Hepatics from Rovno amber (Ukraine): Nipponolejeunea rovnoi sp. nov. and N. solodovnikovii sp. nov

Two leafy liverwort species from the late Eocene Rovno amber are described. They are placed in the extant genus Nipponolejeunea (Jubulaceae, Porellales, Marchantiophyta) that includes two extant East Asian species and one fossil species described from the Eocene Baltic amber. New fossil species N. rovnoi sp. nov. and N. solodovnikovii sp. nov. differ from the Baltic N. europea, thus making the extinct diversity of the genus exceeding the contemporary species diversity, and such a case is registered for the first time for liverworts. The finding of Nipponolejeunea in Rovno amber may indicate the presence of Abies in the Eocene of Ukraine, since at the southern border of its distribution in Japan extant species the genus grows only on fir trunk. This is in a good concordance with the recent finding in Rovno amber the longhorn beetle Poliaenus europaeus, also associated with fir trees.