Generalist Pollen-Feeding Beetles during the Mid-Cretaceous.

The Cretaceous fossil record of amber provides a variety of evidence that is essential for greater understanding of early pollination strategies. Here, we describe four pieces of ca. 99-million-year-old (early Cenomanian) Myanmar amber from Kachin containing four closely related genera of shortwinge...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Peris Cerdán, David, Labandeira, Conrad C., Barrón, Eduardo, Delclòs Martínez, Xavier, Rust, Jes, Wang, Bo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/163337
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/163337
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Ambre
Coleòpters
Cretaci
Amber
Beetles
Cretaceous Period
Descripción
Sumario:The Cretaceous fossil record of amber provides a variety of evidence that is essential for greater understanding of early pollination strategies. Here, we describe four pieces of ca. 99-million-year-old (early Cenomanian) Myanmar amber from Kachin containing four closely related genera of shortwinged flower beetles (Coleoptera: Kateretidae) associated with abundant pollen grains identified as three distinct palynomorphotypes of the gymnosperm Cycadopites and Praenymphaeapollenites cenomaniensis gen. and sp. nov., a form-taxon of pollen from a basal angiosperm lineage of water lilies (Nymphaeales: Nymphaeaceae).We demonstrate how a gymnosperm to angiosperm plant-host shift occurred during the mid-Cretaceous, from a generalist pollen-feeding family of beetles, which served as a driving mechanism for the subsequent success of flowering plants.