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2014
Plant Systematics and Evolution
Fagaceae pollen from the early Cenozoic of West Greenland: revisiting Engler’s and Chaney’s Arcto-Tertiary hypotheses2014 •
In this paper we document Fagaceae pollen from the Eocene of western Greenland. The pollen record suggests a remarkable diversity of the family in the early Cenozoic of Greenland. Extinct Fagaceae pollen types include Eotrigonobalanus, which extends at least back to the Paleocene, and two ancestral pollen types with affinities to the Eurasian Quercus Group Ilex and the western North American Quercus Group Protobalanus. In addition, modern lineages of Fagaceae are unambiguously represented by pollen of Fagus, Quercus Group Lobatae/Quercus, and three Castaneoideae pollen types. These findings corroborate earlier findings from Axel Heiberg Island that Fagaceae were a dominant element at high latitudes during the early Cenozoic. Comparison with coeval or older midlatitude records of modern lineages of Fagaceae shows that modern lineages found in western Greenland and Axel Heiberg likely originated at lower latitudes. Further examples comprise (possibly) Acer, Aesculus, Alnus, Ulmus, and others. Thus, before fossils belonging to modern northern temperate lineages will have been recovered from older (early Eocene, Paleocene) strata from high latitudes, Engler’s hypothesis of an Arctic origin of the modern temperate woody flora of Eurasia, termed ‘Arcto-Tertiary Element’, and later modification by R. W. Chaney and H. D. Mai (‘Arcto-Tertiary Geoflora’) needs to be modified.
The uppermost Eocene Florissant Formation, Rocky Mountains, Colorado, has yielded numerous insect, vertebrate and plant fossils. Three previous comprehensive palynological studies investigated sections of lacustrine deposits of the Florissant Formation and documented the response of plant communities to volcanic eruptive phases but overall found little change in plant composition throughout the investigated sections. These studies reported up to 150 pollen and spore phenotypes. In the present paper, we used a taxonomic approach to the investigation of dispersed pollen and spores of the Florissant Formation. Sediment samples from the shale units containing macrofossils were investigated using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The general picture of the palynoflora is in agreement with previous studies. However, the combined LM and SEM investigation provides important complementary information to previous LM studies. While a fairly large amount of previous pollen determinations could be confirmed, the purported taxonomic affinities of several pollen phenotypes need to be revised. For example, pollen referred to as Podocarpus or Podocarpidites sp. belongs to the Pinaceae Cathaya, Malus/Pyrus actually belongs to Dryadoideae, pollen of the form genus Boehlensipollis referred to as Proteaceae/Sapindaceae/Elaeagnaceae or Cardiospermum belongs to Sapindaceae but not to Cardiospermum, and pollen of Persicarioipollis sp. B with previously assumed affinities to Polygonaceae actually belongs to Thymelaeaceae. Pandaniidites and one type of Malvacipollis cannot be linked with Pandanaceae and Malvaceae. A few taxa are new records for Florissant (Ebenaceae: Diospyros; Menispermaceae; Trochodendraceae: Tetracentron). In general, SEM investigations complement the LM palynological studies and improve the identification of dispersed pollen and spores and enable integration of data from dispersed fossil pollen into a wide range of comparative morphological, taxonomic, evolutionary, biogeographic and phylogenetic studies.
2011 •
Previous studies on the palynoflora from the Lavanttal Basin show that it contains a rich assemblage of spores and gymnosperm pollen. Present and ongoing investigations of dispersed angiosperm pollen suggest a high diversity within this group, and due to the excellent preservation of the material, some rare pollen types are recognised. The Magnoliales to Fabales pollen record documented here contains 30 different taxa. Only a few pollen types are assigned to Magnoliids (four taxa); these are rare in the pollen record. Similarly, the Commelinids comprise five taxa and are also rare. Most of the angiosperm pollen originates from Eudicots (21 taxa). Of the angiosperm taxa documented here, Magnolia, Carex, Ranunculaceae, Platanus, Trochodendron, Buxus, Cercidiphyllum, Daphniphyllum, Distylium, Fortunearia, Parrotia, Parthenocissus, Vitis, Euphorbia, Salix and Papilionoideae are recorded for the first time from the Lavanttal Basin. This also includes the first fossil pollen record of Trochodendron worldwide and the first reliable pollen record of Daphniphyllum. Several of the taxa described here had a wide Northern Hemispheric distribution from the Eocene until the end of the Miocene. Also, key relatives of the fossil taxa are presently confined to humid warm-temperate environments, suggesting a very mild climate during the middle Miocene (Sarmatian) of the Lavanttal area. Some of the taxa encountered also support previous observations that the sediments of the Lavanttal Basin accumulated in a lowland wetland environment. This is based on pollen from aquatic taxa thriving in lakes, streams and swamps, and pollen from terrestrial plant taxa occupying margins of lakes and streams, backswamps, floodplains, river plains and hummocks. Other angiosperm pollen clearly originates from plants thriving on drier substrates, reflecting various vegetation units of the mixed evergreen/deciduous broad-leaved/conifer forests surrounding the wetland basin.
