Open AccessS ciadopitys cladodes from E ocene B altic amber
Author(s) -
Sadowski EvaMaria,
Schmidt Alexander R.,
Kunzmann Lutz,
Gröhn Carsten,
Seyfullah Leyla J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
botanical journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.872
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1095-8339
pISSN - 0024-4074
DOI - 10.1111/boj.12365
Subject(s) - baltic amber , macrofossil , biology , paleoecology , ecology , fossil wood , paleobotany , paleontology , pollen , genus , biochemistry , plant development , gene
The Baltic amber deposit represents the largest accumulation of any fossil resin worldwide and hundreds of thousands of entrapped arthropods have been recovered so far. The source plants of Baltic amber, however, are still controversial, and the botanical composition of the ‘Baltic amber forest’ remains poorly studied. Here, we provide the first unequivocal B altic amber inclusions of the umbrella pine S ciadopitys (Sciadopityaceae), a genus that has been suggested as the source of succinite (the main variety of Baltic amber) based on chemical analyses. As previously suggested sciadopitoid inclusions must be reconsidered as being notional, representing angiosperm leaves instead, the new fossils are the first unambiguous macrofossil evidence of S ciadopitys from the ‘Baltic amber forest’, and the first pre‐Oligocene macrofossil record of S ciadopitys from E urope. The fossil S ciadopitys cladodes provide new insights into the conifer diversity of the ‘ B altic amber forest’ and broaden the picture of its palaeoecology, indicating the presence of humid swamp to raised bog habitats. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2016, 180 , 258–268.