New paleobotanical data from the Puntudo Chico Formation (uppermost Cretaceous), Chubut Province, Argentina

VERA, E.I.; PEREZ LOINAZE, V.S.; LLORENS, M.; PASSALIA, M.G.

Revista del Museo de Ciencias Naturales

Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales

Año: 2024 vol. 26

1514-5158

The Puntudo Chico Formation is a continental unit cropping out in central and northern region of the Chubut Province in Argentina. It is one of the units that overlays the Chubut Group and its age is currently regarded as Campanian to lower Maastrichtian. The previously reported paleontological content of this unit essentially consist of silicified conifer trunks of Podocarpoxylon mazzonii, Agathoxylon antarcticum and Brachyoxylon sp. cf. B. currumilii (reported from El Quiosco locality), and palms and the dicot Aextoxicoxylon kawasianum identified at Estancia María de las Nieves locality. In this contribution, new conifer woods are reported from the latter locality. Podocarpoxylon mazzonii is identified as the most abundant taxon in this locality, as in El Quiosco. A second taxon is Cupressinoxylon austrocedroides Nishida, representing the first record of the genus for the unit. Finally, a third wood type is recognized, which can be separated from the other two taxa here identified, but given its deficient preservation remains with unclear taxonomic placement. The shared presence of P. mazzonii and C. austrocedroides in the Puntudo Chico Formation and in a Danian unit cropping out in the region (i.e., the Salamanca Formation) is discussed.