New Cenomanian florule and a leaf mine from southeastern Morocco: Palaeoecological and climatological inferences

The recently found Gara Sbaa florule of southeastern Morocco comes from distinctive carbonate lamellites with abundant fish fauna above the terrestrial/paralic Kem Kem sequence and correlated with the basal horizon of the open shelf carbonate Akrabou Formation. It is a “mixed” assemblage of ferns and gymnosperms of “Wealden aspect” associated with relatively advanced angiosperms, suggesting floristic exchanges between the insular land masses of northern Africa and southern Europe. The climatic conditions are inferred to have been similar to the mildly dry subtropical climate of the western Canary Islands. New taxa of aquatic angiosperms Garasbahia fexuosa Krassilov et Bacchia gen. et sp nov. and a leaf mine Troponoma constricta Krassilov, sp. nov. are described.