Permineralized coniferophytes from the Autun Basin: specimens from two new localities of Renault zone 3

International audience; Four zones yielding silicified plant remains have been recognized in the Autun Basin by Renault (1893-1896). Zones 2, 3 and 4, characterized by Autunian plants, correspond to the successive formations of Igornay and Muse (lower Autunian), and Surmoulin-Millery (upper Autunian). Their paleobotanical content, together with that preserved as adpressions in the same formations, document paleofloral changes on the western side of the Tethys within a time interval extending from the latest Ghzelian (uppermost Pennsylvanian) to the early Sakmarian (lower Permian) (Broutin et al. 1999). The analyses realized so far indicate a progressive replacement of wetland plants by taxa…