Conifers from the Cenomanian amber of Fouras (Charente-Maritime, western France)

Abstract

<jats:p>Fossil inclusions of arthropods and microorganisms are abundant in the Cretaceous amber from western France, but plant meso- or macroremains are scarce. Preserved remains are mostly tiny, very fragmented, and indeterminable. Only one amber locality in the Charente department has already provided conifer remains. Here, we report the first plant mesoremains ensnared in Cenomanian amber from Fouras – Bois Vert, in the Charente-Maritime department. They consist of three well-preserved leafy axes and one cone of Cheirolepidiacean conifers. Based on the helical arrangement of rhomboidal, longer than wide, and highly adpressed leaves, leafy axes are ascribed to the genus Pagiophyllum. The ovoid cone bears more than 15 imbricate, helically arranged, scale-like leaves and is ascribed to Classostrobus sp. Although Cretaceous flora is abundant in lignitic clay from the Charentes region, Pagiophyllum is reported for the first time in Albian-Cenomanian deposits from this area. Xerophytic features of Pagiophyllum further support a harsh and instable coastal environment seasonally exposed to hot, dry conditions during the mid-Cretaceous in the Charentes region.</jats:p>

Paleohistology of the Cretaceous resin‐producing conifer Geinitzia reichenbachii using X‐ray synchrotron microtomography

“…T.M. Harris; e.g., Gomez et al, 2004; Néraudeau et al, 2005; Moreau et al, 2015, 2020), G. reichenbachii was adapted to withstand intense sunlight, and coastal environments exposed to hot temperatures coupled with salty sea wind and dry conditions. Reduced leaves that are helically arranged lessened the impact of solar radiation (Thévenard et al, 2005).…”

A previously missing link in the evolution of dasytine soft‐winged flower beetles from Cretaceous Charentese amber (Coleoptera, Melyridae)

“…54), and conifer remains assigned to the genus Pagiophyllum Heer (Cheirolepidiaceae), which may have secreted the resin (Moreau et al . 46).…”

<p><strong>First thaneroclerid beetle from Cretaceous Charentese amber (Coleoptera: Cleroidea: Thanerocleridae)</strong></p>

“…It is worth noting that the piece of amber containing the Thanerocleridae specimen described herein is highly fossiliferous and has yielded nearly half of all inclusions from this deposit, with a total of 53 arthropods and three conifer fragments, as listed in Cockx et al (2016: table 1 -amber piece #IGR.FRS-7, in which the present thaneroclerid is reported as a member of the family Cleridae). Among these, a few wasps have been described in the chrysidoid families Bethylidae and Sclerogibbidae (Cockx et al, 2016;Perkovsky et al, 2020), and the conifer remains have been assigned to the presumably resin-producing genus Pagiophyllum Heer, a member of the extinct family Cheirolepidiaceae (Moreau et al, 2020). The same piece also contains four other undescribed beetles, including a Melyridae and three undetermined, fragmentary specimens.…”