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A NEW FOSSIL FLOWER FROM THE TURONIAN OF New Jersey: Dressiantha bicarpellata gen. et sp. nov. (Capparales)
Author(s) -
Gandolfo Maria A.,
Nixon Kevin C.,
Crepet William L.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.2307/2446363
Subject(s) - biology , cretaceous , taxon , petal , sensu , sepal , paleontology , cenomanian , fossil record , extant taxon , macrofossil , gynoecium , ecology , stamen , pollen , evolutionary biology , genus , holocene
Recent discoveries of fossil reproductive structures from deposits of the Raritan Formation in New Jersey (Turonian, Upper Cretaceous, ~90 million years BP) include a previously undescribed representative of the Order Capparales. The fossils are usually charcoalified with three‐dimensional structure and excellent anatomical details. In the present contribution, we introduce a taxon represented by fossil flowers that have a combination of characters now found in the families of the Order Capparales sensu Cronquist. The fossil species is characterized by an unique suite of characters, such as the presence of a gynophore, arrangement of the sepals, unequal petal size, monothecal anthers, and a bicarpellate gynoecium, that are found in extant families of the Order Capparales. This new taxon constitutes an important addition to our understanding of Cretaceous angiosperm diversity and represents the oldest known fossil record for the Capparales. Heretofore, the oldest known capparalean was from the Late Tertiary sediments of North America.