Combined LM and SEM study of the middle Miocene (Sarmatian) palynoflora from the Lavanttal Basin, Austria: part IV. Magnoliophyta 2 – Fagales to Rosales
“…Using a taxon-free leaf physiognomic approach (CLAMP, Yang et al 2011), broadleaved angiosperm morphotypes will be used in a forthcoming study to infer various climate parameters which can then be compared to the qualitative assessment made in the present study. In addition, based on modern analogues of the plant taxa recognized in the present study, Köppen signatures will be inferred (Denk et al 2013, Grímsson et al 2015b. To broaden the picture and to assess whether biogeographic and palaeoenvironmental signals from different organism groups are congruent, it will also be important to consider new evidence from micro-and macromammal assemblages from early Miocene strata in the eastern Mediterranean region (see e.g.…”
ABSTRACT. The early Burdigalian (MN3) plant assemblage of the Güvem area (northwestern Central Anatolia) is preserved in lacustrine sediments of the Dereköy pyroclastics. Its age is well constrained by radiometric dates of basaltic rocks bracketing the pyroclastics, making the Güvem flora one of the extremely few precisely dated early Miocene floras in the Mediterranean region. The rich assemblage of impression fossils comprises ferns and fern allies (2 species), gymnosperms (12 spp.) and angiosperms (129 spp.). Ilex miodipyrena sp. nov. is described as a new fossil-species. The most diverse families in the assemblage are the Fagaceae with 12 taxa and the Fabaceae with 12 leaf morphotypes and one fruit taxon. Aquatic plants are represented by seven taxa, riparian (including palms) and swamp forest elements by >35 taxa, and lianas by three taxa (Smilax spp., Chaneya). The relatively large number of aquatic and riparian/swamp elements is congruent with the rich fish, amphibian and reptile record of the Güvem area. Another characteristic feature of the plant assemblage is the presence of various lobed leaves which show similarities with modern species of different families (e.g. Alangium, various Malvales). Trees and shrubs growing on well-drained soils and forming closed-canopy and open-canopy forests are the most diversified group (>70 taxa). In terms of number of specimens in the collection and based on field observations, by far the most abundant leaf fossils belong to evergreen oaks of Quercus drymeja and Q. mediterranea and to various types of foliage that cannot be assigned to a particular extant or extinct genus of Fagaceae. These sclerophyllous trees must have covered vast areas surrounding the wetlands that developed during the early Miocene in the Güvem Basin. Based on a recent reassessment of the ecology and taxonomic affinity of these trees, they are considered to reflect humid temperate climatic conditions but with a brief drier season during the winter months. These forests are more similar to the laurel forests of the southeastern United States and those stretching in a narrow belt south of the Himalayas to eastern central China. The large number of Fabaceae may indicate the presence of warm subtropical environments but this is difficult to assess, as they are known for having wide ecological ranges today and in the past. All in all, a larger part of the plant taxa point to forested vegetation. This is in agreement with previous palynological studies which detected only small amounts of herbaceous and grass pollen. Open patches of vegetation may have been restricted to river banks and to rocky areas in a volcanic landscape. The biogeographic patterns detected for the early Miocene of the Güvem assemblage are manifold; most taxa are widespread Northern Hemispheric elements. A substantial part of the species migrated from Asia into Europe during the (late) Paleogene and reached Anatolia during the early Miocene (Fagus, Paliurus, Chaneya, Ailanthus, Quercus kubinyii, Davallia haidingeri, Acer angustilo...
“…Using a taxon-free leaf physiognomic approach (CLAMP, Yang et al 2011), broadleaved angiosperm morphotypes will be used in a forthcoming study to infer various climate parameters which can then be compared to the qualitative assessment made in the present study. In addition, based on modern analogues of the plant taxa recognized in the present study, Köppen signatures will be inferred (Denk et al 2013, Grímsson et al 2015b. To broaden the picture and to assess whether biogeographic and palaeoenvironmental signals from different organism groups are congruent, it will also be important to consider new evidence from micro-and macromammal assemblages from early Miocene strata in the eastern Mediterranean region (see e.g.…”
ABSTRACT. The early Burdigalian (MN3) plant assemblage of the Güvem area (northwestern Central Anatolia) is preserved in lacustrine sediments of the Dereköy pyroclastics. Its age is well constrained by radiometric dates of basaltic rocks bracketing the pyroclastics, making the Güvem flora one of the extremely few precisely dated early Miocene floras in the Mediterranean region. The rich assemblage of impression fossils comprises ferns and fern allies (2 species), gymnosperms (12 spp.) and angiosperms (129 spp.). Ilex miodipyrena sp. nov. is described as a new fossil-species. The most diverse families in the assemblage are the Fagaceae with 12 taxa and the Fabaceae with 12 leaf morphotypes and one fruit taxon. Aquatic plants are represented by seven taxa, riparian (including palms) and swamp forest elements by >35 taxa, and lianas by three taxa (Smilax spp., Chaneya). The relatively large number of aquatic and riparian/swamp elements is congruent with the rich fish, amphibian and reptile record of the Güvem area. Another characteristic feature of the plant assemblage is the presence of various lobed leaves which show similarities with modern species of different families (e.g. Alangium, various Malvales). Trees and shrubs growing on well-drained soils and forming closed-canopy and open-canopy forests are the most diversified group (>70 taxa). In terms of number of specimens in the collection and based on field observations, by far the most abundant leaf fossils belong to evergreen oaks of Quercus drymeja and Q. mediterranea and to various types of foliage that cannot be assigned to a particular extant or extinct genus of Fagaceae. These sclerophyllous trees must have covered vast areas surrounding the wetlands that developed during the early Miocene in the Güvem Basin. Based on a recent reassessment of the ecology and taxonomic affinity of these trees, they are considered to reflect humid temperate climatic conditions but with a brief drier season during the winter months. These forests are more similar to the laurel forests of the southeastern United States and those stretching in a narrow belt south of the Himalayas to eastern central China. The large number of Fabaceae may indicate the presence of warm subtropical environments but this is difficult to assess, as they are known for having wide ecological ranges today and in the past. All in all, a larger part of the plant taxa point to forested vegetation. This is in agreement with previous palynological studies which detected only small amounts of herbaceous and grass pollen. Open patches of vegetation may have been restricted to river banks and to rocky areas in a volcanic landscape. The biogeographic patterns detected for the early Miocene of the Güvem assemblage are manifold; most taxa are widespread Northern Hemispheric elements. A substantial part of the species migrated from Asia into Europe during the (late) Paleogene and reached Anatolia during the early Miocene (Fagus, Paliurus, Chaneya, Ailanthus, Quercus kubinyii, Davallia haidingeri, Acer angustilo...
