Abstract Detail

Paleobotanical Section

Stull, Gregory [1], Manchester, Steven [2].

Fossils of the tribe Iodeae (Icacinaceae) from North and South America.

The Iodeae are a tribe of woody climbers within the pantropical family Icacinaceae comprising five genera (Hosiea, Iodes, Mappianthus, Natsiatum, and Polyporandra) and approximately 40 species. Although the Iodeae are today restricted to tropical forests of Africa, Madagascar, and Indo-Malesia, the fossil record of this group indicates that they were previously much more widely distributed, particularly across Paleogene mid-latitude forests of North America and Europe. Here we demonstrate that this broader range also extended into Central and South America. We review the fossil history of this tribe, including new fossil material from the early Eocene of western North America, the late Eocene of Panama, and the Paleocene of Colombia. The North American material includes fruits, leaves, pollen, and possible tendrils closely comparable to the extant genus Iodes from the Eocene Blue Rim flora of southwestern Wyoming. The Neotropical representatives include a permineralized endocarp from the late Eocene Tonosi flora of Panama and endocarp compressions and impressions from the Paleocene Bogotá and Cerrejón floras of Colombia. We evaluate the systematic affinities of these fossils with reference to morphological and anatomical investigations of numerous modern fruits representing all five extant genera within this tribe. These fossils provide convincing evidence that the tribe was previously distributed in the Neotropics, as well as North America and Europe, despite its present confinement to the Paleotropics. Together with recently described fossil fruits of Iodeae from the Paleocene of North Dakota and the middle Eocene of southeastern North America, these new reports provide an improved basis for addressing the biogeographic history of the tribe.

Broader Impacts:

1 - University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History and Department of Biology, Dickinson Hall, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
2 - University Of Florida, Florida Museum Of Natural History, PO BOX 117800, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

Keywords:
Fossil fruits
Icacinaceae
neotropics
Paleogene
western North America.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Battelle South/Convention Center
Date: Monday, July 9th, 2012
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PPB001
Abstract ID:736