The charophyte fossil record on the Iberian Peninsula: a synthesis

Iberia was first an island and then a European peninsula during most of the Earth’s history. This
along with a long-lasting non-marine record has determined that fossil charophytes are wellrepresented
and show significant particularities. As a matter of fact, the Iberian Peninsula is one of
the best suited regions of Europe in which to study the charophyte fossil record from the Jurassic
to the present. Middle and Late Jurassic charophyte assemblages are represented in the Lusitanian
basin (Portugal). They show dominance of the family Porocharaceae in many of the environments
available for charophytes. Lower Cretaceous charophytes, dominated by clavatoraceans, have been
more studied in the Iberian Chain, where this family achieved high diversity. Also, many European
charophyte biozones of this interval are based on Iberian clavatoraceans and have their stratotypes
in the Iberian Chain. Upper Cretaceous charophytes of the Iberian Peninsula have been more
studied in the Campanian of the Southwestern Iberian Chain (Serranía de Cuenca) and in the
Maastrichtian of the south-Pyrenean basins (Catalonia). The floras show important affinity with
those from southern France, which is not surprising since both regions were part of the so-called
Ibero-Armorican Island. The Upper Cretaceous charophyte record from the southern Pyrenees is
significant because it contains a reference section enabling us to define the Cretaceous-Palaeogene
boundary based on charophytes in the Àger basin. Palaeogene charophytes from Iberia are best
known from studies devoted to the Ebro foreland basin, where a detailed biozonation of the Eocene
and Oligocene has been proposed. The charophyte assemblages were composed of a mixture of
fossil and present-day genera and included both typical European species as well as endemic taxa.
Neogene charophytes from Iberia are poorly known, but a number of studies have been performed,
mainly in Central Spain and in the Ebro basin.