New floras from the Tetta Clay Pit, Upper Lusatia, late Oligocene–Early Miocene, Germany

Abstract

One hundred and nine taxa of carpological remains, 3 taxa of leaves, and 103 taxa of sporomorphs are identified from the late Oligocene to Early Miocene deposits at the Tetta Clay Pit, eastern Germany. Palynological analysis was performed for the first time for this site. Among the carpological remains, 82 taxa are documented for the first time for this site, including two new fossil-genera (Paranothotsuga Kowalski gen. nov., Pterosinojackia Kowalski gen. nov.), and one new fossil-species (Sparganium tuberculatum Kowalski sp. nov.). New combinations are also introduced (Paranothotsuga jechorekiae (Czaja) Kowalski n. comb., Magnolia germanica (Mai) Kowalski n. comb., and Morella stoppii (Kirchheimer) Kowalski n. comb.). Discovered microremains of Pesavis tagluensis fungus extend the age range of the sedimentary sequence from the previously suggested Middle Miocene to at least the latest Oligocene. Two biostratigraphic units, the Rott-Thierbach and Wiesa-Eichelskopf floristic complexes are recognized for the first time in Tetta. Beech forests are indicated as the most common vegetation type. All of these fossil assemblages evidence a warm temperate climate, but a shift toward a warmer subtropical climate is inferred in the uppermost part of the studied profile.