A revision of the conifer Sphenolepis kurriana (Dunker) Schenk from the Wealden of Germany and England

Pages	19–34
DOI	10.37520/fi.2024.005
Keywords	Lower Cretaceous, Wealden, scale-leaved, fossil conifer, female cones, Sphenolepis kurriana, neotype, Berlin
Type of Article	Peer-reviewed
Citation	WATSON, Joan a FISHER, Helen L.. A revision of the conifer Sphenolepis kurriana (Dunker) Schenk from the Wealden of Germany and England. Fossil Imprint / Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae, Series B – Historia Naturalis. Prague: National Museum, 2024, 80(1), 19–34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37520/fi.2024.005. ISSN 2533-4050 (tisk), 2533-4069 (online). Also available from: https://www.nm.cz/en/periodicals/fossil-imprint-acta-musei-nationalis-pragae-series-b-historia-naturalis/80-1/a-revision-of-the-conifer-sphenolepis-kurriana-dunker-schenk-from-the-wealden-of-germany-and-england

Fossil Imprint / Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae, Series B – Historia Naturalis | 2024/80/1

The scale-leaved fossil conifer Sphenolepis kurriana (Dunker) Schenk is redescribed from the Wealden floras of Germany and England. The revised study of this fossil species encompasses specimens remaining in the nineteenth century Dunker Collection in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, from which a neotype is selected; figured specimens in the Museum of Geology, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen and the Rufford Collection in the Natural History Museum, London. Dispersed samples more recently collected from debris-beds in the English Wealden show cuticular details of particularly well-preserved leaf-bases and leaves. To date, Sphenolepis kurriana (Dunker) Schenk is the only non-cheirolepidiaceous conifer species confirmed as present in both the English and German Wealden floras. In situ cones, identified as female, indicate a taxodiaceous Cupressaceae affinity for S. kurriana.

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