First <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sycidium</Emphasis> (Charophyta) from the Upper Devonian of Thuringia (Germany)

The well-preserved silicified fragment of a utricular envelope assigned to Sycidium aff. clathratum Peck, discovered in the earliest Famennian “incisus bed” of the Bohlen section near Saalfeld in Thuringia (Central Germany), is the first evidence of charophytes present in the West European Late Devonian. The occurrence of 16 longitudinal ridges is shared with the basal Mississippian S. clathratum. The specimen shows delicate structures of the external layer including ovoid elements at its basal end which are interpreted as casts of rudimentary bract cells and/or bracteoles, rarely observed in the fossil record of charophytes. S. aff. clathratum is among the rare Sycidiaceae that survived the terminal Frasnian Kellwasser Event. This single specimen was probably attached to a piece of wood and thereby transported into fully marine basinal environments that characterize the Famennian of the Bohlen section.