en] The Albian Gault Clay and Greensand Formation from the Argonne region (France) have yielded numerous plant remains including wood and an abundant (ca 100 specimens) collection of cones. Saporta (1880) and Fliche (1896) described some of these fossils that were attributed to seven species within Pinus. Two of these species have since been redescribed and renamed Pityostrobus oblongus Fliche 1896 and Pityostrobus argonnensis Fliche 1896 (Fliche 1896). The remaining five species, viz., Pinus praemontiloca Fliche 1896, P. wohlgemuthi Fliche 1896, P. praelepensis Fliche 1896, P. saportana Fliche 1896, and P. mammilifer Saporta 1880, still need to be restudied. We revised this material using X-ray micro-tomography and morphometry. We discuss the results of this work and try to clarify their taxonomy. In addition to the aforementioned published material, several specimens remained undescribed. Our preliminary results indicate, together with a new morphotype of pollen cone, the presence of at least two new morphotypes of ovulate cones. Some of the latter share many characters with Pinus, such as a very pronounced dorsal umbo. This high diversity matches that found in the Barremian–Aptian of Belgium and confirms the important diversity of Pinaceae in Western Europe during the Early Cretaceous.
References
Fliche, P., 1896. Études sur la flore fossile de l’Argonne: Albien-Cénomanien. Bulletin de la Société des sciences de Nancy, Ser 2, Tome 14, Fasc 30, 114–306.
Saporta, G. de, 1880. Notice sur les vegetaux fossiles de la Craie inferieure des environs du Havre. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de Normandie (Exposition géol. & paléont. du Havre en 1877) 6, 640–661.
