New Early Devonian Charophyta from Gondwana

Early Devonian charophytes are reported from Australia (Buchan, Victoria) and Europe (Landeyran, southern France): Moellerina australica n. sp. Feist and Pinnoputamen occitanicum n. sp. Feist. Sedimentological data and associated faunas from these localities accord with both species having inhabited lacustrine or estuarine environments. A critical review of Devonian biotopes confirms that, as with present day species, Mid Palaeozoic charophytes could not have lived in open marine habitats. Originating in Baltica during the Silurian, charophytes appeared in Gondwana in the earliest Devonian.