Review of the Cycads and Bennettitaleans from the Mesozoic of Argentina

RUBÉN CÚNEO; IGNACIO SCAPA; LILIANA VILLAR DE SEOANE; ANALÍA ARTABE; SILVIA GNAEDINGER

Plants in Mesozoic Time: Morphological Innovations, Phylogeny, Ecosystems.

Indiana University Press

Lugar: Indianapolis; Año: 2010; p. 187 - 214

Cycads and bennettitaleans from Argentina are thoroughly reviewed in light of their fossil record and recent findings from a geographic and stratigraphic perspective. The history of these groups is traced from their first appearance in the Triassic to the last record of cycads in the early Paleogene. Selected cycadophyte taxa have been particularly useful for interpreting their phylogenetic context and possible relationships with modern representatives. Biochronostratigraphic and paleoecological aspects are also considered that suggest that the biogeographic distribution of the cycadophytes was much farther poleward than previously thought, owing to greenhouse conditions prevailing during their time of occurrence in southern South America.