Plant fossils from the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE) of Monte Pora (N-Italy)

The Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE) is marked by a major climate shift with prevailing humid conditions in the paleotropics during the Late Triassic. It coincided with the key origination and/or radiation of several major groups (e.g., ammonoids, conodonts) as well as the diversification of terrestrial tetrapods and plants such as several modern fern and conifer families, and the Bennettitales. Despite extensive research carried out in the last years, particularly in the Tethys Realm, questions remain regarding the origin and impact of this climatic episode.

The Natural Science Museum “Enrico Caffi” of Bergamo, houses an extensive collection (more than 1,000 specimens) of plant fossils from the Carnian of Mount Pora. The plant fossil assemblage has been described partly by Passoni & van Konijnenburg-van Cittert (2003), who documented a diverse assemblage including Pseudodanaeopsis aberi, Sphenozamites spp., and Elatocladus porensis. It includes, however also several horsetail stem fragments of the species Equisetites arenaceus, broad-leaved conifers belonging to the species Pelourdea vogesiaca and several taxa of Brachyphyllum type conifers. Rare are fern frond fragments and smal droplets of amber. The latter were identified using a Dino-Lite digital microscope, equipped with 465 nm blue excitation LEDs and a 510–545 nm emission filter. Also Coprolites were detected together with the plants on the slabs.