First evidence of ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the early Pleistocene of Madeira Island (Portugal)

Góis‐Marques, Carlos A.; Correia, Pedro; Nel, André; Madeira, José; Sequeira, Miguel Menezes de

doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2152688

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Recently, the stratigraphy was described, and the age of the deposit constrained to 1.3 Ma (Calabrian stage) by two 40 Ar‐ 39 Ar dates from the overlying (UVC2 μ) and underlying (UVC2) lava flows (Góis‐Marques & al., 2019d). These deposits are composed of fluvial and lacustrine sediments containing plant and insect fossils (Hartung & Mayer, 1864; Starkie Gardner, 1882; Góis‐Marques, 2013; Góis‐Marques & al., 2014, 2019a,c,d, in press).…”

Section: Brief Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The palaeontological exploration of the 1.3 Ma Porto da Cruz sedimentary deposit in Madeira Island (Góis‐Marques, 2013; Góis‐Marques & al., 2019d) allowed the recovery of several plant and insect somatofossils (Góis‐Marques & al., 2019a,c,d; Góis‐Marques, 2020; Góis‐Marques & al., in press). In this paper, we describe, illustrate, and compare the first Madeiran Erica flower and seed fossils with the extant WPBH and discuss possible implications of these findings for the phylogeny, molecular dating, palaeobiogeography, palaeoecology and current systematics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Description and systematic affinity of flower and seed fossils of Erica sect. Chlorocodon (Ericaceae) from the early Pleistocene of Madeira Island, Portugal

Góis‐Marques

Nascimento

Fernández‐Palacios

et al. 2023

TAXON

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Palaearctic Erica sect. Chlorocodon, known as the wind‐pollinated besom heaths (WPBH), includes the Macaronesian E. azorica, E. platycodon subsp. platycodon and E. platycodon subsp. maderincola together with the Mediterranean and North African E. scoparia. Despite the broad extant distribution, the mainland fossil record of this section is scarce and poorly preserved and dated, and Macaronesian fossils were so far unknown. Here we discuss the systematic affinities of the first fossils of a WPBH found in Macaronesia, within a 1.3 Ma (Pleistocene, Calabrian stage) Madeira Island fossiliferous deposit. One flower and dissociated seed fossils were found in the same sediment layer, being preserved as coalified compressions with cuticular preservation. Both the flower and seed fossils present unique WPBH characters. The flower fossil is characterised by an exserted, peltate and discoid stigma – an unequivocal adaptation to anemophily, unique within Palaearctic Erica taxa. The seed fossils are of small size, presenting a testa with channelled anticlinal cell‐walls, a characteristic only found in the extant Macaronesian WPBH. Morphological, anatomical, and biometric comparisons of the fossils to extant flowers and seeds suggest that the fossils are related to the Palaearctic E. sect. Chlorocodon, being morphologically close to E. azorica. Here we assign them to E. aff. azorica. These findings suggest a colonisation to Madeira Island prior to 1.3 Ma, corresponding to the oldest and unambiguous WPBH fossils, at least 0.90–1.2 Ma older than the oldest known record. The fossil flower also indicates the presence of anemophilous traits since at least the early Pleistocene. Finally, the presence of a WPBH could suggest the same ecological role in seral communities, important to the establishment of the Madeiran temperate stink‐laurel forest.

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Section: Brief Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Description and systematic affinity of flower and seed fossils of Erica sect. Chlorocodon (Ericaceae) from the early Pleistocene of Madeira Island, Portugal

Góis‐Marques

Nascimento

Fernández‐Palacios

et al. 2023

TAXON

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“…6E, p. 1276), which presents evidence of terrestrial invertebrates as traces of a possible xylophage in a charcoalified trunk, which is one of the ichnospecies described in P&B (but see discussion below). Evidence of terrestrial invertebrate fossils do exist in the Azores, although we acknowledge the lack of focused research, such as the one being performed for Madeira Island (see Góis‐Marques et al, 2024; Góis‐Marques et al, 2019d).…”

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confidence: 99%

Comment on: Plant–insect interactions in the Quaternary fossil record of the Azores Archipelago (Portugal). Pokorný and Borges (2023). Journal of Quaternary Science 38(4), 597–607

Góis‐Marques,

Madeira,

Menezes de Sequeira

2023

J Quaternary Science

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First evidence of ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the early Pleistocene of Madeira Island (Portugal)

Cited by 2 publications

References 39 publications

Description and systematic affinity of flower and seed fossils of Erica sect. Chlorocodon (Ericaceae) from the early Pleistocene of Madeira Island, Portugal

Description and systematic affinity of flower and seed fossils of Erica sect. Chlorocodon (Ericaceae) from the early Pleistocene of Madeira Island, Portugal

Comment on: Plant–insect interactions in the Quaternary fossil record of the Azores Archipelago (Portugal). Pokorný and Borges (2023). Journal of Quaternary Science 38(4), 597–607

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