New species of Gleichenites (Gleicheniaceae, Filicales) from the Upper Triassic of Argentina and Chile

Abstract

Two new and one undetermined species of Gleichenites are described from the Upper Triassic Canadon Largo Formation (El Tranquilo Group) from Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, The Upper Triassic La Ternera Formation, Copiapo province, northern Chile and the Upper Triassic Gomero-Talcamavida member of the Concepcion area in southern Chile. These funding together with formers one of Argentina, Australia and eventually America, reinforce the idea of a possible austral origin of the family Gleicheniaceae or at least part of it. All the Triassic and part of the Jurassic hitherto known species from the Gondwana realm are multisorate and thus belong to the primitive members of the family included in the sub-genus Diplopterygium in Holttum’s sense.