''Ruflorinia'' is a genus of fossilized foliage from the Early Cretaceous of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

assigned to the order

Caytoniales The Caytoniales (Figs. 1-2) are an extinct order of seed plants known from fossils collected throughout the Mesozoic Era, around . They are regarded as seed ferns because they are seed-bearing plants with fern-like leaves. Although at one time ...

Taxonomy

The genus was first established by

Sergio Archangelsky Sergio Archangelsky (27 March 1931 – 10 July 2022) was an Argentine paleobotanist and palynologist. He was a pioneer of modern paleobotany in Argentina, as well as of cuticular morphology and ultrastructure. He was also a corresponding member o ...

based on material from the

Anfiteatro de Ticó Formation The Anfiteatro de Ticó Formation is a geological formation from the Deseado Massif in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina. Paleobiology The Anfiteatro de Ticó preserves a rich and diverse flora including macrofossils, mesofossils, and micro ...

, Santa Cruz, Argentina, with the type species being ''Ruflorinia sierra''. The genus name celebrated the Swedish paleobotanist Rudolf Florin. Other two species (''R. pilifera'' and ''R. papillosa'') were later described from the Anfiteatro de Ticó and another (''R.orlandoi'') was later described from the Springhill Formation in Argentina.

Paleoecology

In the

, leaves of this genus are found in association with the ovulate organ ''Ktalenia'', and the conifer ''

Brachyphyllum ''Brachyphyllum'' (meaning "short leaf") is a form genus of fossil coniferous plant foliage. Plants of the genus have been variously assigned to several different conifer groups including Araucariaceae and Cheirolepidiaceae. They are known from ...

'', and the foliage of '' Mesodescolea''. The depositional environment is characterized by river deposits, and the fossils show little evidence of transport.

References

Cretaceous Argentina Fossil record of plants Prehistoric plant genera Pteridospermatophyta {{cretaceous-plant-stub