Late Paleozoic flora of Montarbu (central Sardinia)

Late Palaeozoic successions bearing plant macrofossils are located in different areas of Sardinia, and each plant assemblage is characterized by a different composition and state of preservation. According to published data the Carboniferous age is assigned only to one plant assemblage that comes from San Giorgio locality (southwestern Sardinia). New collected material from Montarbu locality (Seui territory, central Sardinia) shows another putative Late Carboniferous plant assemblage with typical taxa recorded only for this interval of time. This collection, composed of about 300 specimens includes seed ferns such as Mixoneura, Neurocallipteris, Callipteridium, Autunia, conifers (e.g. Ernestiodendron, Culmitzchia), several fragments of large taeniopterid leaves and ferns (Acitheca, Pecopteris, Remia). Other rare Sobernheimia sp. fragment is recorded. Especially two species, Callipteridium pteridium and Remia pinnatifida indicate a Late Carboniferous age to the deposit. A statistical analysis based on a presence‐absence index (Sørensen‐Dice: IS) was performed between paleogeographycally Carboniferous and Pemian closest floras. Then, the combination of stratigraphical, sedimentological and paleobotanical data will help to reconstruct this ancient paleoenvironment.