Pollen morphology of extant Winteraceae: a study allowing SEM-based affiliation of its fossil representatives

Autor(en)
Fridgeir Grimsson, Alexandros Xafis, Frank H. Neumann, Reinhard Zetter
Abstrakt

When applying high-resolution microscopy, the pollen morphology of extant taxa can be used to classify fossil pollen, that is, to address the latter in the established systematic-phylogenetic framework. Here we investigate tetrads and pollen features of 20 different Winteraceae species, most of them belonging to the early-diverging generic lineages Tasmannia, Drimys and Pseudowintera. The tetrads and pollen are grouped into eleven pollen types based on diagnostic features observed by both light and scanning electron microscopy. The high-resolution scanning electron micrographs of recent material allow detailed comparison with fossil material, resulting in a more accurate affiliation of fossil tetrads/pollen to extant lineages. As a case study, early Miocene Winteraceae tetrads from South Africa are re-examined and formally described. The systematic placement of the African fossils is discussed in light of the pollen types presented here.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Paläontologie
Externe Organisation(en)
University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of the Free State
Journal
Acta Palaeobotanica
Band
57
Seiten
339-396
Anzahl der Seiten
58
ISSN
0001-6594
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1515/acpa-2017-0015
Publikationsdatum
12-2017
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
105117 Paläobotanik
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Allgemeine Agrar- und Biowissenschaften, Allgemeine Erdkunde und Planetologie
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/9ac42483-a118-40fe-9cc9-d5a71db680c5