Agradecimentos: The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Foundation for the Support of Research of the state of Sa˜o Paulo (FAPESP—Project: Bryophyta, Lycophyta and associated plant fossils from the Guadalupian of the Parana' Basin; 06/1365-9), the Foundation for the Support of Research of the state of Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS) and the Brazilian National Council for Research Development (CNPq). They also acknowledge the suggestions of W. DiMichele, an anonymous reviewer, and B. Huber. They also wish to thank L. Gentry El-Dash for help and suggestions in the elaboration of the text in English Ver menos

Abstract: The formal description of a liverwort from the Parana' Basin is presented. The fossil was found in the Rio Bonito Formation, Early Permian (Sakmarian), and is identified as a new species of the genus Hepaticites, named H. iporangae n. sp. The samples studied were collected from the macrofossil-rich roof-shale layer of theQuite'ria Outcrop in the municipality of Encruzilhada do Sul, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. H. iporangae is one of the oldest liverworts reported from South America. The fossil described here provides more evidence of the relative diversity of liverworts in Paleozoic Gondwana despite the severe climatic conditions during the glaciations of the Permo-Carboniferous Ver menos