Paleobotany: Identification help

[penutpls]

Hello everyone!

 

I am looking for help to identify this macrofossil sample of a leaf. It shouldn't be older than pliocene. Really struggling to identify it. Thought of it as Nothofagus or maybe Populus. Was looking for it in Zelkova, but nothing quite matches it.

Does anyone know or have a suggestions, what it could be?

 

Thanks in advance!

Philipp

[Ludwigia]

What is the exact location where it was found? It would help to find some literature on the site.

[Fossildude19]

Cropped, enlarged, and brightened: 

 

[piranha]

The bottom of the leaf is not preserved. It appears to be the partial remains of: Zelkova zelkovifolia

 

Denk, T., Grimm, G.W., 2005.

Phylogeny and biogeography of Zelkova (Ulmaceae sensu stricto) as inferred from leaf morphology, ITS sequence data and the fossil record.

Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 147(2):129-157  PDF LINK

[oilshale]

I would rather guess Parrotia persica. The first one is a Parrotia leaf from the Pliocene of Willershausen, Germany -  the second one a Zelkova ungeri leaf.

In Parrotia, the tips of the leaf teeth are more rounded.

 

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by oilshale

[piranha]

Zelkova can exhibit some variability of blunt teeth. The posted example does not have the best preservation but some of the teeth appear to have acute tips.

The teeth on Parrotia are too short by comparison to the elongate teeth of Zelkova.

[penutpls]

Sorry for the late reply! Had some field trips, so wasn't that active on my computer.

 

First of, thanks for all the replies.

I am pretty sure that it is not Parrotia, since I have some fossils of Parrotia, and the proportions and teeth don't quite match. 

I was thinking about Zelkova, but I have so many zelkovifolia samples and this one doesn't look like it at all.

 

The other thing is, this is the whole leaf and it's greatly preserved. It does look like the bottom of the leaf is missing, but I have the negative of the fossil and it matches perfectly.

 

It's such a beautiful leaf and I can't put my finger on which genus it is! So annoyed

 

Thanks again!