Fungal spores from the Palaeogene El Foyel Group of Ñirihuau Basin, Argentina

SAXENA RAMESH; BIANCHINOTTI MARÍA VIRGINIA; QUATROCCHIO MIRTA; MARTINEZ MARCELO; CORNOU ELINA

PALAEONTOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2016 vol. 2 p. 343 - 362

0031-0239

The El Foyel Group is defined in the westernsection (Andean) of the ~Nirihuau Basin, Argentina (41°440S?71°300W). It consists of three units: the Troncoso, Salto delMacho and Rıo Foyel formations. The age of the group andof the formations is still controversial. We studied the fungalremains recovered from 14 palynological samples from outcropsin the group with the intention of providing data tosolve this problem. The fungal assemblage found is highlydiverse and it is mostly composed of spores of differentaffinities (mainly ascomycetes). We identified 38 speciesfrom 18 genera (Anatolinites, Dictyosporites, Didymoporisporonites,Diporicellaesporites, Diporisporites, Dyadosporites,Exesisporites, Foveodiporites, Hypoxylonites,Inapertisporites, Lacrimasporonites, Monoporisporites, Multicellites,Papulosporonites, Pluricellaesporites, Polycellaesporonites,Staphlosporonites and one indet.). Moreover, we propose twonew species (Hypoxylonites foyelensis sp. nov. and Pluricellaesporitespatagonicus sp. nov.) and a new combination (Dyadosporitesannulatus comb. nov.). Most of the species wererecovered from samples from the Troncoso Formation (21),while the Salto del Macho and Rıo Foyel formationsshowed lesser diversity. Anatolinites subcapsilaris, Dyadosporitessubovalis, Inapertisporites subovoideus, Monoporisporitessingularovalis and Multicellites ellipticus,biomarkers from the Middle Eocene appeared in the Troncosoand Salto del Salto del Macho formations; whereasindicators of the Eocene?Oligocene, such as Dyadosporiteselsikii, Didymoporisporonites panshanensis, Foveodiporites elegans,Lacrimasporonites fusoides and Multicellites leptaleus,were mainly recorded in the Rıo Foyel Formation. Theappearance of the biomarkers mentioned above reinforcesthe Palaeogene age proposed for the El Foyel Group inprevious palynological studies. The record of Hypoxylonitesater (Miocene) in the Salto del Macho formation wouldexpand its range as far back as the Palaeogene.