American Journal of Botany, Vol 85, 1122, Copyright © 1998 by Botanical Society of America, Inc.

PALEOBOTANY

Fossil Clusiaceae from the late Cretaceous (Turonian) of New Jersey and implications regarding the history of bee pollination

WL Crepet and KC Nixon

The Turonian flora from Sayreville New Jersey includes one of the world's most diverse assemblages of Cretaceous angiosperm flowers. This flora is made even more interesting by its association with a large insect fauna that is preserved by charcoalification as well as in amber. Floral diversity includes numerous representatives of Magnoliidae, Hamamelididae, Rosidae, Dilleniidae, and Asteridae (Ericales sensu lato). Included are hypogynous, five-merous flowers with uniseriate hairs on the pedicels and stamens in bundles most frequently borne opposite the petals. There is considerable variation in filament length, and some filaments are branched. On some anthers, strands of residue, suggesting the former presence of a liquid of unknown nature, partially occlude the apparent zone of dehiscence. In other cases, open anthers are fully occluded by an amorphous substance. Pollen is rarely found associated with anthers, but is common on stigmatic surfaces. Pollen is prolate and tricolporate with reticulate micromorphology. The superior syncarpous ovary is five-carpellate with axile/intruded parietal placentation and numerous anatropous ovules/carpel. Ovary partitions have closely spaced, parallel ascending channels (secretory canals?), and there are apparent secretory canals/cavities in receptacles, sepals, and petals. Individual stigmas are cuneiform with a central groove and eccentrically peltate. Styles are short and fused. In aggregate, the stigmas form a secondarily peltate stigma. Seeds have a reticulate sculpture pattern, a pronounced raphe, and funicular arils with sculpture similar to the seeds. Phylogenetic analyses of several data matrices of extant taxa place this fossil in a monophyletic group with the modern genera Garcinia and Clusia within the Clusiaceae. As such, these fossils represent the earliest fossil evidence of the family Clusiaceae. Some modern Clusiaceae are notable, in particular, for their close relationship with meliponine and other highly derived bee pollinators; the fossil flowers share several characters that suggest a similar mode of pollination. This possibility is consistent with other floral and insect data from the same locality.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. S. Gupta, M. E. Collinson, D. E. G. Briggs, R. P. Evershed, and R. D. Pancost Reinvestigation of the occurrence of cutan in plants: implications for the leaf fossil record Paleobiology, September 1, 2006; 32(3): 432 - 449. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. L. Crepet, K. C. Nixon, and M. A. Gandolfo An extinct calycanthoid taxon, Jerseyanthus calycanthoides , from the Late Cretaceous of New Jersey Am. J. Botany, September 1, 2005; 92(9): 1475 - 1485. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. S. Soltis and D. E. Soltis The origin and diversification of angiosperms Am. J. Botany, October 1, 2004; 91(10): 1614 - 1626. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. L. Crepet, K. C. Nixon, and M. A. Gandolfo Fossil evidence and phylogeny: the age of major angiosperm clades based on mesofossil and macrofossil evidence from Cretaceous deposits Am. J. Botany, October 1, 2004; 91(10): 1666 - 1682. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. R. Crane, P. Herendeen, and E. M. Friis Fossils and plant phylogeny Am. J. Botany, October 1, 2004; 91(10): 1683 - 1699. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. A. Gandolfo, K. C. Nixon, and W. L. Crepet Cretaceous flowers of Nymphaeaceae and implications for complex insect entrapment pollination mechanisms in early Angiosperms PNAS, May 25, 2004; 101(21): 8056 - 8060. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. A. Gandolfo, K. C. Nixon, and W. L. Crepet Triuridaceae fossil flowers from the Upper Cretaceous of New Jersey Am. J. Botany, December 1, 2002; 89(12): 1940 - 1957. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. M. Cameron, M. W. Chase, W. R. Anderson, and H. G. Hills Molecular systematics of Malpighiaceae: evidence from plastid rbcL and matK sequences Am. J. Botany, October 1, 2001; 88(10): 1847 - 1862. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. L. Crepet Progress in understanding angiosperm history, success, and relationships: Darwin's abominably "perplexing phenomenon" PNAS, November 21, 2000; 97(24): 12939 - 12941. [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Dilcher Toward a new synthesis: Major evolutionary trends in the angiosperm fossil record PNAS, June 20, 2000; 97(13): 7030 - 7036. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]