The first occurrence of Phlebopteris dunkeri and P. woodwardii (Matoniaceae) from the middle Jurassic of Iran

The coal horizons of the Middle Jurassic Hojedk Formation of East-Central Iran are fossiliferous, bearing numerous well-preserved fossil plants, comparable to the Shemshak Group/Formation in the Alborz Mountains in Northern Iran. Here we present two recently discovered fossil taxa from the Middle Jurassic Hojedk Formation of the Tabas Block (Central Iran). Based on their distinct morphologies, impression/compression specimens can be assigned to Phlebopteris dunkeri (Schenk) Schenk (Palaeontographica 23: 157–163, 1875) and P . woodwardii Leckenby (Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society 20 (1–2): 74–82, 1864), belonging to Matoniaceae. This is the first record of these two taxa in Iran. Taxa belonging to Equisetaceae, Marattiaceae, Dipteridaceae , Schizaeaceae, Dicksoniaceae, Caytoniales, Bennettitales, Cycadales and Podozamitaceae were observed as accompanying taxa in the studied section. Ecology comparison of the Hojedk Formation plant fossils with the extant relatives of the fossil plant taxa occurring in these deposits indicates accumulation of the host strata under a moist warm (tropical to subtropical) climate during the Middle Jurassic.