Bergacarpon viladricii gen. et sp nov., angiosperm seeds and associated fruits from the early Maastrichtian of the eastern Pyrenees (Catalonia, Spain)
Résumé
A new locality yielding angiosperm seeds and fruits is reported from the Maastrichtian of south-eastern Pyrenees. The seeds Bergacarpon viladricii gen. et sp. nov may have been produced by a monocot (probably a commelinid) based on the presence of a micropylar lid and orthotropous (atropous) development. The associated fruit is follicle-like and likely contained a single seed. The seeds form a massive accumulation in one bed in a brackish mudflat depositional setting. Size, shape and organ selection as well as the absence of other associated megafossil plant remains suggest that the seed bed originated from a paucispecific source plant community and by transport through floatation. This is one of the oldest monotypical angiosperm (probably monocot) seed accumulations found so far in the fossil record.