Ibrahimia E.M.FRIIS, P.R.CRANE et K.R.PEDERSEN, 2019

Friis, Else Marie, Crane, Peter R. & Pedersen, Kaj Raunsgaard, 2019, The Early Cretaceous Mesofossil Flora Of Torres Vedras (Ne Of Forte Da Forca), Portugal: A Palaeofloristic Analysis Of An Early Angiosperm Community, Fossil Imprint 75 (2), pp. 153-257 : 238

Genus Ibrahimia E.M.FRIIS, P.R.CRANE et K.R.PEDERSEN gen. nov.

T y p e. Designated here. Ibrahimia vermiculata

E.M.FRIIS, P.R.CRANE et K.R.PEDERSEN gen. et sp. nov.

P l a n t F o s s i l N a m e s R e g i s t r y N u m b e r.

PFN000499 (for new genus).

E t y m o l o g y. In honor of the Egyptian palynologist Mohamed I. A. Ibrahim in recognition of his important contributions to Cretaceous palynology.

D i a g n o s i s. Pollen minute, spheroidal and pantoporate with simple apertures. Exine tectate-vermiculate with widely spaced stout conical microechinae. Aperture membranes granular to verrucate. Orbicules not observed.

C o m m e n t s o n t h e g e n u s. Pantoporate pollen with spiny supratectal ornamentation also occurs in situ in the flowers of Paisia pantoporata described from the Catefica mesofossil flora ( Friis et al. 2018e). Pollen grains of P. pantoporata are similar to those of Ibrahimia in having supratectal elements that are apparently composed of intertwining exine elements. However, in P. pantoporata the echinae have constricted bases and form a dense ring around each aperture. This distinctive arrangement differs from that seen in the pollen grains of Ibrahimia . Pantoporate pollen grains are relatively common in dispersed palynological assemblages from the Early Cretaceous ( Ibrahim et al. 2015), but none of them have exine sculpture comparable to that seen in the grains of Ibrahimia or P. pantoporata (see discussion in Friis et al. 2018e).