Palaeobiogeography of the genus Latochara (fossil Charophyta) in the Upper Jurassic of Southern Europe. New data from Oléron Island (France)

Abstract

A charophyte assemblage including Latochara tenuicostata (PECK 1937) and Mesochara gr. voluta (PECK 1937) was found in the Lower Tithonian bone-bed 148 of the stratigraphic section at the Pointe de Chassiron, Oléron Island (Charente-Maritime, Southwestern France). This bed, which is well known for its rich and diverse fauna of tetrapods, was deposited in a margino-littoral environment of Purbeckian facies in the Late Jurassic Charente palaeogulf. The occurrence of Latochara at Oléron Island is the most southern location known in the distribution of this genus during the Late Jurassic. This suggests that the boundary between the charophyte Boreal and Tethyan provinces, defined on the basis of this distribution, is not solely determined by latitudinal (i.e. thermal) factors. Ecological factors such as salinity and competition with other charophyte families are hypothesized as alternative explanations.