Droserapites
| Droserapites Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Spermatophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Droseraceae (?) |
| Genus: | †Droserapites Huang (1978)[1] |
| Species: | †D. clavatus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Droserapites clavatus Huang (1978) | |
Droserapites is a genus of extinct plants of somewhat uncertain droseracean affinity. It is a form taxon known only from fossilized pollen.
Fossil record
[edit]Pollen of D. clavatus has been found in the Miocene Peliao Sandstone of Taiwan.[1]
Affinities
[edit]Droserapites has generally been regarded as having probable affinity with Droseraceae, primarily because its pollen occurs in tetrads (groups of four) and resembles that of extant Drosera.[1][2] Pollen tetrads are a distinctive feature of Droseraceae and are unusual among flowering plants, supporting the interpretation of Droserapites as a fossil form taxon with probable droseracean relationships.[3] In his formal description of the genus, Tseng-Chieng Huang suggested that Droserapites may be related to Droseridites and Quadrisperites.[1]
Morphology
[edit]Droserapites pollen grains are united in tetrads (groups of four). Individual grains are inaperturate. The exine is mixed with dense, superposed clavate and baculate processes, whereas the sexine is reticulate.[1]
The tetrads of D. clavatus are tetrahedral and 34–40 μm in diameter. Individual grains are subspheroidal and measure 18–25 μm in width. They have a roughly circular amb that is abruptly acute at the distal pole. The exine is 0.5–1 μm thick, with 2–3 μm long clavae or bacula.[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Huang, Tseng-Chieng 1978. "Miocene palynomorphs of Taiwan. II. Tetrad grains" (PDF). Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica 19: 77–81.
- ↑ Song, Z.-C., W.-M. Wang & F. Huang 2004. Fossil pollen records of extant angiosperms in China. The Botanical Review 70(4): 425–458. doi:10.1663/0006-8101(2004)070[0425:FPROEA]2.0.CO;2
- ↑ Fleischmann, Andreas; Schlauer, Jan; Smith, Stephen A.; Givnish, Thomas J. (2018). "Evolution of carnivory in angiosperms". In Ellison, Aaron M.; Adamec, Lubomír (eds.). Carnivorous Plants: Physiology, ecology, and evolution. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198779841.003.0003.
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