Charophytes from the Upper Berriasian of the Western Interior Basin of the United States

A charophyte flora from the Upper Berriasian is described from the Lakota (Black Hills, South Dakota) and Cedar Mountain formations (San Rafael Swell, Utah) of the Western Interior Basin, United States of America. Whereas the latter is dominated by monotonous assemblages of the clavatoracean Nodosoclavator bradleyi (Harris, 1939), found in temporary lakes within palustrine facies, the flora of the Lakota Formation consists of more varied assemblages of the clavatoraceans N. bradleyi (Harris, 1939), Clavator grovesii grovesii Harris 1939, C. bilateralis Peck 1957 and early characeans (Mesochara sp. or Tolypella sp.). This flora was found in deposits related to permanent lakes in fluvial floodplains, i.e. lacustrine marls and limestones that do not show any evidence of subaerial exposure. To date, little is known about C. bilateralis, we provide a new definition on the basis of its particular structure, which shows lateral bract-cell units with a pinnate arrangement. This species appears to be endemic to North America and stratigraphically limited to the earliest Cretaceous. C. grovesii grovesii is part of a long-lasting charophyte lineage, which until now was considered to have originated in the Central Tethyan Archipelago (Europe) during the Early Berriasian, about 145 Ma, and limited to Eurasia until most of the Early Cretaceous. The new data presented here suggest that during the Berriasian this species was very broadly distributed, comprising North America, Europe and China.