Barbara Meller

University of Vienna | UniWien

Amber from the Triassic (Carnian) of Lunz, a locality which has produced a rich and famous fossil flora, was analysed using UV-B-fluorescence, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (Py-GC-MS). The amber is classified as a class Ib resinite based on its chem...

An ongoing investigation of the middle Miocene (Sarmatian) palynoflora from the Lavanttal Basin continues to show that it contains an extremely rich assemblage of angiosperm taxa. The Fagales to Rosales pollen record documented here contains 34 different taxa belonging to the Betulaceae (Alnus, Betula, Carpinus, Corylus, Ostrya), Fagaceae (Castanea...

A new locality, at Schaßbach (Carinthia, Austria), within the Neogene Lavanttal Basin has yielded numerous well preserved early Badenian (Langhian) plant macrofossils. This paper, which is the first in a series of papers that describe the macrofossil remains from Schaßbach, provides a geological and chronostratigraphic framework of the study area a...

Previous studies on the palynoflora from the Lavanttal Basin show that it contains a rich assemblage of spores and gymnosperm pollen. Present and ongoing investigations of dispersed angiosperm pollen suggest a high diversity within this group, and due to the excellent preservation of the material, some rare pollen types are recognised. The Magnolia...

The first reliable leaf remains of Aristolochia from Late Miocene sediments in Austria are described as A. austriaca nov. spec. Comparative investigations with about 80 extant species of Aristolochia and with selected genera of other families support the generic identification. Fossil leaves from Europe, North America and China formerly identified...

A new fossiliferous horizon from the famous Bletterbach area is described. The new megafossil locality of late Permian age yields well-preserved plant megafossils, as well as cuticles and in situ pollen. In the flora representatives of the horsetails, seed ferns (Sphenopteris, Lepidopteris, Peltaspermum), putative cycadophytes (two types of Taeniop...

For the first time fossil macroscopic remains of charcoal as direct evidence of palaeo-wildfires from the Late Permian Gröden Formation of the Bletterbach-Butterloch area in Northern Italy is described. The charcoal consists of pycnoxylic wood and originates from gymnosperms, but a more specific affiliation is not possible due to the fragmentary na...

84 plant taxa have been identified by seeds, fruits and a few by flower fragments, which have been extracted from the lignite-bearing Late Miocene clayey sediments of Hinterschlagen (Hausruck area, Upper Austria). The fruit and seed assemblages from different samples show two distinct patterns: the dominance of aquatic herbaceous elements and the d...

Four new species of Permosynidae are described: Platycrossus caroli Ponomarenko in Meller et al. sp. nov., Hydrobiites handlirschi Ponomarenko in Meller et al. sp. nov., Ademosyne polyzetete Ponomarenko in Meller et al. sp. nov. and Diarcuipenna bennettitophila Ponomarenko in Meller et al. sp. nov. Together with one polyphagous abdomen, they repres...

Structural elucidation and analysis of fructifications of plants is fundamental for understanding their evolution. In case of Ginkgo biloba, attention was drawn by Fujii in 1896 to aberrant fructifications of Ginkgo biloba whose seeds are attached to leaves, called O-ha-tsuki in Japan. This well-known phenomenon was now interpreted by Fujii as bein...

A new extraordinary mass occurrence of Spirematospermum wetzleri capsules from the Middle Miocene of Ponholz (Germany) allowed comprehensive studies of this intriguing Zingiberalean species to be carried out. Parietal placentation, flower remains and a dual generative reproductive strategy by seed dispersal and capsule abscission were found. The pe...

A specimen of Scytophyllum bergeri Bornemann from Corvara, that was mentioned in literature from the 19 th century under various names but has never been described and figured, has been rediscovered in the collections of the Geological Survey in Vienna. It is the first specimen of this species from Ladinian sediments in the Dolomites and is describ...

Late Miocene sediments (Pannonian “B”) of the Styrian Basin have been examined by a combination of methods, yielding results in palynology, sedimentology, and carpology. The examined profile is located in a clay pit near Mataschen, SE of Fehring and is characterized by a clear division into two units. At the base, very fine-grained sediments, embed...

. The enigmatic fossil taxon Ceratostratiotes sinjanus (Kerner) Bužek has been considered as either a Hydrocharitaceae seed (monocot) or a Ceratophyllaceae fruit (dicot). The co-occurrence of seeds of Stratiotes kaltennordheimensis (Zenker) Keilhack (Hydrocharitaceae) and Ceratostratiotes in Early Miocene sediments in Langau (Lower Austria) enabled...

Sediment and organic facies as well as leaves, pollen, and diaspores co-occurring in a tuffite exposed in Oberdorf (Köflach/Voitsberg lignite area, Styria, Austria) were investigated. The tuffite is distinguishable from the under- and overlying clastic sediments and shows locally normally-graded lapilli, which is assumed to be a sign of direct airf...

The Early Miocene vegetation of western Styria, Austria, is reconstructed on the basis of detailed investigations of leaves and diaspores from the mining area Oberdorf N Voitsberg. In this paper, the flora and probable vegetation are compared with other assemblages of similar age from the Czech Republic and Germany to elucidate the diversity of wet...

The basal layers of the lignite-bearing sequence in the opencast mine Oberdorf N Voitsberg (Köflach-Voitsberg lignite area, Western Styria, Austria) contain rich plant assemblages. All preserved plant Organs - leaves, palynomorphs, and diaspores - have been investigated and represent a broad species spectrum. Elements of open-water habitats, reed a...

Two fossil plant assemblages from the base of the lignite-bearing sequence of the opencast mine Oberdorf are investigated. Leaf, pollen, and diaspore records are studied. This method — integrating the results obtained for the different plant organs — provides more far-reaching conclusions than the study of the fossil remains of only individual plan...

Subsidence of the Köflach-Voitsberg Basin was related to NE-directed extension and to the formation of shallow (half)grabens. In the Oberdorf area extension created shallow depressions which controlled the local drainage pattern. Extensional faulting occurred during the incipient lateral movement of the Styrian crustal wedge between the Mur-Mürz- a...

The siliciclastic lignite deposits of the open pit mine in Oberdorf belong to the Köflach-Voitsberg Formation, and biostratigraphic data (leaf and diaspore assemblages) indicate an Early Miocene age. The rich mammal fauna from the upper part of the hanging wall sequence is indicative of Neogene Mammal Zone MN4 and allows a biostratigraphic correlat...

In the coal-bearing sediments of Oberdorf, N Voitsberg, Styria, Austria (Early Miocene, Ottnangium - Central Paratethys stage) Cercidiphyllum is exceptionally weil documented by leaves, fructifications, pollen, long and short shoots. Leaves and fruits are assigned to the species Cercidiphyllum crenatum (UNGER) R.W.BROWN, pollen, long and shortshoot...