Plant–Insect Interactions on Aquatic and Terrestrial Angiosperms from the Latest Albian (Early Cretaceous) of Estercuel (Northeastern Spain) and Their Paleoenvironmental Implications

Abstract

Fossils of plant–insect interactions are direct evidence of paleoecological relationships between these two dominant groups in terrestrial ecosystems. We present a variety of plant–insect interactions from the late Early Cretaceous (latest Albian) in the Estercuel locality in northeastern Spain (Iberian Peninsula), affecting two types of terrestrial angiosperms and the basal eudicot Klitzschophyllites, which is one of the oldest putative members of aquatic Ranunculales found to date. The study of these interactions revealed 23 different damage types belonging to eight functional feeding groups (hole feeding, margin feeding, skeletonization, surface feeding, piercing and sucking, mining, oviposition and galling), suggesting these angiosperms were an important source of food and lodging for insects in the Iberian ecosystems during the late Early Cretaceous. Notably, the diversity of damage in the leaves of angiosperms suggests a diverse community of herbivorous insects and a variety of strategies of interactions with plants at the end of the Early Cretaceous in the southwestern Tethys realm.

Taphonomy and palaeoenvironmental interpretation of a new amber-bearing outcrop from the mid-Cretaceous of the Maestrazgo Basin (E Iberian Peninsula)

“…The palynological assemblage previously studied is dominated by gymnosperms and characterised by the presence of diverse angiosperms (Sender et al, 2012). Evidence of numerous plant-insect interactions has been identified in both aquatic and terrestrial angiosperm leaves, pointing to the presence of diverse phytophagous insects in the ecosystem (Estévez-Gallardo et al, 2017;Santos et al, 2023). The palaeobotanical record of the locality was interpreted to be deposited in a fluvial sedimentary environment with marine inputs together with coastal freshwater ponds and marshes (Sender et al, 2012).…”

“…Here, we present a new amber-bearing outcrop from the Cretaceous of the Maestrazgo Basin called La Dehesa, in Estercuel (Teruel, Aragón, Spain). This palaeontological locality is assigned to the Boundary Marls Unit, latest Albian-earliest Cenomanian in age (Villanueva-Amadoz et al, 2011), and is known for its palaeobotanical record previously studied (e.g., Sender et al, 2012;Santos et al, 2023). We focus on the characteristics and taphonomy of the amber and the associated fossil record to interpret the palaeoenvironment of the original resin deposition.…”