Pseudodioon akyoli gen. et sp nov., an extinct member of Cycadales from the Turkish Miocene

Erdei B., AKGÜN F., Lumaga M. R. B.

PLANT SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTION, vol.285, pp.33-49, 2010 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 285
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s00606-009-0253-x
  • Journal Name: PLANT SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTION
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.33-49
  • Keywords: Fossil leaf, Cycadales, Pseudodioon akyoli gen. et sp nov., Miocene, Soma, Turkey, NEW-ZEALAND, ZAMIACEAE, TURKEY, COALFIELD, AUSTRALIA, PALEOGENE, NUCLEAR, BASIN
  • Dokuz Eylül University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Fossil cycadalean leaves recorded from the Miocene plant assemblage of Soma, western Turkey, are described and assigned to an extinct genus and species, Pseudodioon akyoli. Leaf macromorphology suggests affinity with members of the Zamiaceae (subfam. Encephalartoideae), particularly with modern Dioon. Micromorphological features on the other hand indicate affinity with modern Cycas (Cycadaceae). Ordinary cells on the adaxial epidermis are isodiametric and are not differentiated into thick- and thin-walled cells. This is similar to Encephalartoideae-like fossils reported from the Cenozoic of the Northern Hemisphere, and even from the Mesozoic. Shared macromorphological traits of P. akyoli and other coeval Encephalartoideae-like fossil cycadalean leaves from Europe suggest that an extinct group of cycads inhabited southern Europe from the western part of Turkey, through Greece and France to Switzerland in the north during the Oligo-Miocene.