Data from: A unique Late Cretaceous fossil wood assemblage from Chilean Patagonia provides clues to high-latitude continental environment

Fossil plants, including large trunks, stems, some branches, and twigs, were collected from the Maastrichtian (68.9 Mya), upper Dorotea Formation in the Magallanes/Austral Basin, 16 km north of the Cerro Guido-Las Chinas complex in the southern Chilean Magallanes region. These fossil trunks range fr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Martínez, Leandro C. A., Leppe, Marcelo, Manríquez, Leslie, Pino, Juan, Trevisan, Cristine, Manfroi, Joseline, Mansilla, Héctor
Format: Other/Unknown Material
Language:unknown
Published: Zenodo 2023
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kwh70rz9p
Description
Summary:Fossil plants, including large trunks, stems, some branches, and twigs, were collected from the Maastrichtian (68.9 Mya), upper Dorotea Formation in the Magallanes/Austral Basin, 16 km north of the Cerro Guido-Las Chinas complex in the southern Chilean Magallanes region. These fossil trunks range from 0.2 m to 2.2 m in length. Petrographic slides were made in three sections (transverse, radial, and tangential) and analysed under a light microscope to study the permineralised fossils. The woods and stems belong to Austroginkgoxylon gen. et sp. nov., Agathoxylon antarcticum, Podocarpoxylon paradoxi sp. nov., Podocarpoxylon mazzonii, Palmoxylon subantarcticae, and Nothomalvaceoxylon magallanense gen.et sp. nov. The growth rings of gymnosperms and anatomical characters of angiosperms were analysed to obtain palaeoecological data. Interactions between gymnosperm roots growing into the secondary xylem of an angiosperm (nurse logs) are recorded. The data obtained from the fossil woods suggest warm and humid conditions in this southern South American locality during the Late Cretaceous, providing a unique opportunity to study continental environments at high southern latitudes, which are poorly represented on a global scale. Libre Office. Version: 7.3.6.2 (x64) / LibreOffice Community Past 4.03. Paleontological stadistics software for education and data analysis. Funding provided by: Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/02ap3w078 Award Number: 1151389 Funding provided by: Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, Argentina* Crossref Funder Registry ID: Award Number: PICT-2019-03749 The fossil woods described here are based on observations of 12 logs of silicified woods and stems collected from 16 km to the north of the Cerro Guido locality, Magallanes region, southern Chile (Fig. 1). Observations and descriptions of the slides were carried out with light microscopic (LM). Slides of the cross (CS), radial (RS), and tangential (TS) wood sections were ...