<i>XENOXYLON</i> (CONIFERALES) FOSSIL WOODS FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS DEPOSITS OF THE FRANZ JOSEF LAND ARCHIPELAGO

Abstract

Fossil wood species Xenoxylon phyllocladoides and X. jakutiense of the Mesozoic genus Xenoxylon (Coniferales) are described from the Lower Cretaceous volcano-sedimentary deposits of Mac-Cult and Salisbury islands of the Franz Josef Land Archipelago. Fossil woods from Mac-Cult and Salisbury islands are described for the first time. Record of X. jakutiense from Salisbury Island represents the first record of this species from the island part of the Arctic. The presence of abietinean pitting on the radial walls of tracheids indicates that these species belong to the “phyllocladoides” group sensu Philippe et al. (2013), evolved from ancestral forms of Xenoxylon in the Early Jurassic. The discovery of  X. phyllocladoides and X. jakutiense fossil woods in the Lower Cretaceous deposits both on the island and mainland parts of the Russian Arctic confirms the conclusions about floristic links between Franz Josef Land and the northern part of the Siberian Platform in the Early Cretaceous.