Middle Miocene deposits exposed at the Tınaz lignite mine, Yatağan Basin, Muğla, southwestern Turkey, were palynologically investigated. The Tınaz lignite mine section belongs to the Eskihisar Formation. The lignite seam at the base of the section represents the uppermost part of the Turgut Member. Above, c. 65 m of clayey siltstone, limestone, and marls represent the Sekköy Member. Nine spores, zygospores and cysts of fungi and algae, seven moss and fern spores, 12 gymnosperm pollen types, and more than 80 angiosperm pollen taxa were recovered from the Tınaz lignite mine section. Three pollen zones were recognized, of which pollen zone 1 corresponds to the formation of the main lignite seam and reflects the change from a fluviatile to a lacustrine depositional setting. Pollen zones 2 and 3 and a transitional zone 2-3 reflect different stages of lake development and a shift in local vegetation from forested (pollen zones 1 and 2) to more open (transitional zone 2-3, zone 3). Interpreting changes in regional vegetation from pollen zones 1 to 3 is not straightforward as changes in the pollen spectra may be affected by changing contributions of airborne and water transported pollen and spores to the observed palynoassemblages. Age inference for the Tınaz lignite mine section has been complicated by the absence of datable ash layers, associated mammal faunas, or marine sediments. However, pollen zone 3 shares key features with the pollen spectrum recovered from the nearby mammal site Yenieskihisar (upper part of Sekköy Member) for which an age of 12.5-11.2 Ma has been suggested, and to the youngest pollen zone recovered from the mammal locality Çatakbağyaka, 10 km south of Tınaz, that probably represents mammal zone MN7/8 instead of MN5 or MN6 as previously suggested. In contrast, pollen zones 1 and 2 are fairly similar to the basal parts of the Çatakbağyaka pollen flora (uppermost parts of Turgut Member, basalmost parts of Sekköy Member). Furthermore, new mammal data from the Yatağan basin suggest that the layers below pollen zone 1 are MN4/5, and that carnivores cooccuring with pollen zone 1 in the main lignite seam of Eskihisar probably belong to MN6. Hence, a Langhian to Serravallian age can be inferred for pollen zones 1 and 2 of the Tınaz lignite mine section, and a late Serravallian age for pollen zone 3. Palaeobiogeographic relationships of the palynofloras are generally northern hemispheric, with many north temperate tree taxa showing modern disjunctions East Asia- NorthAmerica (Tsuga, Carya), East Asia- western Eurasia (Zelkova), East Asia- North America- western Eurasia (Liquidambar), or restricted to East Asia (Cathaya, Eucommia) or North America (Decodon). A few taxa belong to extinct lineages that have complex biogeographic patterns (Engelhardioideae, Cedrelospermum). The presence of Picrasma (Simaroubaceae) in the lower lignite layers of pollen zone 1 is remarkable, as the botanical affinities with the enigmatic flower Chaneya present in early to middle Miocene deposits of Turkey and Central Europe have recently been shown to be with Picrasma.
