Plant macrofossils of the Upper Cretaceous Kaitangata Coalfield, New Zealand

Abstract

Uppermost Cretaceous sediments from the Cretaceous Kaitangata Coal Mine and the Wangaloa coast (south of Dunedin, New Zealand) were investigated for dispersed plant macrofossils. The gymnosperms include two cycads (Macrozamia sp. and Pterostoma sp.), Ginkgo sp., three further possible ginkgophyte taxa, and ten conifer taxa. The conifers include two new conifer genera and species, Maikuku stephaniae and Waro riderensis, which are placed in the Taxodiaceae s.l., five forms which can be placed into pre- existing genera (Araucaria sp., Otakauia lanceolata, Kaia minuta, Kakahuia sp. ‘Kai Point’, and Paahake cf. P. papillatus), and three others which are not identified to genus (Araucariaceae gen. indet., cf. Dacrycarpus, and ‘Wangaloa conifer’). There are also 13 types of angiosperm cuticle, including one in the Lauraceae, and one with affinities to Chloranthaceae and Monimiaceae. Sample heterogeneity as regards taxa present and their abundance suggests taxonomic heterogeneity in the original vegetation.