Fossil Usnea and similar fruticose lichens from Palaeogene amber

Abstract

Fruticose lichens of the genus Usnea Dill. ex Adans. (Parmeliaceae), generally known as beard lichens, are among the most iconic epiphytic lichens in modern forest ecosystems. Many of the c. 350 currently recognized species are widely distributed and have been used as bioindicators in air pollution studies. Here we demonstrate that usneoid lichens were present in the Palaeogene amber forests of Europe. Based on general morphology and annular cortical fragmentation, one fossil from Baltic amber can be assigned to the extant genus Usnea. The unique type of cortical cracking indirectly demonstrates the presence of a central cord that keeps the branch intact even when its cortex is split into vertebrae-like segments. This evolutionary innovation has remained unchanged since the Palaeogene, contributing to the considerable ecological flexibility that allows Usnea species to flourish in a wide variety of ecosystems and climate regimes. The fossil sets the minimum age for Usnea to 34 million years (late Eocene). While the other similar fossils from Baltic and Bitterfeld ambers cannot be definitely assigned to the same genus, they underline the diversity of pendant lichens in Palaeogene amber forests.

Miocene Ethiopian amber: A new source of fossil cryptogams

“…The fossil from Ethiopian amber can confidently be identified as a foliose lichen, which renders it the very first fossil lichen known from Africa. Ethiopian amber is consequently the fourth amber deposit containing lichen in the world, along with the Dominican, Baltic, and Bitterfeld ambers (Kaasalainen et al, 2015, 2017a, 2017b, 2019, 2020; Rikkinen et al, 2018). This underlines the importance of amber as a rich palaeontological material and especially when looking for well‐preserved, very small cryptogamic specimens.…”