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society
The middle Miocene palynoflora and palaeoenvironments of Eskihisar (Yatağan basin, south-western Anatolia): a combined LM and SEM investigation2016 •
As the third part of an ongoing investigation of middle Miocene palynofloras in the Yatağan Basin (YB), southwestern Anatolia, the palynofloras of the Salihpaşalar lignite mine in the main YB were studied. Seven types of algal spores, aplanospores/zygospores or cysts, six types of lycophyte and fern spores, 12 types of gymnosperm pollen and 90 types of angiosperm pollen were identified. Of a total of ca. 140 plant taxa described from the YB, over 10% are confined to the Salihpaşalar assemblage. Differences between coeval palynofloras of the Sekköy Member might reflect changing or prograding depositional environments. A number of rare accessorial taxa reflect these local differences: Pilularia, Valeriana, Drosera and Persicaria aff. amphibia only occur at Salihpaşalar and are typical of shallow water or temporary ponds associated with a lake shore. Apart from this, all the palynofloras, originating from the lignite seams and overlying limnic limestones (uppermost Turgut and Sekköy Member), of the YB are strongly indicative of extensive woody vegetation with a dominance of diverse Fagaceae and Pinaceae. In addition, a list comparing the well-documented YB palynomorphs to morphologically similar palynomorphs of published late early to middle Miocene plant assemblages of western Anatolian was compiled. Such a comparison reveals that in many instances different taxon names have been used to denote the same taxa. Hence, resolving these synonymies is a prerequisite of any meaningful comparison of palynofloras in the region.
An ongoing investigation of the middle Miocene (Sarmatian) palynoflora from the Lavanttal Basin continues to show that it contains an extremely rich assemblage of angiosperm taxa. The Fagales to Rosales pollen record documented here contains 34 different taxa belonging to the Betulaceae (Alnus, Two of the pollen types represent extinct genera, Trigonobalanopsis and Cedrelospermum, and are also reported for the first time from the Lavanttal Basin along with pollen of Rhamnaceae and Prunus. The different types of Quercus pollen are now affiliated with Groups Cerris, Cyclobalanopsis, Ilex and Quercus/Lobatae based on sculpturing elements observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Köppen signatures of potential modern analogues of the fossil Fagales and Rosales suggest a subtropical (Cfa, Cwa) climate at lower elevation and subsequent subtropical to temperate climate with altitudinal succession (Cfa → Cfb/Dfa→ Dfb; Cwa → Cwb → Dwb) in the Lavanttal area during accumulation of the palynoflora. Most of the fossil taxa have potential modern analogues that can be grouped as nemoral and/or merido-nemoral vegetation elements, and the diversity of Fagales indicates a varying landscape with a high variety of niches.
2011 •
2020 •
2001 •
American Journal of …
Lythrum and Peplis from the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic of North America and Eurasia: New evidence suggesting early diversification within the Lythraceae2011 •
Messinian vegetation and climate of the intermontane Florina–Ptolemais–Servia Basin, NW Greece inferred from palaeobotanical data: how well do plant fossils reflect past environments?
Supplementary Material S3: Systematic palaeobotany and descriptions of palynomorphs from the plant fossil bearing strata of Vegora (sample S1159922019 •
2019 •
Journal of Natural History Museum, Nepal
SEM investigation of pollen taxa in honeys from autochtone Apis cerana in Godavari, Lalitpur District, Nepal2012 •
American Journal of Botany
Studies in Neotropical Paleobotany. XIV. A Palynoflora from the Middle Eocene Saramaguacan Formation of Cuba2000 •
2022 •
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
Palynological study of heterostylous species of Melochia L. (Byttinerioideae-Malvaceae) occurring in Bahia, Brazil2015 •
Journal of Biogeography
A Winteraceae pollen tetrad from the early Paleocene of western Greenland, and the fossil record of Winteraceae in Laurasia and Gondwana2018 •
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
Angiosperm pollen grains of San Just site (Escucha Formation) from the Albian of the Iberian Range (north-eastern Spain)2010 •
Acta Palaeobotanica
Pollen morphology of extant Winteraceae: a study allowing SEM-based affiliation of its fossil representatives2017 •
Cretaceous Research
The southernmost record of tropical pollen grains in the mid-Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina2006 •
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
Monosulcate angiosperm pollen from the López de Bertodano formation (upper Campanian-Maastrichtian-Danian) of Seymour island, Antarctica1994 •
2009 •
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Pollen of African Spermacoce species (Rubiaceae) Morphology and evolutionary aspects2010 •
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
Fossil myrtaceous pollen as evidence for the evolutionary history of Myrtaceae: A review of fossil Myrtaceidites species2012 •
1996 •
Journal of Nepal Geological Society
Palynostratigraphy and palaeoclimatic interpretation of the Plio- Pleistocene Lukundol Formation from the Kathmandu valley, Nepal