A fossil <i>Fuchsia</i> (Onagraceae) flower and an anther mass with in situ pollen from the early Miocene of New Zealand

Lee, Daphne E.; Conran, John G.; Bannister, Jennifer M.; Kaulfuß, Uwe; Mildenhall, Dallas C.

doi:10.3732/ajb.1200643

Cited by 16 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…The systematic assignment of fossil flowers has so far mainly relied on extensive morphological investigations and on the identification of apomorphies shared with living taxa (e.g., Drinnan et al 1990; Magallón et al 2001; von Balthazar et al 2005). Studies that identify or corroborate systematic hypotheses of fossil flowers using phylogenetic methods are scarce (e.g., Keller et al 1996; Gandolfo et al 2002; Magallón 2007; Doyle and Endress 2010, 2014; Lee et al 2013; Martínez et al 2016; Schönenberger et al 2020). Most of these analyses investigate the position of individual fossil flowers by focusing on a specific subclade of angiosperms (i.e., an order, a family, or a genus), which has been defined a priori based on comparative morphology and taxonomic expertise (e.g., Hermsen et al 2003; Mendes et al 2014; Martínez et al 2016).…”

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Fossil Flowers into the Angiosperm Phylogeny using a Total Evidence Approach

Lopez-Martinez

Schönenberger

Balthazar

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Fossil flowers are essential to infer past angiosperm evolutionary processes. The assignment of fossil flowers to extant clades has traditionally relied on morphological similarity and on apomorphies shared with extant taxa. The use of explicit phylogenetic analyses to establish their affinity has so far remained limited. In this study, we built a comprehensive framework to investigate the phylogenetic placement of 24 exceptionally preserved fossil flowers. For this, we assembled a new species-level dataset of 30 floral traits for 1201 extant species that were sampled to represent the stem and crown nodes of all angiosperm families. We explored multiple analytical approaches to integrate the fossils into the phylogeny, including different phylogenetic estimation methods, topological-constrained analyses, and a total evidence approach combining molecular and morphological data of extant and fossil species. Our results were widely consistent across approaches, with minor differences in the support of fossils at different phylogenetic positions. The placement of some fossils is in agreement with previously suggested relationships, but for others, a new placement is indicated. We also identified fossils that are well constrained within particular extant families, whereas others showed high phylogenetic uncertainty. Finally, we present recommendations for future total evidence analyses, regarding the selection of fossils and appropriate methodologies, and provide some perspectives on how to integrate fossils into the investigation of divergence times and the temporal evolution of morphological traits.

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Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Fossil Flowers into the Angiosperm Phylogeny using a Total Evidence Approach

Lopez-Martinez

Schönenberger

Balthazar

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…; Bannister et al., ), and Monimiaceae (Conran et al., ). To date, recovered eudicots include Alseuosmiaceae (Conran et al., ), Apocynaceae (Mildenhall et al., ), Araliaceae, Casuarinaceae, Cunoniaceae, Elaeocarpaceae, Euphorbiaceae (Lee et al., ), Loranthaceae, Menispermaceae (Conran et al., ), Myrsinaceae, Myrtaceae, Onagraceae (Lee et al., ), Proteaceae, Picrodendraceae, Rutaceae (Bannister et al., ), Sapindaceae, Sapotaceae, and Winteraceae. Monocot fossils include Alstroemeriaceae subfam.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The 23 Ma Foulden Maar diatomite in southern New Zealand contains abundant and diverse, well‐preserved plant macro‐ and microfossils (Pole, ; Mildenhall et al., ; Lee et al., ), including leaves with cuticular preservation, fruits, and flowers, many with in situ pollen (e.g., Bannister et al., , ; Lee et al., , ; Conran et al., , ). Among these fossils was a partial inflorescence bearing several Akania ‐like flowers with anthers and in situ pollen; here, we describe the first global record of a fossil Akaniaceae inflorescence and its associated pollen.…”

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confidence: 99%

AnAkania(Akaniaceae) inflorescence with associated pollen from the early Miocene of New Zealand

Conran

Kaulfuß

Bannister

et al. 2019

American J of Botany

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PREMISE OF THE STUDY:An Akania-like inflorescence, including flowers with in situ pollen was recovered from the remarkable Konservat-Lagerstätte lacustrine diatomite deposit at Foulden Maar, Otago indicating the presence of Akaniaceae in southern New Zealand during the early Miocene. The flowers, although slightly smaller than the sole modern Australian species, A. bidwillii, contain pollen grains that are very like that taxon. The pollen also resembles that of the monospecific sister genus Bretschneidera from Southeast Asia and India, although that taxon has flowers with very different morphology from this genus. METHODS:The floral morphology of the fossil and in situ pollen grains were compared with flowers and pollen grains from extant species of Akaniaceae and related taxa.

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“…The flowers, from 2 to 20 mm diameter, were probably insect pollinated (Cunoniaceae, Elaeocarpaceae, Lauraceae [22], Loranthaceae [17], Meliaceae, Monimiaceae (Hedycarya) [17], Picrodendraceae, Rutaceae, Sapotaceae [17]), but some, such as Fuchsia (Onagraceae) [24] and Alseuosmia (Alseuosmiaceae) [17] show bird-pollination syndromes, while Malloranga (Euphorbiaceae) [21] was wind pollinated (table 1). Nineteen families at the site have fossilized diaspores, ranging from 3 to 50 mm in diameter.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive niche conservatism in the isolated New Zealand flora over 23 million years

Conran

Lee

et al. 2014

Biol. Lett.

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The temporal stability of plant reproductive features on islands has rarely been tested. Using flowers, fruits/cones and seeds from a well-dated (23 Ma) Miocene Lagerstätte in New Zealand, we show that across 23 families and 30 genera of forest angiosperms and conifers, reproductive features have remained constant for more than 20 Myr. Insect-, wind-and bird-pollinated flowers and wind-and bird-dispersed diaspores all indicate remarkable reproductive niche conservatism, despite widespread environmental and biotic change. In the past 10 Myr, declining temperatures and the absence of low-latitude refugia caused regional extinction of thermophiles, while orogenic processes steepened temperature, precipitation and nutrient gradients, limiting forest niches. Despite these changes, the palaeontological record provides empirical support for evidence from phylogeographical studies of strong niche conservatism within lineages and biomes.

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A fossil Fuchsia (Onagraceae) flower and an anther mass with in situ pollen from the early Miocene of New Zealand

Cited by 16 publications

References 84 publications

Integrating Fossil Flowers into the Angiosperm Phylogeny using a Total Evidence Approach

Integrating Fossil Flowers into the Angiosperm Phylogeny using a Total Evidence Approach

AnAkania(Akaniaceae) inflorescence with associated pollen from the early Miocene of New Zealand

Reproductive niche conservatism in the isolated New Zealand flora over 23 million years

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