“…Nevertheless, taxonomic control is typically poorer in LM than in SEM studies. As far as known, SEM studies of the same dispersed pollen flora reveal usually higher biodiversity and taxonomic resolution than LM studies (Grímsson & Zetter 2011; Grímsson et al 2011, 2015a, 2016; Bouchal et al 2016). Thus, it could be expected that a comprehensive SEM study of the dispersed pollen at Messel and Eckfeld would provide a large number of distinct taxa (genera, groups of genera).Figure 17.…”
The middle Eocene Messel and Eckfeld localities are renowned for their excellently preserved faunas and diverse floras. Here we describe for the first time pollen from insect-pollinated plants found in situ on well-preserved ancient bees using light and scanning electron microscopy. There have been 140 pollen types reported from Messel and 162 pollen types from Eckfeld. Here we document 23 pollen types, six from Messel and 18 from Eckfeld (one is shared). The taxa reported here are all pollinated by insects and mostly not recovered in the previously studied dispersed fossil pollen records. Typically, a single or two pollen types are found on each fossil bee specimen, the maximum number of distinct pollen types on a single individual is five. Only five of the 23 pollen types obtained are angiosperms of unknown affinity, the remainder cover a broad taxonomic range of angiosperm trees and include members of several major clades: monocots (1 pollen type), fabids (7), malvids (4), asterids (5) and other core eudicots (1). Seven types each can be assigned to individual genera or infrafamilial clades. Since bees visit only flowers in the relative vicinity of their habitat, the recovered pollen provides a unique insight into the autochthonous palaeo-flora. The coexistence of taxa such as Decodon, Elaeocarpus, Mortoniodendron and other Tilioideae, Mastixoideae, Olax, Pouteria and Nyssa confirms current views that diverse, thermophilic forests thrived at the Messel and Eckfeld localities, probably under a warm subtropical, fully humid climate. Our study calls for increased attention to pollen found in situ on pollen-harvesting insects such as bees, which can provide new insights on insect-pollinated plants and complement even detailed palaeo-palynological knowledge obtained mostly from pollen of wind-pollinated plants in the dispersed pollen record of sediments. In the case of Elaeocarpus, Mortoniodendron, Olax and Pouteria the pollen collected by the middle Eocene bees represent the earliest unambiguous records of their respective genera.
“…The excellent preservation of palynomorphs from dissolved phosphoritic nodules has only recently been noticed. Pollen and spores from early Oligocene marine phosphoritic nodules were studied from Cospuden in Germany (Schmid 2000, Denk et al 2012), and from middle Miocene freshwater nodules of Lavanttal in Austria (Grímsson & Zetter 2011, Grímsson et al 2011b, 2015a, 2016. Preliminary results on the palynoflora from the Agatdal Fm reveal a hyperdiverse angiosperm flora with at least 145 angiosperm pollen types covering a minimum of 34 families.…”
Section: Phosphoritic Nodules and A First Assessment Of The Palynomormentioning
ABSTRACT. The Cretaceous and Palaeogene floras of western Greenland that were initially described as part of the classical work "Flora fossilis arctica" by Oswald Heer in the 19 th century are currently under revision. The Nuussuaq Basin has repeatedly been investigated by geologists and marine invertebrate palaeontologists. These studies provide a modern stratigraphic framework and a basis for revisions of various Cretaceous to Eocene floras from this region, and the correlation of fossil material to stratigraphic units and formal formations. This paper is the first in a series of papers that (i) correlate macrofossil (museum) material and fossil-rich localities with the modern lithostratigraphic framework, (ii) describe new pollen, spores, and other marine/freshwater palynomorphs, and (iii) revise the macrofossil remains from the Agatdalen area (particularly the Danian Agatdal Formation). Since the work of B. Eske Koch in the 1960s and 70s, questions emerged about the correlation of plant fossiliferous outcrops and whether the so-called Agatdalen flora, referred to the Agatdal Formation, originates from a single sedimentary unit or not. In this paper, we summarise the stratigraphy of the Agatdalen area and correlate the fossil plant-bearing outcrops described by Koch to the current lithostratigraphy. We establish which plant fossils belong to the Agatdal Formation and re-assign a great number of other plant fossils to their correct formations. New palynological material is briefly described and correlated to the macrofossil localities and the Agatdal Formation. Previous accounts on the macrofossils (leaves, fruits, seeds) are briefly discussed and directions for future revisions are outlined.
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