Paleoecology of Oligocarpia gothanii Halle from the Middle Permian of Southeastern Shanxi,North China

Fossil ferns are abundant and diverse in the Permian Cathaysian Flora of Shanxi, North China. Although plants assemblages of the Carboniferous and Permian have been extensively investigated, their palaeoecology and especially the paleoecology of ferns has not been studied in detail. Recent reinvestigation of Oligocarpia gothanii has revealed its growth habit and cloning reproduction strategy, but most previous studies lack integrated sedimentological and taphonomic data. In this study, new materials of O. gothanii have been collected from a floodplain setting in the middle Permian Lower Shihhotse Formation of southeastern Shanxi. These plant fossils were found in a lenticular claystone associated with rooting structures. They are characterized by aphlebia at the base of the penultimate rachis. Sedimentological, taphonomic and morphological analyses were conducted to understand the growth habit and ecology of the fern. The result indicates that the Oligocarpia gothanii had a prostrate, ground cover growth habit, and was dominant in pioneer floras that colonized disturbed floodplains.