A spectacular fossil discovery on Livingston Island sheds new light on the prehistoric vegetation of Antarctica. Escuderia livingstonensis, a previously unknown fern, is the first permineralized fossil of the order Schizaeales ever described from the southernmost continent. The discovery shows that Antarctica during the Cretaceous period was not covered in ice but in lush vegetation.
Paleobiologist Marcelo Leppe Cartes from the GEMA Center at Universidad Mayor describes it as a “key piece” in the history of plant evolution. “The anatomy is extraordinarily well preserved. It allows us to compare the fossil directly with modern species, making new phylogenetic analyses possible.”
The material was originally collected in 2011 during an Antarctic expedition by the Chilean Antarctic Institute INACH. Years later, an international team from Chile and Japan re-examined the samples. Using state-of-the-art techniques such as 3D reconstructions and high-resolution microscopy, they were finally able to analyze the fern in detail.
The fern exhibits several anatomical peculiarities: a sympodial branching of the fertile axes, unique sporangium structures, and spores of the Ischyosporites type. These characteristics match neither any known modern nor fossil fern line—an indication that Antarctica was once a center of evolutionary diversity.
A window into a “green Antarctica”
The find is part of a larger puzzle: In the same ancient soil, researchers discovered additional plant remains—including seed organs of gymnosperms, conifer shoots, and roots with mycorrhiza. This diversity paints the picture of a complex, lushly vegetated ecosystem in the middle of what is today a vast icy desert.
The research team has already reconstructed the fern in 3D. Next, comparative studies with fossils from Japan and South America are planned. Cutting-edge technologies such as non-destructive X-ray tomography could hold further surprises.
Rosamaria Kubny, PolarJournal