Petrocardium
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Petrocardium Temporal range: Middle to Late Paleocene ~60–58 Ma |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| Order: | Alismatales |
| Family: | Araceae |
| Subfamily: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: |
Petrocardium Herrera et al. 2008 |
| Type species | |
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P. wayuuorum |
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| Species | |
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Petrocardium is an extinct genus of monocot plants in the family Araceae. At present it contains only two species Petrocardium cerrejonense and Petrocardium wayuuorum, the type species. The genus is solely known from the Middle to Late Paleocene (about 60 to 58 Ma), Cerrejón Formation deposits in Colombia.
The genus is known only from the two holotype specimens, number ING-0902, type specimen for Petrocardium wayuuorum, and ING-0804, type specimen for Petrocardium cerrejonense. The leaves are currently residing in the collections housed by the Colombian Geological Institute in Bogotá, Colombia. Both ING-0902 and ING-0804 were collected from Cerrejón Formation exposures in the Cerrejón coal mine, located in the Ranchería Basin, Colombia. They were first studied by a group of researchers from Florida Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and led by Fabiany Herrera from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Herrera and associates published their 2008 type description in the American Journal of Botany.
The generic epithet Petrocardium is Greek in derivation and is a combination of the words petro meaning "rock" and cardium which means "heart" and references the heart shaped nature of the leaf fossils in the rocks. The specific epithet "wayuuorum" was chosen by the authors to honor the Wayuu Amerindian tribe which lives in the Rancheria Basin area of Colombia. The specific epithet "cerrejonense" is a derivation of Cerrejón and reflects the type locality, the Cerrejón Formation.
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