Taxonomic revision of the J. Vicente collection dicotyledon leaves from the lower Maastrichtian of Isona (northeastern Iberia)

Abstract

The lower Maastrichtian plant megafossil site of Isona (Lleida, Catalonia, NE Spain) was discovered in 1979 and its first detailed study was published by Joan Vicente i Castells in 2002. The collection, of around 400 fossils, kept in the Museu de Geologia – Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona (MGB-MCNB). In a recent study, the Vicente collection was partially revised resulting in 15 different morphotypes of dicot leaves of which only three could be assigned to the angiosperm families Lauraceae, Betulaceae and Celastraceae. In the present study, morphotypes are compared with cleared leaves of extant angiosperms and taxonomical hypotheses are proposed for most of them. Among the 17 morphotypes of dicotyledons currently distinguished in the fossil plant collection of Isona, likely members of Laurales, Proteales, Eurosids and Asterids have been identified. In addition, three new species of dicot leaves are described suggesting that the fossil flora from Isona could be more singular than previously thought.