The megaspore assemblage of Capillisporites germanicus from the Middle Triassic of Poland

Abstract

The megaspore studies of boundary parts of the Lower Keuper and Upper Muschelkalk profiles, developed as clayey-sandy facies, allowed to distinguish the specific megaspore assemblage with proposed name Capillisporites germanicus. Such assemblage had some features common with the Dijkstraisporites beutleri one, described from the Lower Keuper deposits but it contained index species for the Upper Muschelkalk that dated it as an older than the Dijkstraisporites beutleri assemblage. Differences in species content between both mentioned assemblages pointed out that in some regions the boundary parts of profiles, regarded as the Lower Keuper, were the stratigraphic equivalent of the Upper Muschelkalk from other areas. Both megaspore assemblages occurred within range of the Heliosporites dimorphus Zone of Ladinian age. Here were distinguished four new species (Maexisporites collinus sp. n., Verrutriletes nodoslls sp. n., Tenellisporites omatus sp. n., Polaneuletes tuberculatus sp. n.), three new combinations (Henrisporites capillatus (Fuglewicz) comb. n., Sexaneuletes clavatus (Fuglewicz) comb. n., Aneuletes mesotriassicus (Kozur) comb. n.) and two new genera (Sexaneuletes gen. n., Polaneuletes gen. n.).