Late Cretaceous plants from the Bonarelli Level of the Venetian Alps, northeastern Italy

Fossil plant macroremains were collected from the black shale of the outcrops of the Bonarelli Level near the village of Quero, Venetian Alps, NE Italy. This important radiolarian-ichthyolithic, organic-rich marker bed was deposited close to the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary and represents the sedimentary expression of the global Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2). Taphonomic evidence suggests that terrestrial areas were exposed near Quero during the deposition of the black shale assemblage. The floristic assemblage consists of vegetative and reproductive remains belonging to ferns, conifers and angiosperms. Preservation of the material is poor and, therefore, only impressions and compressions have been preserved. In most cases, only gross morphological features were studied. However, cuticular analyses with light and scanning electron microscopy have aided in the description of the new species Frenelopsis veneta. This taxon shares with F. harrisii Doludenko & Reymanَwna and F. kaneviensis Barale & Doludenko the narrow, inter-cell grooves on the outer internodal epidermal surface, but it differs in cuticle thickness, stomatal diameter and stomatal density. An attempt is made to establish relationships between extant families and genera, and the fossil specimens.