Fossil woods from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) of Kamchatka Peninsula, Russian Far East

• Published in: Cretaceous Research
• Main Authors: Afonin, Maxim, Philippe, Marc
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon - Terre, Planètes, Environnement (LGL-TPE), École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne (UJM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: Albian; Kedrovka Formation; Protocedroxylon; Russian Far East; Taxaceoxylon; Xenoxylon; [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Kamchatka Peninsula; Kedrovka; Kamchatka
• Online Access: https://univ-lyon1.hal.science/hal-02351065; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2014.04.002

Three coniferous fossil wood taxa are described from the Kedrovka Formation (Albian) of Kamchatka Peninsula, Russian Far East: Protocedroxylon gregussii (Shilkina) Shilkina & Chudajberdyev, Taxaceoxylon sp. and Xenoxylon phyllocladoides Gothan. This wood flora is quite peculiar when compared to coeval wood floras from the same area. It yields the first safe report of Taxaceoxylon fossil wood from the Lower Cretaceous of Asia. The record of Xenoxylon phyllocladoides represents the latest stratigraphic occurrence of this species and the first from Russia. Taxaceae-like fossil wood record is reappraised and shown to be consistent with recent cladistic results, suggesting a boreal origin and a link to the Pinaceae. The palaeoecology of the Kedrovka Formation wood flora is investigated. The peculiarities of the flora might be explained by an oceanic palaeoclimate. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.