Cisuralian plant fossils from Khenifra (Central Morocco): Palaeoenvironmental and palaeobiogeographical reconstructions

Abstract

This study focuses on newly collected plant fossils from the Cisuralian successions of the Khenifra Basin in Central Morocco, revealing a diverse assemblage dominated by conifers, pteridosperms, and sphenophytes. The assemblage includes eleven taxa of vegetative and reproductive organs preserved as compressions and impressions. Two pteridosperm species taxa (Neurodontopteris auriculata, Odontopteris subcrenulata) are recorded for the first time from Central Morocco, whereas other taxa are known from the early Permian deposits of Bou Achouch and Tiddas basins. Contrary to previous interpretations, the flora is does not exhibit a mixed character, but instead exhibits a distinct Euramerican affinity, despite the absence of the widespread callipterids Autunia conferta and A. naumannii. These similarities between this flora and coeval Euramerican floras highlight the significant biogeographical connections across Pangea during the Cisuralian. The plant fossil assemblage is dominated by meso- to xerophilous species adapted to drought, with rare hygrophilous elements adapted to humid habitats, reflecting a heterogeneous landscape with various vegetation types.