Eurya stigmosa (Theaceae), a new and extinct record for the Calabrian stage of Madeira Island (Portugal): 40Ar/39Ar dating, palaeoecological and oceanic island palaeobiogeographical implications

Góis‐Marques, Carlos A.; Mitchell, Ria L.; Nascimento, Lea de; Fernández‐Palacios, José María; Madeira, José; Sequeira, Miguel Menezes de

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.01.008

Cited by 12 publications

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“…Fossils were collected and sampled according to the procedures described in Góis-Marques & al. (2019).…”

Section: ■ Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The geological setting presented here is a summary based on Góis‐Marques & al. (). Madeira Island is located in the central Atlantic Ocean, at ca.…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…C), where plant fossils have been discovered since the mid‐19th century (Góis‐Marques, ; Góis‐Marques & al., and references therein). Recently, new explorations yielded new material, and the lava flows underlying (UVC2) and overlying (UVC2 μ) the sedimentary sequence were dated with 40 Ar/ 39 Ar to 1.38 ± 0.14 Ma and 1.319 ± 0.055 Ma, respectively (Góis‐Marques & al., ). This constrained the age of the deposit and their fossiliferous content to ∼1.3 Ma, Calabrian in age.…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…To empirically establish the origins of the insular woody trait in Macaronesian Apiaceae, well‐preserved and accurately dated plant fossils are desirable. Nevertheless, using palaeobotanical research to track deep‐time plant ecological and evolutionary trends within oceanic islands is still infrequent (Góis‐Marques & al., ), probably due to the perceived idea of the low probability of discovery of informative plants fossils on volcanic islands (Anderson & al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent palaeobotanical exploration coupled with geochronological dating of Porto da Cruz sedimentary deposit in Madeira Island led to the discovery of several fruit and seed fossils, constrained to 1.3 Ma by two 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dates (Góis-Marques & al., 2019). Here we document new fossilised mericarps and compare them to present-day Macaronesian Apiaceae.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tracing insular woodiness in giant Daucus (s.l.) fruit fossils from the Early Pleistocene of Madeira Island (Portugal)

Góis‐Marques

Nascimento

Fernández‐Palacios

et al. 2019

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Plants on oceanic islands can evolve insular syndromes such as secondary woodiness, a generalized trend found in island floras worldwide. This phenomenon occurs through evolution in situ. It is triggered by ecological and physiological stimuli that transform herbaceous annuals into woody perennials. However, well‐dated and informative fossils that could help track and frame the evolution of this syndrome are lacking. Remarkably, in Madeira Island (Portugal), there are good examples of Apiaceae that evolved secondary woodiness, like the giant neoendemic Melanoselinum (≡ Daucus). Apiaceae has a very scarce fossil record, despite being a cosmopolitan family and an economically important crop. Here we describe the oldest Daucus s.l. fossil known to date and the first fossil evidence of a plant with insular woodiness. The fossils are preserved as mummified/compressed mericarps within 1.3‐million‐year‐old fluvio‐lacustrine sediments of the Funchal unit, Upper Volcanic complex, near Porto da Cruz. We assign them to the extant neoendemic species Melanoselinum (≡ Daucus) decipiens. The mericarp morphology shows remarkable stasis since the Calabrian stage of the Early Pleistocene. Our results demonstrate that in the Madeiran Daucinae clade, insular woodiness developed at least 1.3 million years ago, indicating a coeval or earlier immigration to Madeira Island of a Daucus sp. Our results reinforce the role of palaeobotanical research in oceanic islands, supported by stratigraphy and geochronology studies, as a key element for the understanding of plant palaeobiogeography, ecology and evolution worldwide. We expect this contribution to shed light on the evolutionary origins of carrots, and related plant groups, an important element of human food, and to better comprehend the evolution of plant insular woodiness.

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“…Fossils were collected and sampled according to the procedures described in Góis-Marques & al. (2019).…”

Section: ■ Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The geological setting presented here is a summary based on Góis‐Marques & al. (). Madeira Island is located in the central Atlantic Ocean, at ca.…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tracing insular woodiness in giant Daucus (s.l.) fruit fossils from the Early Pleistocene of Madeira Island (Portugal)

Góis‐Marques

Nascimento

Fernández‐Palacios

et al. 2019

TAXON

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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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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

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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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Eurya stigmosa (Theaceae), a new and extinct record for the Calabrian stage of Madeira Island (Portugal): 40Ar/39Ar dating, palaeoecological and oceanic island palaeobiogeographical implications

Cited by 12 publications

References 62 publications

Tracing insular woodiness in giant Daucus (s.l.) fruit fossils from the Early Pleistocene of Madeira Island (Portugal)

Tracing insular woodiness in giant Daucus (s.l.) fruit fossils 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

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

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