Bennettitalean Leaves From the Permian of Equatorial Pangea—The Early Radiation of an Iconic Mesozoic Gymnosperm Group

Bennettitaleans are an extinct group of gymnosperms that among the most iconic plants Earth’s vegetation during Mesozoic Era. The sudden appearance and rise to dominance Bennettitales Triassic remains a mystery. Leaf fossils similar typical bennettitalean foliage occur in late Paleozoic deposits worldwide, but can be identified with certainty only case sufficiently well-preserved show epidermal features. So far, characteristic stomatal architecture has never been systematically documented these putative remains. Here, we present leaves from Permian two widely separated regions equatorial Pangea. Two species cuticle-bearing leaf compressions Umm Irna Formation, Jordan, here formally described as Pterophyllum pottii Bomfleur et Kerp sp. nov. Nilssoniopteris jogiana Blomenkemper Abu Hamad Moreover, bulk maceration samples Formation yielded six additional types dispersed cuticles informally described. In addition, Cisuralian (early Permian) uppermost part Upper Shihhotse exposed at Palougou section Shanxi Province, China, oldest unambiguous known date; they consist fragments entire-margined assign shanxiensis Bäumer, Backer Wang Unlike puzzle-patterned many Jurassic Cretaceous bennettites, non-sinuous anticlinal walls, greater variety orientation, rare occurrence transversely divided subsidiary cells—features have until now almost exclusively hitherto material. Finally, taxonomic richness, disjunct distribution, broad macro- micromorphological features lead us suspect origin will date back still further time, might fact coincide very early occurrences Bennettitales-like Pennsylvanian Cisuralian, such cottaeanum , P. eratum or grandeuryi .