Crato Flora: A 115-Million-Year-Old Window into the Cretaceous World of Brazil

Kunzmann, Lutz; Coiffard, Clément; Westerkamp, Ana Paula Assis de Oliveira; Batista, Maria Edenilce Peixoto; Uhl, Dieter; Solórzano-Kraemer, Mónica M.; Mendes, Márcio; Nascimento, Daniel Rodrigues do; Iannuzzi, Roberto; Filho, Wellington Ferreira da Silva

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90913-4_27-1

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…In the Crato Formation flora, the numbers of taxa range from more than 40 based on macrofossils and more than 150 based on palynomorphs of spore and seed-bearing plants, and not all were formally described yet 30 , 31 . In addition, the angiosperm component of the Crato Formation flora is diverse both taxonomically and ecologically 32 , and includes several fossil-taxa with clear affinities with early-diverging extant lineages (ANA grade 33 , 34 ) or mesangiosperms (e.g., magnoliids 35 – 38 , monocots 32 , 39 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First evidence of ranunculids in Early Cretaceous tropics

Gobo

Kunzmann

Iannuzzi

et al. 2022

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Early Cretaceous floras containing angiosperms were described from several geographic areas, nearly from the Arctic to the Antarctic, and are crucial to understand their evolution and radiation. However, most of these records come from northern mid-latitudes whereas those of lower paleolatitude areas, such as the Crato Fossil Lagerstätte in NE Brazil, are less studied. Here, we describe from this region of northern Gondwanan origin, two fossil-species of eudicots belonging to a new extinct genus Santaniella gen. nov. Together with several vegetative axes and leaves, anatomically well-preserved fruits with seeds and persistent perianth-like organs allowed us to reconstruct its potential affinities with ranunculids, and presumably Ranunculaceae. Previous records putatively assigned to Ranunculales are all from mid-latitudes, and their first unequivocal occurrence in a low-latitude area supports further the hypothesis of a widespread radiation of the earliest diverging eudicot lineage by this early age.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First evidence of ranunculids in Early Cretaceous tropics

Gobo

Kunzmann

Iannuzzi

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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“…The known flora of the Crato Formation, synthesized by Kunzmann et al. (2021), includes, besides ferns, conifers and gnetophytes, an impressive diversification of angiosperms, including species of Nymphaeales, Magnoliales, Laurales, Piperales, different monocots, Ranunculales and Proteales. Some of these groups of seed plants were present certainly as broadleaved trees, supporting the idea of a mesophytic forest with associated fungi.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of these groups of seed plants were present certainly as broadleaved trees, supporting the idea of a mesophytic forest with associated fungi. The floristic composition of the Crato Formation already demonstrates a pretty early ‘crucial developmental stage in the evolution of flowering plants’ (Kunzmann et al., 2021), along the turnover from gymnosperm‐dominated forests to modern, angiosperm‐dominated forests. Indeed, forests, their associated terrestrial fungi and the corresponding Mesozoic fungivorous fauna of sciaroids evolved together (Oliveira and Amorim, 2021), but the details of the turnover of these three elements together along the Jurassic/Cretaceous are still poorly understood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…'crucial developmental stage in the evolution of flowering plants' (Kunzmann et al, 2021), along the turnover from gymnosperm-dominated forests to modern, angiosperm-dominated forests. Indeed, forests, their associated terrestrial fungi and the corresponding Mesozoic fungivorous fauna of sciaroids evolved together (Oliveira and Amorim, 2021), but the details of the turnover of these three elements together along the Jurassic/Cretaceous are still poorly understood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The oldest Gondwanan fossil of Leiinae (Diptera, Mycetophilidae): Phylogenetic and evolutionary implications

et al. 2022

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A fossil Mycetophilidae from the Aptian Crato Formation-Cretomanota gondwanica gen. nov., sp. nov.-is described, which is the first mycetophilid from the Crato Formation and corresponds to the oldest known fossil leiine and only the second Gondwanan fossil mycetophilid described so far. Cretomanota gondwanica and both species of Alavamanota Blagoderov and Arillo were added as terminals to the data matrix of a general phylogenetic analysis of the Mycetophilidae, and both fit into the Leiinae. Alavamanota is monophyletic, sister to the clade composed by Cretomanota and the extant genus Manota Williston. The biology of the extant members of this fungivorous family corroborates the reconstruction of the Crato palaeoenvironment as including woodlands with humid habitats and microhabitats. The presence of a Cretaceous member of the tribe Manotini at low latitudes in South America reinforces the hypothesis that the clade with all manotines except Leiella Edwards corresponds to a Lower Cretaceous offshoot from a group in southern Gondwana expanding its distribution to more northern areas into the Gondwana and into Laurasia.

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“…Such abundance of fossils and their often remarkable preservation have led to the designation of the Crato Formation as a Konservat-Lagerstätte 28 . Its scientific value is demonstrated by the fact that it contains one of the currently best records for understanding mid-Early Cretaceous low-latitude paleo-ecosystems 28 , 30 . The age of the Crato Formation has usually been considered to be upper Aptian 31 , 32 , but there is no longer a consensus since new age estimates for the Santana Group, together with an updated concept and position for the international chronostratigraphic unit Aptian, suggest that at least a lowermost Aptian age (ca.…”

Section: Details Of Specimensmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new remarkable Early Cretaceous nelumbonaceous fossil bridges the gap between herbaceous aquatic and woody protealeans

Gobo

Kunzmann

Iannuzzi

et al. 2023

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Dating back to the late Early Cretaceous, the macrofossil record of the iconic lotus family (Nelumbonaceae) is one of the oldest of flowering plants and suggests that their unmistakable leaves and nutlets embedded in large pitted receptacular fruits evolved relatively little in the 100 million years since their first known appearance. Here we describe a new fossil from the late Barremian/Aptian Crato Formation flora (NE Brazil) with both vegetative and reproductive structures, Notocyamus hydrophobus gen. nov. et sp. nov., which is now the oldest and most complete fossil record of Nelumbonaceae. In addition, it displays a unique mosaic of ancestral and derived macro- and micromorphological traits that has never been documented before in this family. This new Brazilian fossil-species also provides a rare illustration of the potential morphological and anatomical transitions experienced by Nelumbonaceae prior to a long period of relative stasis. Its potential plesiomorphic and apomorphic features shared with Proteaceae and Platanaceae not only fill a major morphological gap within Proteales but also provide new support for their unexpected relationships first suggested by molecular phylogenies.

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Crato Flora: A 115-Million-Year-Old Window into the Cretaceous World of Brazil

Cited by 3 publications

References 49 publications

First evidence of ranunculids in Early Cretaceous tropics

First evidence of ranunculids in Early Cretaceous tropics

The oldest Gondwanan fossil of Leiinae (Diptera, Mycetophilidae): Phylogenetic and evolutionary implications

A new remarkable Early Cretaceous nelumbonaceous fossil bridges the gap between herbaceous aquatic and woody protealeans

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