Geology Department and Albany Museum, Rhodes University, Makhanda (Grahamstown), South Africa.
Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Laboratory (EDDy Lab), Geology Department, Liège University, Liège, Belgium.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jun 4;11(1):11859. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-90180-z.
Newly discovered early plant bearing lenses from the Baviaanskloof Formation at Impofu Dam in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa provide evidence for one of the most diverse Late Silurian to Early Devonian assemblages known to date. This work represents the first account of this flora. Fifteen taxa are presented, including eleven diagnosed to existing genera, of which eight may be reasonably diagnosed to existing species including several species of the genus Cooksonia. Three new taxa, Krommia parvapila, Elandia itshoba and Mtshaelo kougaensis are described. This flora is furthermore remarkable for the large number of complete or sub-complete specimens allowing good understanding of earliest plant architecture. The assemblage bears the greatest resemblance to Early Lochkovian assemblages from the Parana Basin of Brazil and the Anglo Welsh basin. Biostratigraphic constraints on the dating of the Baviaanskloof Formation are provided by this flora, which represents the oldest known from Africa.
新发现的来自南非东开普省因普福大坝的巴维亚安斯克鲁夫组的带透镜的早期植物为目前所知的最具多样性的晚志留世至早泥盆世组合之一提供了证据。这项工作代表了对该植物群的首次描述。共提出了十五个分类群，包括十一个现有属的诊断种，其中八个可能合理地诊断为现有物种，包括几个库克松属的物种。描述了三个新分类群，即小克朗米亚、伊特索巴伊兰迪亚和库加恩斯山氏。该植物群的显著特点是大量完整或部分完整的标本，这使得人们能够很好地了解最早的植物结构。该组合与来自巴西巴拉那盆地和英威尔士盆地的早洛赫科夫期组合最为相似。该植物群为巴维亚安斯克鲁夫组的年代测定提供了生物地层学限制，这是非洲已知最早的植物群。
