The fossil was discovered in Anadia, district of Aveiro. It corresponds to a new species of ferns that are 300 million years old. Named Acitheca Machadoi, it preserves sporangia (the plant’s reproductive organs) in three-dimensional detail and even with spores ‘in situ’.
The now extinct primitive fetus, around 300 million years old, was discovered in geological formations of Anadiaby the team of researchers from the FCTUC Geosciences Center (CGEO), announced that Faculty, in a note sent to the Lusa agency.
“This paleobotanical find corresponds to a new species of the genus Acithecaa group of Maratilean tree ferns from the extinct family Psaroniaceae from the order of Marattiales, characterized by its elongated sporangia and sessile sori”, described the CGEO researcher and first author of the scientific article, Pedro Correia.
The new species, named Acitheca Machoiis dedicated to the geologist specialized in Paleozoic Palynology, Gil Machado, who studied in detail the stratigraphy (branch of geology that studies the strata or layers of rocks) and the palynological floras of the Buçaco Carboniferous Basin, including the stratigraphic section where the new fossil was discovered.
Acitheca Machai preserves sporangia (plant reproductive organs) in three-dimensional detail and with spores ‘in situ’.
“It is an exceptional preservation and rarely found in adpressions (type of compression fossilization) in which Carboniferous plant fossils from this region are preserved”, stated the paleontologist, adding that this fossil presents one of the smallest sporangia documented for the genus Acitheca.
“One of the most ‘chosen’ adaptations by plants”
The CGEO researcher and co-author of the scientific work, Sofia Pereira, believes that it is likely that the reduced size of the sporangia corresponds to a adaptation to the drier conditions that were felt in the Carboniferous Period.
“After all, this is one of the adaptations most ‘chosen’ by plants to face conditions of low water availability, allowing them to conserve water, increase energy efficiency and facilitate the release of spores”, he highlighted.
“Although in paleontology we have to wait for the next puzzle piecesthere are already several signs of the transition from wet to dry conditions in the fossil plant associations of the Buçaco Carboniferous Basin, mirroring the global climate change which began at the transition from the Carboniferous Period to the Permian Period, and which will mark this last geological period of the Paleozoic”, concluded the researchers.
With a relatively low global diversity – less than ten species are known -, Acitheca Machadoi is the third representative of the genre in Portugalsuggesting that its global diversity may be underestimated.
